Gritty Millers score first victory

DANNY Ward struck the only goal of the game to hand Rotherham United their opening  win of the season at the expense of Brentford.

Alan Stubbs’ first victory in charge was achieved the hard way, with the Millers surviving scares either side of Ward’s 32nd minute decider.

Fielding two debutants in loan pair Izzy Brown and Tom Adeyemi, they allowed too many gaps for the quick and mobile visitors to exploit in the first half but did carry a threat when they got forward.

Brown passed up a chance to put Rotherham in front from a one-on-one, with goalkeeper Daniel Bentley deflecting the ball onto the bar, before  they got in front on 32 minutes. A beautifully worked move saw Scott Allan on his full debut slip Ward through to guide the ball past Bentley.

The Millers were pressed back in the second half and really had to dig in. Scott Hogan cannoned a shot into the chest of Lee Camp for Brentford and Lasse Vibe drifted a header just wide. Camp was again left scrambling by another Hogan effort and a Ryan Woods curler as Stubbs’ men clung on.

Ex-Miller Emmanuel Ledesma forced yet another close call in stoppage time before the final whistle was greeted with a roar of relief at the New York Stadium.

The victory was Rotherham’s first in nine and sets the scene nicely for next Saturday’s derby clash at Barnsley.

Millers: Camp, Fisher, Kelly, Ball, Wilson, Vaulks, Adeyemi (Smallwood 46), Taylor, Allan (Forde 84), Brown (Mattock 88), Ward

Brentford: Bentley, Colin, Elder, McLeod, Dean, Yennaris, Eagan, Woods, Sawyers, Hogan, Vibe(McEachran 84)

Referee: J. Adcock

Attendance: 8,367 (459 visitors)

Make sure you head over to the Advertiser website throughout Monday morning for all the reaction from today's victory.