Wolves 6-4 Rotherham

In what was quite possibly the strangest game I've seen in my life, Wolves somehow beat Rotherham 6-4 to keep Brentford at bay in the battle for the League One title.

Kieran Agard gave Rotherham the lead, before a 20 minute blitz saw Wolves take a 3-1 lead into the break, with goals from Nouha Dicko (2) and Dave Edwards. Agard scored his second of the game on the hour, but Dicko went one better and put Wolves 4-2 up with his hat-trick goal. But Agard wasn't to be denied, and after Joe Skarz made it 4-3, the former Everton and Yeovil man scored his third of the game to seemingly grab a point for Rotherham. Except Wolves weren't done yet, and Sam Ricketts' first for the club and Kevin McDonald's second in two games made it 6-4.

- So... about 6 months ago I was organising a trip to China. Easter, I thought, that'll be a fine time to go. I'll miss the games against Peterborough and Crewe, but I'll be back for the crucial end to the season. If I'm being honest, I was more worried about being out the country at the end of May and so missing a potential trip to Wembley for a Playoff Final. I think I was the only Wolves fan in the world praying that Rotherham would beat Sheffield United and Bradford, delaying the inevitable promotion until I returned. Alas, Rotherham let me down and I had to follow our triumphant return to the Championship in the middle of the night in an airport hotel in Shanghai. Of course I was pleased promotion was secured, but it felt like I was missing out. Having been at Cardiff in 2003, QPR and Barnsley in 2009, Blackburn in 2011, then Manchester City and Brighton in 2012 and 2013 I was gutted not to be at Crewe.

- But, onto today. Even with promotion secured, Kenny Jackett resisted the opportunity to make a couple of changes, keeping the same line up that beat Crewe. I had wondered whether Matt Doherty, such an integral cog in the defence pre-Christmas, would be given a game or even Liam McAlinden but I fully understand Jacket wanting to give the 11 who won last week the opportunity to play in front of 30,000 fans. Saying that, if anyone deserved to play today, then it's Jack Price. It does seem very much like Jackett has two distinct ideas about his midfield three, choosing either a double pivot supporting a more advanced 'number 10' or a single defensive player behind two box-to-box style players. The immaculate Kevin McDonald plays whatever; it just seems to depend on who out of Jack Price, Lee Evans, Dave Edwards and Michael Jacobs are available for the other slots to determine the shape of the midfield. 

- Rotherham played a lopsided 4-4-2 formation, with Kieran Agard playing very high on the right flank, more as a forward than a midfielder. He caused Scott Golbourne a few problems, and (I think) he won the free kick from which Rotherham opened the scoring. It was a right footed out swinging delivery that we didn't deal with, forcing Richard Stearman and Danny Batth to make desperate blocks, deflecting the ball over the bar. But from the subsequent corner, Agard was left unmarked and was able to direct the corner inside an unmarked far post. I would say that the goal was against the run of play; just before they scored I was thinking that Rotherham looked quite pedestrian and we shouldn't have too many issues.

- I think the goal rattled us slightly, immediately after we were sloppy, losing the ball poorly. This was epitomised by an attempted short corner from Jacobs to McDonald. McDonald's first touch was unusually poor, forcing him to head back towards our goal before putting the ball out for a Rotherham free kick. But the fact we had a corner at all demonstrates that we still posed a threat, and he equaliser wasn't long in coming. We were fortunate to win a throw in deep in Rotherham territory. Sako drove to the by-line, and instead of cutting the balm back to Dave Edwards, drove a cross to the near post. The goalkeeper could only push the ball on Nouha Dicko's boot, in a similar fashion to James Henry's goal against Oldham Athletic earlier in the season. 

