The Fairy Gayle of New York Stadium!
WEST BROM fans sang “sign him up’’ as they saluted hat-trick hero Dwight Gayle.
Gayle took his tally to 13 goals since joining on loan from Newcastle in an August deal that sent Salomon Rondon in the opposite direction.
Boss Darren Moore, whose side kept up the pressure on top two Norwich and Leeds, said: “Dwight is a potent striker which his record shows. He illustrated here why we wanted him at the club. We’re delighted he’s with us. He scores goals but he does tremendous work for the team.’’
On the prospect of making Gayle’s move permanent next month, Moore added: “We’ve not even spoken about that. We’ve got him in a deal involving Salomon going the other way. We’re just focusing on the short term and being at the halfway mark in the season.’’
On their first visit to the New York Stadium, West Brom made the perfect start in the sixth minute when Gayle picked himself up after being upended by centre-back Clark Robertson to drill the free-kick under the defensive wall.
Albion doubled their lead in the 20th minute when Jay Rodriguez’s effort hit the foot of a post before Harvey Barnes pounced to tuck away the rebound.
Gayle struck again a minute from the break, glancing in Matt Phillips’ right-wing free-kick.
His treble arrived nine minutes into the second half when keeper Marek Rodak spilled the ball in an attempt to stop it going for a corner and Gayle guided home into the far corner.
Struggling Rotherham’s misery was complete when Ryan Manning’s 76th-minute penalty hit a post – with celebratory music blaring out briefly over the tannoy as the ball came back off the woodwork.
Boss Paul Warne said: “Could we have played any better? I’m not sure we could. We missed a penalty, which sums up the day. I don’t think we deserved to lose 4-0 – it wasn’t like we took an absolute trouncing. This league is disgusting.’’