Rotherham United 1 Doncaster Rovers 2: Triple substitution leaves Matt Hamshaw staring down the barrel
It was Matt Hamshaw squirming in the spotlight at full-time, but opposite number Grant McCann who was the really decisive influence on Doncaster Rovers' 2-1 win at Rotherham United.
"Sacked in the morning," sang the sold-out 2,270 away section in between gloats of "Rotherham going down" as the Millers threw a 1-0 lead and and 41-year hoodoo over a Rovers team who had not won in this part of South Yorkshire in 14 matches.
The last time they did the double over the Millers was 1949-50.
But it was the boos from his own fans as he headed down the tunnel which will have hurt Hamshaw the most.
The defeat hinged on a triple half-time substitution from McCann which breathed life into his flat team and sucked it out of their hosts at the same time.
That it was a Cameron Dawson error which allowed Doncaster to take the points, only made it more painful.
Despite having to change their XI in the warm-up, swapping Zak Jules out for Emmanuel Adegoyega, Rotherham got their noses in front in an instant.
There were about 26 seconds gone when Jay McGrath pulled full debutant Duncan Watmore back in the area, trying to make up for his poor touch.
Thimothee Lo-Tutala delayed the spot kick for more than two minutes but could not keep it out, Sam Nombe going down the middle as he dived left.
It would be a difficult start to the game for Doncaster and especially McGrath, booked for the foul and shanking a clearance in the 12th minute.
Neill Byrne's frustration spilt out into a 17-minute booking for dissent.
On his first first-team start for 13 months, Watmore kicked off the game in the middle of a front three, but the cushion allowed him to drop into an inside-right position and help his team out in midfield.
He nearly created a goal in the 22nd minute, chasing a ball over the top, but seeing Jack Senior just beat Shaun McWilliams to the pull-back.
It took an excellent Senior tackle in the penalty area to stop him having a shot himself in the 44th minute.
Doncaster were conceding too many free-kicks and one from out on the left by Josh Benson went all the way through, forcing a Lo-Tutala save.
A minute later Harry Gray took on a volley with two many dark blue shirts around him, and was unable to force it through.
A McWilliams ball in at the end of the half was just behind Nombe.
But that Rotherham was nowhere to be seen in the second half.
Watmore and Benson faded, as they were always likely to, and both came off in the 75th minute. But by then the Rovers substitutes had turned the game around.
Glenn Middleton led the way.
He had been on the field less than six minutes when he knocked the ball around Sheffield United loanee Jamal Baptiste, and won a corner in front of the energised away fans. Luke Molyneux had a shot blocked when the corner came to him.
It was no surprise Rovers were level within five minutes, or that Middleton was at the heart of it.
He beat Joe Rafferty on the left, then put in a ball Brandon Hanlan – who had also come on at the break along with Harry Clifton – stretched to tap in.
Clifton and Senior suffered a nasty clash of heads as Doncaster scored their second, but it was nowhere near the pratfall which had befallen Dawson.
A hopeful 69th-minute ball over the top was his all day long but Molyneux chased it anyway and was able to charge down the clearance. He kept his head, shifted the ball out of his feet and curled around Dawson and into the unguarded net.
Rotherham pushed for an equaliser without ever convincing that they would get it, Adegboyega threading a lovely ball to Benson, who fell over in the area without getting a penalty. Gray, wandering about more to try and make his mark, shot wide.
But Nombe's penalty would be one of only two Rotherham shots on target of the game – Benson’s free-kick the other – whereas Neill Byrne had a back-post tap-in flagged offside.
Even for a derby, the emotions of both sides were extreme at full-time.
Rotherham United: Dawson; Rafferty (Cover 79), Adegboyega, Baptiste, James; McWilliams (Martha HT), Spence, Benson (Yearwood 75); Gray, Watmore (Biancheri 75), Nombe.
Unused substitutes: Cann, Agbaire.
Doncaster Rovers: Lo-Tutala; Sterry, Byrne, McGrath, Senior; Gotts (Broadbent HT); Molyneux (Gibson 87), Bailey, Lee (Clifton HT), Adelakun (Middleton HT); Sharp (Hanlan HT).
Unused substitutes: Pearson, Oram.
Referee: S Mather (Atherton).