The chants, the goal, the beer, the Millers survival mission accomplished ... the story of Rotherham United 1 Middlesbrough 0

Ah, the poor, deluded souls.

You couldn't blame them, I suppose. After all, it's what Rotherham United had done in the last three times they'd been at this level.

But this was different, this was 2023, this was the Millers who, first under Paul Warne and then under Matt Taylor, hadn’t spent a single day in the Championship’s bottom three throughout the campaign.

A fourth successive relegation from the second tier wasn’t an option.

So Rotherham, fought, they harried, they went once more beyond their physical limit, they proved too much for a play-off side with hopes of being in the Premier League next term and made sure nothing would rest on next week’s final day.

And the fans went with them. AESSEAL New York Stadium heaved and hollered, sang and supported. After all those great nights under the lights, here was an unforgettable afternoon in the May Day sun.

When it was needed the most, players and followers stepped up together. It was gripping, it was glorious.

It was survival.

THE MATCH

For someone who is such a committed team man, Hakeem Odoffin was making a pretty good fist of being a solo act.

The game was over, he'd scored the only goal and now he was dancing by himself in front of the still-packed North Stand before the players' lap of appreciation began.

Manager Matt Taylor, so proud of his patched-up team who have fought through so many injuries this season, looked on with as much affection and amusement as anyone.

"What's been before for this club at this level makes this moment even sweeter," he said. "It was fully deserved. The players have worked so, so hard. I don't what more this league can throw at us but somehow we found a way to get the points we need to stay up.

"I never, ever doubted we would do it. If we have got one thing here it is spirit - the will, the desire to remain in this division. Even if it had gone to the last game of the season I'd have still been confident."

The crucial strike came three minutes into the second half, not long after the contest's big turning point.

Odoffin was fed by Ollie Rathbone, remembered the 'hard and low' mantra of the extra drills he does in training and sent a superb 22-yarder speeding beyond Zack Steffen.

The goalkeeper never moved, unlike fans in the kop, the West Stand, the East Stand, all of whom erupted in a joyful union.

By this stage the visitors were a man light, Anfernee Dijksteel having received a straight red card on the stroke of half-time for impeding the progress of Jordan Hugill when the striker looked to work himself in on goal.

Early on, Richard Wood had been beaten by Riley McGree but got back to clear off the line after Viktor Johansson's hand had stalled the progress of the Australian's shot.

Before the break, Rotherham lost Chiedozie Ogbene who pulled his hamstring while riding a spiteful, premeditated foul as Boro's Hayden put the hack in Hackney. Shane Ferguson, with his groin giving up once more, quickly followed him out of the fray.

No Dijksteel versus men of steel. The second-half volume level grew higher and higher as the Millers held on to their lead.

"You could sense it, couldn't you?" said Taylor. "I think the fans knew how much we needed at them, how much was at stake. They stuck with the group. 

"We weren't perfect, we had to play a certain type of game.  We had to nullify Middlesbrough's threat at times, even when they were down to ten. The game just felt like it changed a little bit with the sending-off."

The boss had found himself a new friend: San Miguel. He conducted his post-match press conference bottle in hand, sipping lager and drinking in the occasion, having taken a quiet, happy part in the salute to supporters.

"I clapped the fans because they're a big part of it and go through the mill with us," he said. "I'm not an emotional guy - I never am - but walking around the pitch with my wife and son and parents 'got' me a little bit."

He smiled and joked and the tension of the final few minutes no longer mattered.

As the clocked ticked into the danger zone and point-costing late concessions in the previous two matches preyed on Rotherham minds, there was time for one last drama. Marc Bola's cross deflected off Jamie Lindsay and the ball spiralled towards the top corner. Not again, please.

Johansson has been there for the Millers all season. He was there again.

ALONE TIME

Taylor stayed away from the dressing room. He came into the media suite around an hour after the final whistle and still hadn't caught up with his team.

It was deliberate; he wanted his players to have time on their own.

"They have got to just let themselves go a little bit," he said. "They've earned that. They've been through an awful lot this season. I don't care where they go or what they do but they need to headlock themselves together for the next 24 hours."

At the end, some of those men who'd stood up so well lied down, mentally and physically spent, on the turf. Forty-five games, 49 points, job done.

The Boro end was quiet. Not the rest of New York. Up went the deafening chant that has been seven long years in the making:

"We are staying up. Say, we are staying up."

Rotherham (4-3-3): Viktor Johansson; Wes Harding, Cameron Humphreys, Richard Wood, Cohen Bramall; Jamie Lindsay, Ollie Rathbone (Georgie Kelly 71), Hakeem Odoffin (Leo Hjelde 71); Chiedozie Ogbene (Tariqe Fosu 19), Jordan Hugill, Shane Ferguson (Ben Wiles 40). Subs not used: Robbie Hemfrey, Peter Kioso, Domingos Quina.

Middlesbrough (4-4-1-1): Zack Steffen; Anfernee Dijksteel, Paddy McNair, Darragh Lernihan, Isaiah Jones; Dan Barlaser, Hayden Hackney (Alex Mowatt 60), Riley McGree (Matt Crooks 80); Chuba Akpom; Cameron Archer (Tommy Smith H-T). Subs not used: Liam Roberts, Rodrigo Muniz, Sonny Finch, Bryant Bilongo.

Goals: Odoffin 48 (Rotherham).

Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire).

Red card: Dijksteel 45+5 (Boro).

Attendance: 11,508 (2,212).