Wolves edged to another three precious points in their promotion bid this
afternoon, but Division One strugglers Rotherham departed from Molineux nursing
a sense of bitter injustice.
Miller's boss Ronnie Moore had to be restrained by stewards at the final
whistle as he tried to confront referee Paul Armstrong to protest about George
Ndah's decisive strike on 76 minutes.
Ndah had been on the field for only two minutes in place of Shaun Newton when
he climbed well above keeper Mike Pollitt to head towards goal from Kenny
Miller's right-wing centre.
Although the ball was then grabbed by Pollitt from under the bar, the
assistant referee signalled it had crossed the line, with Rotherham midfielder
Stewart Talbot booked for leading the protests.
Wolves just about deserved their victory - a fourth in five league games - but
made heavy weather of it on a soggy pitch which had been protected from the rain
by plastic sheeting.
Dave Jones' team had lost six home matches before this afternoon.
And that threatened to stretch to seven when Alan Lee shook off a poor
challenge from Kevin Muscat to rifle home following Rob Scott's clearance two
minutes before the interval.
Wolves had struggled to break down a packed defence, although Nathan Blake had
headed wide from a golden chance teed-up by Newton.
The Welsh striker also sent a more difficult header bouncing wide, but
Rotherham were fairly comfortable hanging onto their lead going into the final
quarter of the game.
But Wolves were level on 69 minutes when Dean Sturridge side-footed home from
the edge of the box following a pass from skipper Paul Butler.
It was the striker's 10th goal of the season and the catalyst for a
much-improved spell from the home side which was to bring the winner.
Rotherham were denied a leveller by a goal-line clearance from Ndah in a
scramble near the end and have now gone six league games without a win, leaving
them facing a real battle to beat the drop.
Wolves, though, look in a strong position to regain their top-flight status
after today's result opened up a four-point cushion over the chasing pack for
the second automatic promotion place.
Teams:
Wolverhampton: Oakes, Muscat, Lescott, Butler, Camara,
Newton (Ndah 74), Cameron, Rae, Kennedy, Blake (Miller 62),
Sturridge.
Subs Not Used: Andrews, Pollet, Murray.
Booked: Cameron.
Goals: Sturridge 69, Ndah 77.
Rotherham: Pollitt, Scott, Swailes, McIntosh, Hurst, Warne,
Talbot (Monkhouse 80), Watson, Mullin, Sedgwick (Robins 80),
Lee.
Subs Not Used: Gray, Richard Barker, Branston.
Booked: Talbot, Warne, Watson.
Goals: Lee 43.
Att: 22,591
Ref: P Armstrong (Thatcham).
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