Exeter City 0-4 Rotherham United: FLW reports as Millers embarrass abject Grecians | OneFootball

FLW reports as in-form Exeter City hosted a struggling Rotherham United at St James Park.

Rotherham United thrashed Exeter City 4-0 at St James Park on Saturday, after scoring three goals in five minutes in the second half to stun the Grecians.

Both sides had chances to open the scoring early on, but it was Rotherham who drew first blood. A deep free-kick from Joe Powell was prodded past Joe Whitworth by Jamal Baptiste just before the half-hour mark.

Matt Hamshaw's side preserved their lead into the break, leaving the hosts in a rather unfamiliar position of being behind in a home game at the interval. There was plenty of work to do for the Grecians in the second half to claw themselves back into the contest.

The Millers started the second half well, and delivered the killing blows in a matter of minutes. It was Joe Rafferty who added the second with an accomplished finish after Sam Nombe pounced on a Luca Woodhouse error and found the full-back in the box.

Two minutes later, Leeds United starlet Harry Gray picked Pierce Sweeney's pocket, cut inside the Exeter skipper and drilled home an exceptional low effort, before Shaun McWilliams tapped home Nombe's cross three minutes later to secure three points for the visitors.

Exeter City 0-4 Rotherham United

Exeter made a bright start to the game, and forced a strong early save out of their former keeper Cameron Dawson when an indirect free-kick on the edge of Rotherham's box was directed goalwards by Jake Doyle-Hayes.

Another former Exeter man, Sam Nombe, then picked the pocket of Ilmari Niskanen on the halfway line, leaving himself one-on-one with Joe Whitworth. The Fin managed to recover and force Nombe wide, before he dragged his shot miles wide.

Some nice link-up play from Gary Caldwell's side gave them two quick chances to take the lead. Niskanen's headed cutback was volleyed just over the bar by Carlos Mendes Gomes on the edge of the box.

The Bolton loanee then played Jayden Wareham clean through just seconds later with an excellent headed pass, but his effort was straight at Dawson, who collected with ease.

Somewhat against the run of play, Rotherham took the lead just before the half-hour mark. A delightful free-kick from Powell was turned home by on-loan Sheffield United defender Baptiste at the far post.

St James Park was rather stunned into silence, as it was the first goal Exeter had conceded at home since November 8th, bringing to an end a formidable defensive record.

The Grecians looked for a quick response, and academy graduate Liam Oakes almost found it when he burst into the box after a quick free-kick, but Zak Jules was on hand to clear his effort away from danger.

On the stroke of half-time, Jack Fitzwater played a showstopping ball over the top of the Rotherham defence, which was taken down excellently by Mendes Gomes. Rafferty had to slide in at the perfect time to prevent the attacker from having a one-on-one with Dawson.

A quick Millers break then brought the first half to a close. Nombe found space on the right flank again, but drove a powerful shot past the post and into the terrace housing the away fans behind the goal.

The away side nearly doubled their advantage in the opening exchanges of the second half. Nombe curled a lovely strike towards goal from the edge of the box which Whitworth had to claw to safety.

Despite this, Exeter pressed on to try and find the equaliser, and really should've had it 10 minutes into the half. Mendes Gomes was played in via Reece Cole's delightful dink over the top, but the number seven got caught in two minds between shooting and squaring it, which gave Emmanuel Adeboyega the chance to step in and clear the danger.

Two former Exeter players then linked up to almost double Rotherham's advantage. Nombe again tested Whitworth with a curled effort, but the Crystal Palace loanee parried it straight into the path of the onrushing Jules. Thankfully for him, his defenders were on hand to bail him out.

The Millers made their pressure pay off in the 70th minute, and it was another defender on the scoresheet. A mistake by Woodhouse freed Nombe down the right, and his cutback was smashed home by Rafferty.

Not even two minutes later, it was three. Another defensive error, this time from Sweeney, saw Gray pick his pocket, cut inside, and drill an instinctive low effort into the bottom left corner.

Another two minutes on the clock, another goal. The 282 Rotherham fans behind the goal were having a blast, as Nombe burst past Woodhouse and cut the ball back across goal for McWilliams to add the fourth.

The Grecians did have a chance to get a consolation goal back near the end via a Josh Magennis header, but it rolled just wide of Dawson's far post, in what summed up his side's afternoon.

After seven minutes of stoppages, referee Paul Howard has seen enough, and brought the contest to a close, with the 282 fans in the away terrace bouncing in delight.

For Exeter, it was a first home defeat since late September, and a damaging one at that. The Grecians had looked imperious at home this season, but Caldwell left this particular encounter wondering where it all went wrong.

As for Rotherham, they were on cloud nine. It was back-to-back victories for the first time since October, and a rampant away performance to go with it. This saw Hamshaw's men climb above the dotted line in League One, as they overcame a wretched run of defeats.

Exeter City player ratings

J. Whitworth - 4

I. Niskanen - 6

P. Sweeney- 4 (S. Cox 75'(5))

J. Fitzwater - 5

L. Woodhouse - 3

L. Oakes - 5 (A. Higgins 57'(5))

J. Doyle-Hayes - 5

E. Brierley - 4

R. Cole - 5 (J. Aitchison 57'(5))

C. Mendes Gomes - 6 (T. Tutiervov 57'(5))

J. Wareham - 4 (J. Magennis 75'(5))

Unused subs: J. Bycroft, E. Turns

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Rotherham United player ratings

C. Dawson - 7

S. McWilliams - 7

J. Rafferty - 8

Z. Jules - 8

J. Baptiste - 8

R. James - 7

K. Spence - 7 (D.Yearwood 74'(5))

J. Powell - 7

D. Gore - 5 (E. Adeboyega 40'(7))

H. Gray - 7

S. Nombe - 9 (A. Martha 77'(5))

Unused subs: T. Cann, L. Agbaire, H. Douglas, J. Holmes

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Match attendance

It was another busy day at St James Park, with a total of 7,171 supporters in attendance, including an impressive 282 from Rotherham.

Speaking to Exeter City's official website, a disappointed Grecians boss Caldwell said: "A bad day all round. We all have to take responsibility in terms of the result. The performance obviously starting with me.

"I'm the manager and I take responsibility for that. We were way off of it today.

"I think it's difficult when you play a Saturday and a Tuesday away, then you come back home and not have the same spark and energy as you usually have.

"Jake [Doyle-Hayes] and Carlos [Mendes Gomes] came back into the team and I thought they did well. You could see the freshness in their performance.

"We faced defeat in the FA Cup and we dealt really well with it so we know how to deal with these situations.

"The players are going to have some recovery time now which they need, they looked fatigued in moments of that game and they have to come back ready to work and compete next week."

Matt Hamshaw reacts as Rotherham United romp to emphatic victory

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post following the match, a delighted Rotherham manager Hamshaw said: “It was an unbelievable performance. This is not an easy place to come.

"They have had four clean sheets on the bounce here. I am a real big fan of the way they play the game, they are a well-supported club that get behind their team.

“I felt that our game plan was spot on. We felt that if we could stop them from playing in certain areas, we could get something.

“I saw them play at Huddersfield recently and thought they should have won that game, they play good football and have some good players.

“We dealt with that really well and I said all along that we need more of a threat up front. Harry got his goal, but I thought Sam Nombe stretched their defence quite a lot and it is nice to score four goals."