Last-gasp Rotherham stay above opponents Reading with draw

A late leveller kept Rotherham above Reading in the Sky Bet Championship following a 1-1 draw at the New York Stadium.
​
Sam Baldock’s early strike looked like being the difference between the two sides for much of the game, but Joe Mattock’s late bundled effort earned Rotherham a point.​
​
Baldock headed the first chance of the game over from Andy Yiadom’s cross.​
​
He was more clinical in the ninth minute when he sprung the offside trap from Josh Sims’ pass and tucked the ball past goalkeeper Marek Rodak and into the bottom corner.​
​
Reading almost added to their lead when John Swift went on a solo run before dragging his shot wide from the edge of the box.​
​
The ball then fell kindly to Richie Towell but his placed shot was easily cleared away from danger by Yiadom.​
​
Will Vaulks was the next to have a go from outside the area but his effort did not trouble Anssi Jaakkola.​
​
The visiting keeper’s first save did come from Vaulks’ tame effort while Swift’s liveliness almost caught out Rotherham again but Rodak pulled off a good save.​
​
Garath McCleary had a great chance to send Reading in two goals ahead at the break but he held off his run and ended up shooting straight at Rodak when clean through on goal.​
​
Rotherham manager Paul Warne introduced striker Jamie Proctor for the start of the second half and his side immediately started playing with more purpose.​
​
Vaulks had an effort blocked by Tyler Blackett and Towell forced a save out of Jaakkola.​
​
Reading were denied a second by the woodwork when Sims’ close-range strike from Swift’s pass struck a post and bounced away to safety.​
​
Proctor then showed skill and strength on the edge of the box before his effort was kept out by Jaakkola.​
​
Vaulks should have done better when he lifted an effort over the top after the ball reached him at the back post from a corner.​
​
Reading were still causing trouble of their own and skipper Leandro Bacuna came agonisingly close to sealing the points with a curling strike from the edge of the box.​
​
The Millers pushed for one of their trademark late goals but found Reading in resilient mood with Yiadom and Chris Gunter making goal-saving challenges.​
​
The crucial goal finally came in the 90th minute with Mattock poking the ball in from Joe Newell’s corner.​
​
An injury-time winner almost came from Vaulks but his volley dribbled just wide of goal.​

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'}); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '95ac5fb1-3862-4cc0-af59-787b0d22ade8'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football'); ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Last-gasp Rotherham stay above opponents Reading with draw'});