A disappointing end to a hard season was the story for Rotherham 1st XI this Saturday.  Yet again, a good local derby game was ruined by inept umpiring which resulted in Rotherham losing their final game of a very difficult season when the result should have been so different had the officials been stronger. The performance from the side cannot be criticised. Every member of the bear 11 worked hard and showed the passion of a side that were so desperate to get a win. With Rotherham using the half court press effectively, Chapeltown tried to break the hard working side down but could only resort to the long ball game which was comfortably dealt with by the boys in blue.
After 18 minutes, the first of 3 appalling umpiring decisions brought the opening goal for the home side. A controversial short corner produced 2 fine saves from Tunks, the second of which clearly put the ball onto an attacker’s foot, who then put the ball into the goal and the umpire awarded the goal bringing a huge protest from the visiting side. However, the goal stood.
In weeks gone by this would have been the catalyst for a collapse however, Rotherham upped the work rate and created chances of their own.  With some great work from Rob Owen down the Right wing, his attempted ball to Dodge in the D was cut out by the Chapeltown defender. However, the best piece of hockey through out the first half involved the Rotherham front 3. The combination of Dodge, Owen and DeSoysa tore the Chapletown back line to pieces and brought a short corner which was struck narrowly wide by Matt Beatson. At half time, Rotherham could feel hard done to to be trailing.
In the second half, Rotherham continued to use the half court press and made Chapeltown resort to the long ball again which worked into the hands of the Rotherham who deservedly equalised 15 minutes into the half with the teams goal of the season.  An aerial down the left wing from Staveley to DeSoysa set Rotherham away with a 2 on 2. He drove at the D and struck a beautiful reverse stick shot over the shoulder of the goal keeper into the right hand top corner of the goal.
This spurred Rotherham on and the team pushed hard for another goal with the home side rocking. However, the 2nd shocking decision saw Chapeltown regain the lead after 20 minutes. A short corner was awarded by the umpire for a stick tackle. Chapeltown switched the ball back to the injector who hit the ball into the goal above the back board. However, the goal was awarded, despite being clearly against the rules of the game, after the 2 umpires came together to confer and give the 2nd poor decision. Again Rotherham upped the effort and almost equalised but Matt Beatson could only find the post with the shot from 7 yards out.
Soon after, 2-1 became 3-1 through another poor decision. As Rotherham attacked, Chapeltown broke and attacked the Rotherham D. The ‘town attacker switch to the reverse and attempted to strike at goal, completely missing the ball and swinging dangerously in the D. However, the umpire allowed the play to ball to fall to another home player to put the game beyond doubt 5 minutes from time.
At the end of the game Rotherham captain, Leigh Kaighin argued extensively with the umpires and vented his anger but to no avail. The team can now learn from a very difficult season, put the bad behind them and build on the positives. The team would like to thank all of those that have been to give their support over the course of this very hard season and look forward to a better season next year.

"Rotherham seconds entertained the league champions Huddersfield this week at aurora. Due do other commitments Philip Blackburn, Steve Siddle and Steve Burrows were not available. This led to tactical changes being made by skipper Stuart Forrest, who elected to play a 5 man, mid-field with a lone striker up front. The tactic worked and within the first five minutes Huddersfield’s goalkeeper was forced to make 3 excellent saves. Rotherham continued to press with the pace of Dean Burrows and Peter Richardson causing the Huddersfield major problems but not, unfortunately, any goals.  Craig Andrews ran the mid-field so effectively that Huddersfield were confined to only a couple of breakaways one of which was saved brilliantly by Rotherham’s goalkeeper Jamie Jones.
At the break the score was 0-0 the second half saw Rotherham continue to dominate the game but being in control but not scoring was to their downfall. On one of Huddersfield rare sorties into Rotherham territory the defence was caught napping and Huddersfield took the lead. Rotherham continued to press, short corners were not working, shots went wide, the Huddersfield keeper was having the match of his life in so many ways this was not to be Rotherham’s day losing 1-0 was not on the agenda but it is was what happened           
After a series of unfortunate defeats, the 4th team were looking to
change their recent spell with a home win. Tony Henshaw and Ben Davis
both made a welcome return to the team providing some up front
firepower. The game started well with Rotherham commanding large areas
of possession. A solid defence of Swinscoe, Ferguson, Bray and Cuffy
prevented the Huddersfield attack from coming anywhere close to
scoring. A short corner opportunity from Henshaw was palmed away, but
it took Davis to smack one home at close range when Huddersfield
failed to clear their lines. Tom Cotterel playing left wing, managed
to split the Huddersfield defence several times, putting Dan Flower
through on goal. Flower rounded the keeper but was denied by the
defence who tracked back saving on the line.

The second half saw Rotherham extend their lead with Steve Pearson
scoring a neatly worked short corner followed by Tom Cotterel soon
after. 3-0 Rotherham. Huddersfield then came back, exploiting the
Rotherham defence, who had pushed up to support a Rotherham attack.
Out numbered at the back, Ferguson and Bray were unable to prevent
Huddersfield from scoring. Overall, a good result from the team. Kings
Cross at home on the 27th is their next installment.

 
TEAM               Rotherham 5th

OPPOSITION   Kingston Upon Hull 5

VENUE             Away, 1315 start

DATE      20.3.10
       

PRE MATCH 

Will Banks(GK), Richard Atkin, Sam Bowers, Freddie Bowers, Andy Selwood, Mark Fowles, Matthew Woodcock-Fowles, Andy Downs, Oliver De Roeck, Ricky Benton, Josh Foers, Tom Sorsby, Jack Hartley

Debuts for

SCORE AT HALF TIME Rotherham 0 Hull 3

SCORE AT FULL TIME   Rotherham 2 Hull 5

ROTHERHAM SCORERS

Matthew Woodcock-Fowles (1), Tom Sorsby (1)

MATCH COMMENTS    

A rainy Hull was the setting for Rotherham 5s defeat at the weekend as they lost 5-2 to Kingston Upon Hull.  The Rotherham side were outmatched in the midfield during the first half and were 3-0 down at the break, although patches of good defending and goalkeeping prevented it from being any bigger.  During the half time Rotherham 5s changed their formation and emphasised the need to pass the ball around.  Once this had been done the game was a much more even contest with Rotherham scoring two.  Matthew Woodcock-Fowles got the first using his reverse stick to hit the ball into the net, while Tom Sorsby tapped the ball from in front of the net to score the second.  The second half was better than the first, but not good enough to get any points out of the game.

NEXT WEEKS OPPOSITION/VENUE.

Saturday 27th March – Away, 1000 against Sheffield Hallam 8