By Iona Bennett
Jan 4th, Saturday, 15.00 kick off
Huddersfield entered the game as clear favourites, sitting 4th in the table and riding the momentum of an eight-game unbeaten home streak. They sought to close the gap in the race for automatic promotion, while Rotherham aimed to build on their New Year’s Day victory over Lincoln following a sluggish start to their League One campaign. The reverse fixture in August had ended in controversy, with Rotherham snatching a dramatic stoppage-time winner and multiple red cards being issued, including to Huddersfield Manager, Michael Duff, and Goalkeeping Coach, Andy Quy. Fans anticipated another heated contest.
In many ways, it was a frustrating game from the offset for Duff’s side, with Nigel Lonwijk’s forced substitution in the fourth minute adding to a long list of players suffering what fans are dubbing Town’s ‘injury curse’. Despite this, Huddersfield dominated early spells, with Josh Koroma and Callum Marshall coming close to breaking the deadlock, while Rotherham relied heavily on long balls to Sam Nombe and Mallik Wilks for attacking opportunities.
A golden chance fell to Huddersfield captain Michal Helik in the fortieth minute. His headed effort from a corner was denied by Shaun McWilliams’ crucial goal-line clearance. Despite sustained pressure from the Terriers, the first half ended goalless, with Rotherham’s defense holding firm and keeper Dillon Phillips making important, but largely routine, saves.
Rotherham came out more strongly in the second half, creating several half-chances through Nombe and Wilks. Huddersfield struggled to regain their momentum, and frustrations grew as they failed to find rhythm in possession. As a whole, both teams lacked a clinical edge, and while each had promising moments and chances, they were few and far between.
The turning point came in the 80th minute when Huddersfield’s new signing, Ruben Roosken, was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge. For the rest of the game, a ten-man Huddersfield held on, fighting to prevent history from repeating itself. Despite their efforts, Rotherham couldn’t find the magical stoppage time winner that had clinched them the three points in the reverse fixture, and the game finished in a goalless draw.
In the post-match interview, Steve Evans praised his team’s defensive efforts, but conceded that they had ultimately missed some big chances and had “left two points behind”. Meanwhile, Duff referred to his “frustration” at the injuries his side have been picking up over the past six weeks, but also remained notably optimistic: “the players have given me everything, we just need that little bit of quality or that little bit of clinicalness […] one moment of quality and we win 1-0 and everyone goes home happy”.
Both managers will be hoping that their teams can be more clinical in their upcoming fixtures. Huddersfield are taking on top of the table Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday, while Rotherham face Bolton Wanderers at home on Saturday.