- Two goals created by fullbacks ensured Wolves went into the half-time break with a two-goal lead. Firstly, Sam Ricketts played a delightful defence splitting pass from about 15 yards inside Rotherham's half. It found Nouha Dicko free inside Rotherham's penalty area, and though I thought he'd taken too long, he was able to finish. Scott Golbourne created the third, with a driving run through Rotherham's midfield. He was able to slip a through ball to Dave Edwards who slotted past Adam Collin in the Rotherham goal. 

- At half time, Kenny Jackett made a change, bringing on James Henry for Lee Evans. Michael Jacobs moved in a central midfield position while Henry took up his usual slot on the right wing. This seemed to affect the balance of the team, with McDonald in particular looking isolated and frustrated by the lack of support from his fellow central midfielders. In addition, Rotherham started the second half very well and we just couldn't get on the ball. We were thankful for an excellent Carl Ikeme save as he tipped over Haris Vuckic's bending left footed effort. Rotherham fully deserved their second goal, with the impressive Nicky Adams, a short, squat right footed left winger, running across the pitch, before rolling the ball back to James Tavernier who swung a cross in. Batth's header went straight up in the air, and Agard was quickest to react for his second goal. 

- There was a feeling that Rotherham would get the next goal, but Nouha Dicko wasted a great chance to grab a hat trick after a lovely counter attack involving Michael Jacobs and Bakary Sako. But, Dicko wasn't to be denied and made it 4-2 after another counter attack. Jacobs picked the ball up on the edge of our area, rolled the ball to Edwards to exchange passes with James Henry. Edwards reached the Rotherham by-line and cut a good ball back to Dicko who swept home at the near post. Dicko actually did really well to keep his composure as a Rotherham defender was all over him, tugging at his shirt. Dicko rook something of a battering in the second half, as Rotherham's defenders got up close and personal with him. 

- At 4-2, I think most fans breathed a sigh of relief and assumed the game was over. But almost immediately after Joe Skarz smartly finished Nicky Adams' cross and it was game on. At this point we started to defend incredibly deeply, a little strange considering at no point did Rotherham ever look like they would get in behind us. But, we decided to defend the 18-yard box even when Rotherham had the ball on the halfway line, and this directly led to the equaliser. James Tavernier had loads of space in front of him to move forward, and while he miss hit his shot, Agard was able to direct the ball in to complete his hat trick. Had the defence had been further out, Agard wouldn't have had the time and space inside our penalty area to make it 4-4. I think of all the goals we conceded today, this was the one that worried me the most. The other three were probably down to individuals switching off, but this was goal was caused by a decision by someone to defend as deep as we did it. If I say it reminded me of Shrewsbury in the last 5 minutes of the Molineux match, then this should give you a good idea of how deep we were, and how worrying this is.

- But, this game was never going to be settled until virtually the last kick. First of all, Sam Ricketts scored a glorious finish from the edge of the area. Searching for his first goal for the club, he had earlier been so unlucky to see a mazy run finish with a left-footed effort coming back off the inside of the near post. But as a way to open your account for a club, this was something special and will surely be up there competing for Wolves goal of the season in a few weeks. And even then it wasn’t quite over as Nouha Dicko led a counter attack, unselfishly squaring for Kevin McDonald to sweep home the final game of a quite amazing match.

- Finally, a word on the idiots who continually ran on the pitch. I’m not a big fan of pitch invasions, especially when they are obviously pre-planned. Something spontaneous I could understand – had Man City invaded the pitch after Kun Agüero’s Premier League winning goal a couple of years ago, I would have fully understood. But to be invading the pitch during a game, when there are still three matches to go smacks of idiocy and a group of people who want the moment to be about them and not about the achievements of the team. It’s not often I’m embarrassed to be a Wolves fan, but this was one of them. I think the thing that annoyed me the most was that it forced the players to depart the pitch, straight down the tunnel at the final whistle. It had been an incredible match, and all the players and both sets of fans deserved the chance to acknowledge it together. Rotherham’s players completely gave their all and more than contributed to the game; if I’d been a Rotherham fan I’d have pissed off that a small minority of home fans had removed the opportunity to recognise it.