Player ratings and match stats from Northampton Town 0 Rotherham United 1

Paul Davis gives his verdict on League Two events at Sixfields Stadium on Saturday as Alex Bruce’s men won on the road for the first time this season.

Millers (3-5-2)

Julian Eyestone: 8

Gains an extra mark for the importance of that stoppage-time save. Looked very assured. His distribution needs a bit of work, but his handling was pretty much faultless.

Sonny Aljofree: 8

No dip in standards for a young player who is developing all the time. Overcame an uncertain start to do all the ugly stuff and also find time and space to play the ball out of defence.

Dominic Iorfa: 7

Big, athletic, quick to the ball. Not bad at all from the new boy with little training behind him who was playing for the first time since May. Importantly, he talked, he directed, he used his experience. Early on, Eyestone failed to come for a ball that he should have claimed and quickly had it pointed out to him.

Ewan Otoo: 6

Not poor by any means, but not at the levels he's been hitting since opening day.

Denzel Hall: 7

Smooth and solid. Approaching his best form after a slow-ish start to the campaign. Defended well. Perhaps more could have been seen in attack.

Josh Austerfield: 7

Has a great engine and covered a lot of ground. Some of his work lacked a touch of quality, but he was dangerous and asked questions of the Northampton defence with his running. Should have put at least one of his two chances away.

Ossama Ashley: 8

Now looking like the midfielder Rotherham hoped they had signed in the summer. Has been a standout player in this division in the past, and he is beginning to look like one again. His defensive work was superb, particularly two blocks on shots before the interval. Competed well and was good on the ball.

Brandon Cover: 8

Arguably the best performance yet from an improving player. Put himself about, won tackles and got the Millers moving forward. It's a shame he now misses two matches because of international duty and runs the risk of losing his place.

Aaron Nemane: 6

The wide man had a lot of defending to do in first half and stuck to his task diligently. Going forward, he got into good positions, but he was wasteful with his deliveries.

Paul Mullin: 6

Quiet for nearly all of the time he was on the pitch, but who cares? Let's just focus on that superb penalty.

Fabio Tavares: 5

One or two lovely moments, but not enough of them from a player of his skills. Needs to have more of a sustained influence.

The subs

Jili Buyaba (for Iorfa 60): 7

Made a big impact when he came on by adding some real attacking thrust to the Millers.

Kian Spence (for Ashley 67): 6

Back after injury and immediately got involved when he came on. A big player for Rotherham. Great to have him available again.

Tom Bradshaw (for Tavares 67): 6

Didn't do a great deal, but one contribution was telling - that perfectly-weighted pass on the turn that sent Mullin scampering away to win the penalty.

Emmanuel Adegboyega (for Nemane 79): NA

Stood up to the task as the Millers defended their lead late on.

Kieran Ngwenya (for Mullin 79): NA

Ditto Adegboyega.

Not used: Ted Cann, Jayce Fitzgerald.

Northampton (4-2-3-1): Zach Jeacock 8; Max Dyche 6 (Matty Warhurst 81), Jon Guthrie 6, Elliott Moore 7, Josh Powell 7; Tyrese Fornah 7 (Sam Hoskins 87), Jake O'Brien-Whitmarsh 6; Joe Wormleighton 7, Owen Dale 8 (Logan Briggs 81), Sam Chambers 4 (Harvey Saunders 67, 5); Nathan Opoku 7 (Connor Evans 87). Subs not used: Kamarai Sawyer, Ross Fitzsimons.

Goals: Mullin pen 72 (Rotherham)

Referee: Will Finnie (Bedfordshire)

Attendance: 5,771 (716)

Opposition view

"It was frustrating, to say the least. There was a drop-off from the first half to the second half. We should have been a goal up at half-time.

"The penalty is outside the box. I thought the referee was really poor. I wouldn’t want to do his job, but you can’t get those decisions wrong. It’s a foul, a free-kick and probably a red card.

"We were the team getting into good areas in the first half and we had full control of the game, in my opinion. We had energy, and the areas we played in and how we tried to do things were really good. 

"The message at half-time was to raise it a level and to keep running forward and keep attacking Rotherham. But we didn’t do that enough in the second half."

- Northampton boss Chris Hogg

The stats

Possession: Northampton 43 per cent, Millers 57

Goal attempts: Northampton 17, Millers 11

On target: Northampton 3, Millers 5

Touches in opposition box: Northampton 30, Millers 14

Corners: Northampton 5, Millers 7

Fouls committed: Northampton 14, Millers 11

Final word

An ugly-ish away win. We'd all take a few more of those. Rotherham are proving hard to play against.