Rotherham 3 - 5 Hammers (250229489)

Dark skies made the crowd of 12100 at Not Millmoor i say. a little nervous, but the rain held off. Antonio Gleu was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Raúl Valdeón and Mario Lichtenfels. Rotherham started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Starters: Koers - Lobo Freire, Loggers, Moyano, Pisner - Narozhny, Bastiaensen, Schöffler, Nierman - Lopes, Aris.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Hammers. Lineup: Segovia - Paris, Parker, Conlledo - Eberhard, MacCormick, Harris, Jordan, Truchsess - Benítez, Meingassner.

Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 24 minutes into the match, and E. Eberhard wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After 31 minutes Rotherham's D. Schöffler limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. After 32 minutes, Rotherham sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached L. Nierman, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 1 - 1. 40 minutes into the game, I. Benítez was a hair's breadth away from giving Hammers the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by M. Koers saved the home team that time. 41 minutes into the game, R. Meingassner had a great chance to put his team ahead, but his kick from the left went wide. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Rotherham enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 60 percent of possession.

With 64 minutes played A. Aris almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. P. Harris behaved like an inexperienced youth player after 66 minutes as he gave the ball away to D. Schöffler. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. 67 minutes into the match, Hammers nearly took the lead, as A. Jordan broke through on the right. M. Koers made the save, however. Hammers made it 1 - 2 as L. Conlledo got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to G. Truchsess who whipped a low drive in off the far post. M. Koers got a fingertip on I. Benítez's shot from the left 73 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. L. Nierman has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 75 minutes into the match. Rotherham's E. Lopes made an attempt at equalising 76 minutes into the match, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post and the defence easily cleared the rebound. Hammers's R. Meingassner was shown a yellow card after 77 minutes for slicing down an opponent. A foul 79 minutes into the game resulted in a free kick for Rotherham. D. Schöffler took advantage as he curled the equalising goal into the top corner, just out of the reach of the keeper. 2 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Rotherham, with 60 percent of the ball.

As neither team had managed to win, extra time was called. Rotherham made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left W. Loggers completely alone with keeper D. Segovia, who made a spectacular block. After extra time, the game was still tied and a penalty shoot-out ensued.

Rotherham's D. Schöffler didn't hesitate but D. Segovia managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 2 - 2 score. Hammers's R. Meingassner showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 2 - 3. Clearly nervous from the start, Rotherham's M. Koers took a long run up, but could only blast the ball over the bar. The score remains 2 - 3. Hammers's G. Truchsess coolly put the ball past M. Koers. 2 - 4. Rotherham's D. Pisner was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 3 - 4! Hammers's I. Benítez kept his cool as he faced down M. Koers. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 3 - 5. Rotherham's L. Moyano looked like he knew exactly where he wanted to put the ball, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the left hand post. Still 3 - 5. Oooh - how unlucky! Hammers's L. Conlledo attempt hit the underside of the bar, but rebounded down into the grateful arms of M. Koers. The score stays 3 - 5. Rotherham's I. Lobo Freire didn't look like he was confident as he stepped up, and produced a badly struck penalty - right into the arms of D. Segovia. The score remained 3 - 5. Hammers's E. Eberhard looked nervous even as he was putting the ball on the spot. He didn't take much of a run up, and his weak shot was easily saved by the keeper. Most important Rotherham player was L. Bastiaensen. On the other hand, M. Koers's play was disheartening. S. Paris performed admirably for Hammers. G. Truchsess turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 5.