Bradford City 2 Rotherham United 3: Millers rewarded for keeping faith with under-pressure Logan

BOTH managers plan to beat Thursday’s emergency loan transfer deadline as they concentrate on different ends of the table.

Victorious Rotherham chief Andy Scott is seeking a replacement for flank player Gareth Evans, whose appearance at former club Bradford was cut short by an early crunching challenge from Michael Flynn that damaged ankle ligaments, which may not mend until Christmas.

Beleaguered Bantams chief Phil Parkinson hopes to bolster his attacking options by bringing in out of favour striker Paul Benson from one of his former clubs, Charlton.

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The Millers made it six games unbeaten to put a five-match losing run firmly behind them and revive play-off aspirations, even though original automatic promotion hopes may be beyond them.

City, however, are perilously close to the bottom two and relegation from the Football League would be disastrous.

Captain Flynn turned from hero to villain and it was vice versa for Millers goalkeeper Conrad Logan.

Trailing 3-1 as the game went into three minutes of stoppage time and with a 70th-minute triple substitution having failed to produce dividends, City were handed two penalty lifelines – ironically from the two players brought on to stiffen Rotherham’s defence.

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First, Michael Raynes, who had just come on, missed a header and Jason Taylor inadvertently handled, leaving Flynn to drill the penalty kick down the middle as Logan went to his left.

Then, when Kyel Reid’s deep corner was headed back across the area, Flynn’s volley was handled on the line by substitute Tom Newey, leaving the City captain with the task of equalising from the spot.

This time, Flynn went for placement rather than power and Logan, guilty of a couple of clangers in recent weeks and with his place under threat, dived on top of the ball to ensure victory for the visitors.

The delighted 25-year-old Irishman, on loan from Leicester City, said: “There’s no better feeling than having the ball and knowing that when you kick it away that’s it. It’s a bit of a fairytale isn’t it? There will be ups and downs so I will take the ups when they come.

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“I went on loan to Bristol Rovers at the end of last season and I made three or four penalty saves there in a couple of months. There is no pressure on you as a goalkeeper and, in a funny way, you quite like it because there’s the chance to be a hero.

“It’s a bit of mind games, putting pressure on the other player. I have my own techniques but I’m not going to reveal them.”

Logan said that he had not been affected by talk of him being dropped for Andy Warrington, adding: “I just went through a little spell where all the mistakes came at once so, hopefully, that’s out of the way. I had a good week in training and felt good and sharp coming into the game. You can’t be thinking ‘am I going to play, am I not?’ The manager makes the decisions and I have just to prepare for the game and that’s what I did.”

It was a penalty at the other end which got the Millers on their way. City players were furious that referee Mark Heywood pointed to the spot when Brett Williams’s cross struck the arm of Luke O’Brien even though the assistant who was closer to the action had not signalled a penalty.

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Lewis Grabban calmly sent Jon McLaughlin the wrong for his 12th goal of the season midway through the half.

By then, there had already been two clearances off the line in this fast, flowing Yorkshire derby.

O’Brien had blocked Danny Harrison’s diving header in the second minute and Steve Williams’s header had been headed off the line by Danny Schofield at the other end.

The Millers had been troubled by the pace of City’s attacks, Nahki Wells and Craig Fagan operating down the middle with Jack Compton and Chris Mitchell providing the width and it was these two who combined for the equaliser, Mitchell heading home from Compton’s 35th-minute cross.

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City looked favourites to set the pace after the break attacking the Kop but it was the Millers who took an immediate grip, Alex Revell firing home off the far post from just inside the area after the defence backed off as Schofield advanced down the right before squaring the ball.

It was almost 3-1 soon after when Evans’s replacement, Marcus Marshall, met a cross to the far post from Grabban but McLaughlin made a great save and Williams blocked Harrison’s follow-up.

The Millers, still smarting from last season’s defeat at Valley Parade when City’s winner did not cross the line, were not to be denied and struck their third in the 58th minute. McLaughlin parried Schofield’s low drive but Marshall pounced from close range.

James Hanson, who forced a fine save from Logan, Ross Hannah and Kyel Reid came on but it did not do the trick for Parkinson, who had thrown new loan signing Ricky Ravenhill into the fray with little preparation when a toe injury ruled out Richie Jones.

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Parkinson reflected: “We got punished severely for not coming out of the blocks strong enough for the second half.”

Bradford City: McLaughlin, Seip, Oliver, Williams, O’Brien; Mitchell (Hannah 70), Ravenhill, Flynn, Compton (Reid 70); Fagan (Hanson 70), Wells. Unused substitutes: Duke, Moore.

Rotherham United: Logan, Tonge, Taylor, Mullins, Harley; Grabban, Schofield, Harrison, Evans (Marshall 12, Raynes 90); Revell, Williams (Newey 75). Unused substitutes: Warrington, Foster.

Referee: M Heywood (Cheshire).

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