Tuesday 19 August 2008
Central League East
Rotherham United 2 (Cummins 20, Burchill 28)
Bradford City 1 (R Boulding 35)
Kick Off: 2.00pm
at Don Valley Stadium

Bradford City reserves opened their Central League season in the open surroundings of Don Valley Stadium, Rotherham United's home for the next few years.

Both sides had experience in their ranks which made for an entertaining affair played in blustery conditions.

In the opening stages David Haggerty's error saw the ball fall to Mark Bower who laid the ball on to Rory Boulding who saw his effort cleared for a corner.

The tenth minute saw Willy Topp play in Luke Sharry which brought off a fine save from home keeper Steven Cann who dived to his left to gather the ball.

Rotherham almost took the lead in the 12th minute when a slip-up by Leon Osborne allowed the much-travelled Drew Broughton a shot on goal which was deflected out for a corner by McLaughlin.

Two minutes later TJ Moncur almost capitalised on a poor back pass and when Cann ran out to dispossess the City loanee, a Rotherham defender raced in to clear.

Rotherham continued to press forward to try and break the deadlock and Mark Burchill chested the ball to Jamie Yates who had a half volley which flashed wide of the mark.

Great work from Willy Topp saw him beat his man and cut the ball back to Osborne whose 18th minute effort was launched skywards.

Rotherham took the lead in the 20th minute when Bower failed to deal with a high ball and Burchill laid the ball off to Micky Cummins whose first time shot went in off the post from the edge of the area.

In the 26th minute Osborne stole the ball and cut in from the right to smash the ball in from the edge of the area to where Cann brought off an instinctive save to tip it away for a corner.

Confusion in the City defence two minutes later saw the Millers double their lead when Burchill ran in and lobbed the ball over the oncoming McLaughlin from outside the box.

On the half hour Moncur was played in down the right where he whipped in a cross which flashed dangerously across goal but evaded everyone.

Minutes later good work by Andy Todd on the wing crossed the ball to Yates who narrowly volleyed the ball over.

City pulled a goal back in the 35th minute when Louis Horne's through ball saw Rory Boulding beat the offside trap and he rounded Cann to plant the ball into the back of the net.

Just before half time, good build up by Rotherham saw Todd receive the ball on the edge of the area and skip past two City defenders to round McLaughlin only to lose his footing at the last minute stretching to keep the ball in play.

Ten minutes into the second half Sean Taylforth played the ball down the left to cross where it fell to Horne whose shot deflected to Boulding. The City striker was unlucky not to scramble the ball home before Cann was able to gather it to prevent it rolling over the line.

In the 58th minute Moncur's long pass across field brilliantly picked out Taylforth whose deep cross was headed onto the roof of the net at the back post.

Boulding was desperately unlucky not to bring City back on level terms in the 63rd minute when Osborne make a good run through to the edge of the area where Boulding saw his shot tipped round the post for a corner.

In the 69th minute Willy Topp was replaced by Luke Dean and a minute later a long ball from McLaughlin was wind-assisted as it caught out the Millers defence to allow Boulding a first time lob which went over the bar.

Fifteen minutes from time good work on the wing by Burchill allowed him to cross from the left to substitute Ollie Hotchkiss whose shot flashed wide.

Boulding worked his way through the home defence only to see his shot smothered from close range.

Good wing play by Sharry saw him clear on the right but he chose to shoot straight at Cann rather than pick out one of several team-mates.

In the dying stages Luke Dean was almost able to get City a share of the points when Boulding crossed the ball to him in the area but the youngster's control let him down.

ROTHERHAM UNITED	BRADFORD CITY
1 Steven Cann	1 Jon McLaughlin
2 Dale Tonge	2 Thomas Moncur
3 Richard Orr	3 Luke O'Brien
4 Andy Todd	4 Luke Sharry
5 Marcus Haber	5 Simon Ainge
6 David Haggerty	6 Mark Bower
7 Mickey Cummins	7 Leon Osborne
8 Peter Holmes	8 Louis Horne
9 Drewe Broughton	9 Rory Boulding
10 Mark Burchill	10 Willy Topp
11 Jamie Yates	11 Sean Taylforth
Substitutes:	Substitutes:
12 Ollie Hotchkiss for 7	12 Adrian Bellamy
14 Grant Darley for 11	13 Chris Elliott
15 Mark Hemsley	14 Luke Dean for 10
16 Tom Cahill for 9	15 Rory Carson
17 Rees Richardson	16 Kelvin Bleau for 11

MATCH OFFICIALS:
Referee:	R J Madley
Assistant Referee:	R Atkin
Assistant Referee:	R Wootton
4th Official:	D Goodwin

GOALSCORERS:
ROTHERHAM UNITED	BRADFORD CITY
Cummins (20)	R Boulding (35)
Burchill (28)
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