NYS draw gets Millers off the mark

ROTHERHAM United notched their first Championship point of the season after a tight encounter with Preston at the AESSEAL New York Stadium.

Neither team offered the other many sights of goal and the nearest either came to breaking the deadlock was when Preston defender Bailey Wright rattled the bar late on.

A scrappy first half produced more bookings than clear chances, with Greg Halford and Joe Newell both receiving cautions from referee David Coote. A near miss from Matt Derbyshire after some penalty area trickery from full-back Lewis Buxton provided a fleeting moment of danger for the visitors.

Steve Evans threw Aidy White and Jonson Clarke-Harris into the fray early in the second half and Rotherham went 4-4-2 and picked up the pace.

The goal opened up for the lively Clarke-Harris 20 yards out but he blazed over and Preston finally looked rattled.

They weathered the pressure and cursed their luck 12 minutes from time as Wright headed against the bar from Paul Gallagher’s corner.

Sub Neil Kilkenny also forced a flying save from Kelle Roos but it was the Millers who forced the game late on as they forced Preston to hang on for a point.

Millers: Roos, Buxton, Mattock (Green 71), Halford, Collins, Maguire (White 56), Frecklington, Smallwood, Newell, Bowery (Clarke-Harris 56), Derbyshire

Preston: Pickford, Cunningham, Clarke, Wright, Humphrey (Vermijl 71), Johnson, Gallagher, Welsh, Huntington, Keane (Kilkenny 71), Garner

Referee: David Coote (West Yorkshire)

Attendance: 9,078 (1,040 visitors)