Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HARGLEE AS BLUES HIT LATE
Millers left shattered by Blues skipper Dean
ROSS HEPPENSTALL
HARLEE DEAN’S dramatic late header clinched Birmingham’s fourth win in six games and dealt a massive blow to Rotherham’s survival hopes.
The talismanic Blues skipper nodded home a left-wing cross with just two minutes remaining to leave Lee Bowyer roaring his delight at pitchside.
Birmingham have looked anything but relegation candidates since Bowyer arrived last month and this latest success lifted them nine points clear of the third-bottom Millers.
Boss Bowyer beamed: “It was a big win. We knew it was going to be a tight game with two teams pushing each other, same formations, and cancelling one another out.
“It was just going to be who took that chance when it fell to them and thankfully we did.”
Dean (celebrating, top left) scored a career-best fourth league goal of the season and was a hero for the Blues at both ends of the pitch.
Rotherham lacked genuine quality and struggled to create clear-cut chances but they fashioned a golden opportunity early in the second half.
Lewis Wing’s fierce shot drew a brilliant block from Dean, who flung himself in front of the ball.
Bowyer added: “Harlee was outstanding in both boxes. He came up with a goal and that’s our fourth clean sheet on the spin, which is some doing in this division.
“When I walked through the door, I told the players, ‘This is what I expect and this is what I demand’. They’ve all bought into it.”
The Millers showed a marked improvement from Thursday’s 1-0 home loss to Coventry but relegation is looking increasingly likely.
Michael Smith nodded onto the roof of the net but Birmingham’s Lukas Jutkiewicz went close with headers in either half before Dean’s winner.
The strain of playing a fourth game in eight days, following a series of postponements caused by two Covid-19 outbreaks at the club, eventually told for Paul Warne’s strugglers.
Even Bowyer branded Rotherham’s fixture schedule “crazy” and Millers boss Warne said: “I have nothing but respect for the lads and you could see they were obviously jaded at the end.
“While we didn’t take our chances, we didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
“You could hear Birmingham celebrating afterwards and it’s a sad thing in sport.
“If you’re in that dressing room, your life’s perfect, but if you’re in the other dressing room, then it’s brutal.
“I’m not saying today’s result doesn’t make survival harder, because it does, but we’re still in there fighting.”
ROTHERHAM: Johansson 6, A Macdonald 6, Wood 7, Ihiekwe 6, Wing 7, Harding 6, Crooks, S Macdonald 6 (Wiles 81),
Robertson 6 (Hirst 81), Ladapo 6 (Lindsay 81), Smith 7.
BIRMINGHAM: Etheridge 7, Pedersen 6, Dean 8, Roberts 6, Sunjic 6, Gardner 7 (Hogan 89), Seddon 6 (Harper 89), Colin 7, Mcgree 6 (Sanchez 71), Leko 7 (Friend 89), Jutkiewicz (Cosgrove 89).
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