Huddersfield Town 1 Rotherham United 0: Two moments of mirth on joyless afternoon for Terriers - heartbreak for Millers
ON an eminently forgettable and joyless afternoon from a Huddersfield Town perspective, there were two moments of mirth.
Home supporters, in a tetchy mood for most of this all-Yorkshire game, broke into a brazen chorus of ‘We’ve had a shot’ when big centre-half Murray Wallace powered forward on the hour to conjure their first effort on target.
It had been a tough watch for those with blue and white affiliations - with a fair number booing off their side at half-time.
There was further mocking humour at the 76th-minute breakthrough in an awful moment for Rotherham United defender Lenny Agbaire.
He rose highest following Sean Roughan to flick the ball horribly past Millers keeper Ted Cann.
It was a hugely painful moment for the Millers, the better side for much of this derby contest and looking good value to take at least a point in their survival fight alongside a third successive clean sheet.
For Town, it was a third successive win against a Yorkshire side on home soil at League One level in 2026.
Poor for most of the afternoon, this constituted a hugely fortunate break for the hosts in their top-six quest. At this stage of the season, you take what you can.
Huddersfield made two changes, with Alfie May missing out through illness and Lasse Sorensen dropping to the bench. Dion Charles was missing from the match-day squad.
It was a noteworthy afternoon for Antony Evans, handed his first league start since the final day of last season, while Cam Ashia - who impressed in the Trophy fixture against the Millers earlier this year - also started.
Agbaire, Shaun McWilliams and Liam Kelly came in for the visitors with Dan Gore and Dru Yearwood sidelined with injury and Duncan Watmore starting from the bench.
It was the visitors who made the better start, with a sense of angst and edginess soon apparent among the sparsely populated home sections of the stadium.
Harry Gray, again operating on the left, cut inside and saw his strike blocked, not entirely convincingly, by the body of Nicholls, who was subsequently called into action to make a big save, keeping out a deflected strike from Shaun McWilliams, who was spinning towards the goal.
From the resulting corner, Zak Jules should have done better with a close-range header after Gray won the air miles, initially.
Town, who utilised Bali Mumba as a right-back in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Evans in an advanced role and Cam Humphreys playing alongside Ryan Ledson, did hint at taking hold of the game, but it was all very fleeting in truth.
Their best move of note in the opening half-hour, by a country mile, saw Sean Roughan slot through the onrushing Humphreys down the left channel with his cross headed off target at the near post by Ryan Hardie.
The game may have been goalless at the interval, but that was perfectly fine from a Millers’ perspective.
They mustered the better chances - and the two efforts on target in the opening half - and the issues belonged to the hosts in terms of movement, tempo, execution and quality.
It was pretty underwhelming and unconvincing and the home punters showed what they thought of it at half-time with boos.
A difficult half was compounded by the sight of Radinio Balker, one of Town’s better players of late, pulling up ahead of the interval with what looked like a groin issue. After treatment, the defender came off.
Given a pretty poor first half, the urge for Manning to make further changes at the break must have been strong.
He didn’t, but his side did not provide encouragement on the resumption with the quality level being low.
The positive noises came from the visiting Rotherham contingent, who were entitled, with justification, to feel that their side could nick this if the narrative continued.
The first chance of the half was a Rotherham one, with Reece Jsmes shooting straight at Nicholls following Nombe’s cross.
Wallace then took matters into his own hands and powered forward to shoot at Cann. Ironic cheers were followed by a chorus of mocking humour from home punters.
Soon after, Manning threw on another forward in Bobby Wales alongside David Kasumu.
But it was a centre-half who had the best chance, with Josh Feeney seeing his header clawed away by Cann following Humphreys’ corner.
And then the breakthrough. Given that the game was far from a classic, it was not the biggest surprise that a blooper decided it.
Rotherham, after looking the better side, were left to lament matters somewhat.
Huddersfield Town: Nicholls; Mumba, Balker (Feeney 45), Wallace, Roughan; Ledson, Humphreys; Harness (Kasumu 62), Evans (Wales 62), Ashia; Hardie (Alves 82).
Substitutes unused: Alnwick, Sorensen, Miller.
Rotherham United: Cann; Agbaire, Jules (Sousa 78), Baptiste; Rafferty (Powell 70), Kelly, McWilliams (Biancheri 86), James (Cover 82); Martha; Nombe, Gray (Watmore 70). Substitutes unused: Dawson, Adeboyega.
Referee: M Coy (Co.Durham).