The cold, the comeback and the effect of the stand-in boss ... the story of Rotherham United 1 Leeds United 1

There were further embraces, too, at the final whistle as the players queued up to acknowledge the figure who has stepped up in Rotherham United’s hour of need.

He shared a moment with Christ Tiehi, with Ollie Rathbone, then came Daniel Ayala. There were others waiting in line.

The surprise was, it was Wayne Carlisle at the centre of it all. The hidden man was emerging from his own shadow.

The Millers’ assistant boss had rarely been seen out of the dugout during the 13-month reign of Matt Taylor, the departed manager he was asked to temporarily replace during the search for a new manager.

Neither had he ever put himself forward for media duties, even though it's turned out he's pretty good at them.

Yet a quiet character looked at home in the volatile atmosphere of sold-out AESSEAL New York Stadium in front of the Sky Sports cameras as his drop-zone side fought back from conceding early against the Championship attacking might of Leeds United in his first match in charge to earn a draw .

“A baptism of fire? It certainly was," the Irishman grinned. “A Yorkshire derby live on TV against one of the teams flying at the top of the league.

“I'd love to sit here and take all the credit but I've got probably 15 staff who have worked equally as hard as me and they've all contributed to it.

“Everyone's really chipped in and, most importantly, the players have taken on board everything we've said, applied themselves and gone about their business the right way.”

While Rotherham were in the grip of uncertainty, Leeds had travelled down the M1 a sure thing. They were third and rising, they had Premier League players throughout their squad, they'd won six of their last seven matches.

So, 1-1 then. That wasn't supposed to happen. But it did. And New York was a good place to be.

THE MATCH

Just six minutes into Carlisle's interim reign, the opposition were ahead.Georginio Rutter snapped a stunning pass through the Millers' backline and Crysencio Summerville curled a pinpoint finish beyond Viktor Johansson as top-flight quality graced a second-tier occasion.

The players in blue took turns. Dan James fired high and wide, Joel Piroe fluffed his lines not once, not twice but three times, Summerville was denied by Johansson, Glen Kamara missed from an angle.

Maybe Leeds, so sure in possession, so quick on the break, were too in control. They were obviously going to score again so they enjoyed their superiority rather than capitalised on it.

Then Odoffin changed everything.

The Millers had hung in and on the stroke of half-time they resisted Leeds attempts to clear the ball which finally fell to the midfielder to turn and drill the ball home for his third strike in ten Championship appearances.

“He's got a habit of it,” smiled Carlisle. “I love him to pieces. He's a really big player for this group.

“It's a great time to score and it'sa well-taken goal. That gave us something to talk about at half-time and a little bit of hope with which to go into the second half. After the break we were more than good for a point. We could have gone on to win it.

“We had good chances, albeit Leeds had chances as well. I thought the momentum shifted from them being quite dominant to us getting a good foothold in the game and pushing them backwards.”

It was a good assessment. For 30 minutes after the restart, Rotherham gave better than they got; for the last 20, Leeds went for the result they'd been so confident of securing while they'd been in front.

Carlisle had matched up Daniel Farke's men, being unafraid to leave out last January's marquee signing, Jordan Hugill, in favour of this summer's marquee arrival, Sam Nombe, in a new 4-2-3-1 formation.

On 51 minutes, the latter's big chance came and went. His game is starting to develop a Championship sheen but there's still League one roughness in there and his finish was of the third-tier variety as a shot that lacked real sharpness was hoovered up by Liam Cooper on the goalline.

Fred Onyedinma burst clear and was denied by Illan Meslier's save as the North Stand bayed for blood. At the other end, Wilfried Gnonto blasted not far over and Pascal Struijk's header was less than a whisker wide.

A draw was looking like a fair result but, suddenly, something unfair was happening. The Millers didn't deserve this. A low cross came in from Leeds' right with the clock ticking into stoppage time and Jaidon Anthony tucked it away.

New York cheered in relief as the assistant referee's flag pointed upwards and fingers pointed at Patrick Bamford who'd touched the ball into his teammate's path from an offside position.

“Did I find time to enjoy tonight? Yeah, I did,” said Carlisle. He looked tired.

“It's been a chaotic period but I've got a really good job in that I work with football players on a football pitch every day and the lads we've got here are a fantastic bunch.”

THE FANS

The grumbles became rumbles and turned into roars. As the Millers upped their game so did the fans who revel in a team in red and white going all out against the odds.

“I understood the first half, the supporters' frustration at times,” Carlisle said. “Tonight was always going to be a bit sticky for the players because they've come through a tough couple of weeks.

“It's not easy when you go from one situation to another. I know Matt was very popular within the group. In fairness to them, they've taken it on well.”

There'd been an impassioned fist pump from the stand-in at half-time while the force of Odoffin's goal was still reverberating around S60. The late stages of the second half found him in the full glare of the floodlights, urging on his side as they were being bent but refusing to buckle.

At the interval, he'd swapped to a heavier coat on a bitter November evening that had the mercury plummeting as fast as Leeds' hopes of cantering to an easy win.

“It was freezing out there,” he said. Yet there was a warmth unrelated to any garment he was wearing.

His players had fought back. They'd fought for him.

Rotherham (4-2-3-1): Viktor Johansson; Lee Peltier, Sean Morrison, Daniel Ayala, Cohen Bramall; Hakeem Odoffin, Christ Tiehi; Fred Onyedinma, Ollie Rathbone (Jamie Lindsay 90+4), Sam Nombe (Jordan Hugill 72), Seb Revan (Dexter Lembikisa 72). Subs not used: Dillon Phillips, Grant Hall, Arvin Appiah, Georgie Kelly, Tom Eaves, Ciaran McGuckin.

Leeds (4-2-3-1): Illan Meslier; Archie Gray, Joe Rodon, Liam Cooper (Pascal Struijk 80), Junior Firpo (Wilfried Gnonto 70); Ethan Ampadu, Glen Kamara (Ian Poveda 70); Dan James (Jaidon Anthony 85), Joel Piroe, Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter (Patrick Bamford 70). Subs not used: Karl Darlow, Luke Ayling, Sam Byram, Ilia Gruev.

Goals: Odoffin 45+1 (Rotherham); Summerville 6 (Leeds).

Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands).

Attendance: 11,471 (2,229).