A typical pre season friendly. One I wish I hadn’t bothered with. The lure of a local derby at a new stadium along with seeing new signings and old players was too much to resist, but in the end just a typical pre season friendly like any other.
Barnsley were poor throughout and Rotherham were clearly more up for the occasion in the first game at the New York stadium.
Barnsley took the lead in the first half with a fanatstic 20 yard drive from Jacob Mellis following some neat build up play.
Rotherham were level a minute later through Noble and former Barnsley man Kayode Odejayi sealed the win with a tap in just before half time.
Former Barnsley men Odejayi and Nardiello received a great reception from the travelling support and both were a handful for the reds throughout.
Barnsley were under clear instructions for the goalkeeper to roll it out to the defenders and build from there. Rotherham were aware of this and closed down quickly forcing the reds in to mistakes.
It was a policy Barnsley would not abandon though. Friendlies are the time to do such things. Keith Hill likes to get the ball down and play and it will serve in good stead for when the season starts.
The only bright spot from Barnsley as far as I could see was the performance of Jordan Clark when he came on.
He ran at the Rotherham defence, created chances and had his own. A poor decision to pass rather than shoot was a mild blemish on his performance.
The match fitness aspect of these games is what is important and I’m sure we will be firing on all cylinders when the season begins.
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