Rotherham United vs Watford. Sky Bet Championship.
New York StadiumAttendance10,607.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Rotherham and Watford at the New York Stadium as Vakoun Bayo scores to cancel out Richard Wood's opener on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 3 September 2022 18:25, UK
Rotherham survived a late onslaught to claim a creditable 1-1 draw with Watford.
Both sides would have been happy to see out the transfer window without losing their star men and ultimately feel the same satisfaction with sharing the points in what was an even game.
Skipper Richard Wood scored for the third straight home league match to give Rotherham a surprise lead in only the second minute but it was cancelled out before the break by Vakoun Bayo.
Watford, who were two divisions higher than their hosts last season, piled on the pressure late on but could not find a winner.
Veteran defender Wood was on hand to head The Millers in front from Wes Harding's looped cross to stun the visitors and notch his fourth of the season already.
Cohen Bramall then tested Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann with a driven free-kick which had to be pushed away.
Rotherham continued to threaten and Conor Washington was the next to try his luck but his shot from the edge of the box bobbled wide.
The first bit of quality the visitors produced got them level on 33 minutes. Ken Sema wriggled free down the left flank and his cross was volleyed in emphatically by Bayo.
Rotherham almost began the second half with another early goal but Lee Peltier's effort from a long throw was deflected just inches wide for a corner.
Watford responded with Bayo forcing a save from Viktor Johansson after Joao Pedro had caused problems down Rotherham's right-hand side.
It was an open game and the next chance fell Rotherham's way, with midfielder Dan Barlaser forcing Bachmann into an unconventional save with a long-range effort which was swerving.
The visitors were within inches of going in front when Bayo glanced a header from dangerman Pedro's cross which bounced off the post and to safety.
Watford were really stepping up their search for a winner going into the final 20 minutes and brought on Keinan Davis to bolster their attack even further. He almost made an immediate impact but his powerful shot, which looked goal-bound, was heroically blocked by Harding.
The visitors cranked up the pressure in the final 10 minutes but Rotherham survived a succession of set-pieces without too much panic and had Johansson to thank for bravely collecting a number of crosses comfortably.
An injury in added time extended the period Rotherham had to hang on for but they managed to keep the ball deep in Watford territory to earn a share of the spoils.
Rotherham's Paul Warne: "I am really pleased. I thought first half we were excellent and put a very good team under pressure. I said after 20 minutes that we needed to make hay while the sun shined and get a second goal because no game you're in the ascendancy for 90 minutes.
"We gave the ball away and got punished. We staggered into half-time. The lads defended gallantly and on another day we could have lost. I don't want to lose back-to-back games. So to pick up a point is nice and it gives the lads confidence that we can compete."
Watford's Rob Edwards: "I was really disappointed with the start of the game. They were more aggressive and more on the front foot. Clearly the goal I'm disappointed with and it took us a while to adjust and grow into the game. Once we did that, we looked a decent team. We scored a fantastic equalising goal and just kept pushing but could not find a way through. Half-time came at the wrong time for us because we were really starting to push.
"We got the control again over the last 25 minutes but just could not find the way. Full credit to them. They did extremely well and we need to be very, very humble and understand that you have to earn every single point, and that is not just here. There was never a feeling that we would just turn up today and win the game, not at all. We leave with a point after going 1-0 down and that's fine."
