Georgie Kelly and Robbie Hemfrey the heroes as Rotherham United thwart Premier League-bound Burnley

Thrashed earlier in their promotion-winning campaign at Sheffield United, whose victory over Bristol City on Tuesday kept their title celebrations on hold for a few more days, they couldn’t take maximum points against a Rotherham United side fighting for their lives and producing a performance full of heart.

What they lacked in the creativity, speed of thought and movement of Vincent Kompany’s free-flowing side, Rotherham more than made up for in grit and determination.

Twice they fell behind, twice they came back, through Shane Ferguson’s bundled home corner in first-half stoppage time and Georgie Kelly’s swept home finish four minutes from the end.

There were heroes everywhere in red - from Cohen Bramall who defended manfully at left-back, to Domingos Quina who was industrious in midfield, to Robbie Hemfrey, the 20-year-old Scottish youth keeper called upon at half-time to make his professional debut.

That it required a stunning curling effort from Manuel Benson to finally beat him eight minutes from the end said everything about how he had frustrated the Clarets with save after save.

The point secured by Kelly’s smart finish does not guarantee Championship survival for Rotherham United but it edges them closer to ending their yo-yo existence between the second and third tiers. The standing ovation they received and the half-lap of honour they treated the home end to at full-time showed the reciprocal nature of just how vital, especially since it was so unexpected, this point could be.

Composure on the ball was the biggest difference on the night. Burnley oozed it, while Rotherham - understandable given the positions of the respective clubs - were rushed and a little panicky in possession.

Jordan Beyer exuded class at the back, Burnley’s elegant defender as comfortable striding out of defence with the ball at his feet as he was snuffing out any balls into the box.

He started one flowing move with such a burst from the back, finding Anass Zaroury on the left with a raking ball, his cross fired at Ashley Vickers by Connor Roberts but well saved.

The majority of Rotherham’s threat came from set-pieces as was to be expected, with the recalled Richard Wood always a danger and Jamie Lindsay hooking an improvised volley wide.

They cut Burnley open once in the first half. Quina was the hosts’ most creative player and a pass to the left found Ferguson whose whipped-in cross was taken off the toes of the incoming Chiedozie Ogbene by Beyer.

The champions-elect took the lead on 26 minutes. Rotherham had a shout for handball in the Burnley box ignored and the Clarets broke swiftly, Connor Roberts whipping in a deep cross from the right that Scott Twine steered beyond Vickers with first-time volley.

Rotherham were struggling for answers, got away with a handball in the box from Lindsay, and were waiting for the half-time whistle and the chance to regroup when all of a sudden, Burnley started playing the ball around in their own penalty area when three Millers engaged the high press.

Lindsay forced a corner and from that set-piece Ferguson put the ball right under the cross bar, Bailey Peacock-Farrell flapped at it amid a sea of bodies, the ball struck Vitinho and then his Burnley team-mate Amee Al-Dakhil and snuck over the line.

Rotherham had to replace goalkeeper Vickers - already deputising for Viktor Johansson - at half-time with third-choice Hemfrey who was instantly called into action, saving from Johann Gudmondsson and then cutting out a cross from Twine with Burnley back on the front foot.

Hemfrey then had to palm away a shot from Roberts with the pattern of the second half set.

Bramall was putting a shift in at both ends, dashing down the left to support Ogbene, his cross headed at goal by Kelly.

When Burnley finally broke Rotherham’s resistance and shattered Hemfrey’s dreams of a debut clean sheet, it was a moment of beauty from Benson after Tariqu Fosu-Henry’s pass to release Ogbene had been cut out.

Game over, surely? Not so. Substitute Ben Wiles played the ball into the danger area, Ogbene cut it back from the byline and Kelly swept home from eight yards.

Champagne on ice for Burnley. The survival beers back in the fridge for Rotherham.

Rotherham United: Vickers (Hemfrey 46); Peltier, Wood, Humphreys, Bramall; Quina (Fosu-Henry 70), Lindsay, Coventry (Wiles 85), Ferguson (Harding 62); Ogbene, Hugill (Kelly 46). Unused substitutes: Odoffin, Hemfrey, Hjelde.

Burnley: Peacock-Farrell; da Silva, Al Dakhil, Beyer, Maatsen; Cullen, Vitinho (Benson 70) Gudmondsson (Cork 83); Roberts, Twine (Obafemi 77), Zaroury; Foster (Barnes 77). Unused substitutes: Harwood-Bellis, Bastien, Muric.

Referee: R Madley (West Yorkshire).