Preston North End 1-2 Rotherham United: Millers battle to win over Preston
- Published
Joe Rafferty headed the ball into his own goal inside the opening minute of the game
Rotherham held on for a narrow victory over Preston to pick up their fourth win in six games and give their survival chances a boost.
The Millers went ahead courtesy of an own goal after 15 seconds when Lilywhites defender Joe Rafferty headed Freddie Ladapo's shot beyond goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
Preston dominated the rest of the half but were unable to force an equaliser - and then went 2-0 down after 55 minutes when Ben Wiles struck.
Ched Evans pulled a goal back for the hosts 10 minutes later, but Rotherham managed to hold on for a vital win.
It was a dream start for the Millers as the retreating Rafferty misjudged Ladapo's ball forward and headed it past Iversen to register the second-fastest goal in the Championship this season.
But Preston responded well to going behind so early and Everton loanee Anthony Gordon was enjoying an influential debut, going close with a free-kick he had won himself after 20 minutes.
The Millers were indebted to goalkeeper Viktor Johansson for staying in front in the first half, with the Swede producing a string of fine saves, the best of them a flying effort to deny Jayson Molumby.
Preston picked up where they left off in the second half and were straight onto the front foot again, but could not find the equaliser and were soon made to pay.
The visitors stretched their lead against the run of play when Lewis Wing found space on the left and crossed for Wiles, who arrived to slot the ball past Iversen.
They seemed to have weathered the storm and almost grabbed a third when Wing's reverse pass found Wiles again but this time Iversen diverted it wide.
Preston eventually hit back after 65 minutes when a cross dropped kindly to Evans and the Welshman powerfully drove the ball home on the turn.
The hosts thought they had equalised with seven minutes remaining but Scott Sinclair's effort was ruled out for offside, as the Millers held on for a win that moves them out of the relegation zone and up to 20th.
Preston manager Alex Neil:
"I thought we should have won the game, we had enough chances to win the game. But we didn't take our opportunities, which is really frustrating to watch on the side of the pitch.
"You need to be clinical and deadly in those areas, but I've never seen a start to a game like that. It was frightening. The day is a sore one from me. We had so many chances, but the first goal was horrific. It's a sore one to take.
"We had a shocking start, the lads will be horrified by it. At this level we should have defended their opening goal, especially because we had every player behind the ball."
Rotherham boss Paul Warne:
"I thought Preston were easily the better side in the first half and asked us loads of questions. We were lucky to go in at half-time with a clean sheet. I don't think our performance justified a 1-0 lead at half-time.
"But we changed it a little bit and got our wing-backs to play a little bit deeper and got our foot on the ball a little bit better. And I thought in the second half we were really good.
"We got another goal and I thought our play deserved a third goal. We had to defend a bit of a siege because they threw the kitchen sink at us, so I was very happy to hear the final whistle. It's nice to be out of the bottom three, but we've got a lot of games to go."