Rotherham United hold firm to see off Jekyll and Hyde Lincoln City

Rotherham United extended their lead at the top of League One with a well-fought 2-1 win over struggling Lincoln City. First-half goals from Ben Wiles and Chiedozie Ogbene were enough to seal the win for Paul Warne’s side with four points separating them from second-placed Wigan Athletic.

Lincoln City delivered another Jekyll and Hyde performance which continues to frustrate their manager, players and fans as they remain in reaching distance of the bottom three at the foot of League One. For the first 45 minutes, Lincoln was barely at the races.

The Millers got off to the perfect start as they raced into a two-goal lead inside the first 12 minutes. Firstly, Wiles cooly slotted past Jordan Wright in The Imps goal after being fed inside the box by Ollie Rathbone.

As Lincoln had barely recovered from the opener, they found themselves two behind a few minutes later with an almost carbon copy effort. The impressive Ogbene, who had given The Imps a torrid time in the earlier corresponding fixture at Sincil Bank, turned villain again as he swept home from 15 yards on the angle with Wiles turning provider.

The home side were in relentless mode and should have scored two further goals to put the game out of reach. Midfielder Mickel Miller was inches away from connecting to a Wiles cut back, and Michael Smith should have hit the target with a close-range effort.

It took the visitors until stoppage time to register their first shot on goal that never really looked like troubling Josh Vickers.

Playing with a 3-5-2 formation, Lincoln barely used the pace and talent that Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Bramall possess in the wider areas of the pitch. In the second period, however, after weathering an initial 10-minute spell of home pressure to put the game to bed, the visitors started to get onto the ball and were braver with their passing game.

Jordan Wright in The Imps goal had a composed second period after taking a hefty knock in the first half, which threatened to end his evening and cause Michael Appleton a headache with no substitute goalkeeper available.

Former Nottingham Forest Academy graduate Wright impressed with his distribution to get Lincoln’s midfield on the front foot, accepting responsibility and moving with greater tempo.

Bramall mainly set the tone for a much improved second period. Deployed at left wing-back, a number of marauding runs resulted in crosses being flashed across the box and one where Tom Hopper should have done better with as he blazed over the bar on the stretch.

Liam Cullen changed the dynamic further for the away side, and his delightful ball between the lines brought about Tom Hopper’s well taken 80th-minute goal. As Bramall latched onto the Swansea loanee’s threaded pass, his pull-back expertly picked out Hopper, who swept home to the delight of the travelling away support.

 

The goal had been coming, and following that, a frantic last 10 minutes ensued, with the home crowd becoming restless. As the Millers lost their composure in the dying moments, Lincoln should have had an equaliser as Liam Cullen and Lasse Sorensen could not make the opportunity count.

The near-miss prompted Paul Warne in the home dugout to get onto his feet and gee the crowd up, urging them with his arms to get behind their players in the dying moments.

Michael Appleton was a frustrated figure post-match as his side threatened to grab a point.

“They (Rotherham) were very, very comfortable in the first half, and we need to make them feel uncomfortable. We only do that by being aggressive, in harder spirit and in being brave to get on the ball and play how we want to play. I think the first half was almost a little bit of a slap in the face that one or two needed.”

“Certain things that were happening on Saturday (against Wimbledon) happened in that first half. You can get away with it, with great respect to sides near the bottom end of the table, but you don’t get away with it against the sides at the top.”

Despite their first-half showing, Appleton was pleased with his side’s response and thought his side had done enough in the second period to grab an equaliser.

“All of a sudden we got a wingbacks higher the pitch and we got a little bit within the game. We started having a little bit more urgency in the middle of the park and you could tell they were feeling good about themselves. The goal was coming and it was a fantastic goal.”

It was fairly apt that as Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York blasted out on the speaker system at full time, it’s maybe the time to start spreading the news; Rotherham are looking good value for an automatic promotion spot.

Lincoln still have work to do to secure their League One status with Alex Neill’s Sunderland up next at Sincil Bank on Saturday.

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