With that win under their belt Coventry would have been confident in making it 3 wins out of 3, particularly after watching us play like a set of kids against Scunthorpe earlier in the day.
For this game Jebu reverted back up front with Burnsy and Andy P moved back into the side. Dan, returning into first team action after a lengthy absence with a dislocated knee was tasked with looking after a tricky Coventry winger at RB.
IMFC started in confident mood and was well on top from the get go. Coventry seemed happy with qualification to the cup and not as hungry to top the group as the Rotherham troops. Some fantastic football was being played with the wingers causing Coventry no ends of problems and plenty of creativity in midfield. At the back the defence was looking solid against a lively Coventry attack.
IMFC got the breakthrough half way through the first half and it was well deserved. A break down the right from JV saw a ball hit hard and low into the middle where Burnsy almost killed the keeper from close range with a booming shot. The ball dropped around the penalty spot and the defenders should have reacted to clear but stood still. Jebu reacted first and got in front of his defender and with the rest of the defenders moving towards him a simple ball to Burnsy gave the big man a tap in to put the Millers 1-0 up.
Not soon after the game got even better for the Millers. Some fantastic wing play from JV saw him outpace several defenders before playing a superb inside pass to Burnsy. The big man took it on his run and deftly changed the direction of the ball to leave the keeper stranded.
IMFC were on fire and looking to replicate the quick fire 3 goals as against Crewe. The ball dropped loose inside IMFC territory and Jebu picked the ball up, skipped past two challenges and outpaced (yes! Even surprised myself) the rest of the Coventry defence. He cut inside after a long 50 yard run and struck his shot hard and low but the keeper pulled off a good save. On the rebound Jebu tried a lob but it was cleared off the line by the retreating Coventry defence.
With a few minutes to go before half time Coventry struck a wonder goal to make it 2-1 and put Coventry back in with a shout of snatching a draw and topping the group. A corner was cleared by the IMFC defence and it fell out wide to a Coventry winger, he hit the ball with bend and power from a wide angle and it flew into the top corner. There was little Shark could do but the Millers were happy with a 2-1 lead at half time, playing some fantastic football.
The Millers went at Coventry from the off just as they did in the first half. With 3 minutes gone Coventry were lucky to still be on the pitch with 11 men and the Millers won a penalty. A corner came in and as it was headed goalwards the defender on the line blatantly palmed the ball away to prevent a goal. He received a yellow card and Gaz Elliot stepped up. The keeper produced a wonder save and IMFC were left wondering if Coventry might sneak an equalizer to top the group.
There was no need for fears as a few minutes later JV scored the Millers 3rd they richly deserved. The ball was half cleared by the Coventry defence but fell to Burnsy. The big man nicked the ball past the defence and it looked a heavy touch likely to go out for a goal kick. All defenders stopped but the big man didn’t give up and got to the ball and looped it back across goal. JV lurked back post to smack hard and high into the roof of the net to send the Millers contingent wild.
Rotherham played some fantastic football from here on in and created a host of chances. Coventry to be fair did look a decent side but kept getting blitzed by sweeping Millers attacks. It was too much for the defender who punched off the line and he decided to do the same thing on the half way line, two deliberate hand balls and he was off. With a few minutes to go IMFC made it 4-1 it what was the best quality goal of the tournament.
Some hard battling by the IMFC midfield won the ball and a sweeping ball by Gaz was played out wide to Jebu who had peeled out wide. With his back to play and 3 defenders approaching he did a back heal volley flick into the path of strike partner Burns. Mr Burns then flicked the ball past the defender, ran around him to collect the ball and as the keeper came out he cheekily lobbed him with the outside of his foot. Quality all around from midfield play to cheeky back heel to the exquisite finish.
The game ended 4-1 and the Millers were satisfied with a performance that meant they had ended the group stage scoring 10 and conceding 2 and Mr Burns scoring 7 of them goals and looking on fire.
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