8th October 2000   

Millers stroll

The game was just 40 seconds old when Paul Warne gave the home side the lead with his third goal of the season. A long throw-in from Rob Scott put Oldham immediately on the back foot. The ball was half-cleared, but dropped nicely to Warne 15 yards out, who rifled in a splendid low shot to beat Gary Kelly. Oldham were still trying to find their feet as Rotherham continued to push forward and in the 6th minute the Yorkshire side stretched their advantage. Again it was a long throw from Scott that caused Oldham problems.

The ball was cleared back out to Scott on the right and he picked out youngster David Artell who produced a well-directed header past the keeper for his second senior goal for the club. Oldham were clearly stunned by the two-goal blast and were edgy and nervous as Rotherham with their nerves settled looked comfortable and confident as they produced some impressive football. On-loan striker Alan Lee missed two golden chances to add more goals for the home side in as many minutes. First he headed wide and then hit a first-time point-blank shot straight at the keeper. Another splendid effort from Garner was blocked and when Trevor Berry spun in a shot just before the break, the effort was deflected wide.

After the break Lee had two more excellent efforts to score, but each time chose the wrong option allowing Kelly to save with comfort and ease. Meanwhile Oldham could produce only four scoring efforts during the whole game. A Lee Duxbury half-chance was drilled wide, another from Phil Salt was a dipping 20-yarder over the top. Matthew Tipton blazed a rising shot over the bar and Shaun Garnett scooped one over. But Rotherham rounded off an excellent afternoon when Stuart Talbot grabbed Rotherham's third goal after 77 minutes. He cut in from the left and blasted a shot that the keeper got his hand to, but failed to stop

Teamtalk Oldham

Rotherham United	3	v	0	Oldham Athletic	Full-time
Warne  1   Artell  6   Talbot  79
13:00 Kickoff

Rotherham picked up a comfortable three points with a 3-0 win at home to Oldham today thanks to two goals in the first six minutes.
The Millers made a flying start to their Second Division clash at Milmoor against a side currently just two points off of the bottom of the League table.
After only forty four seconds first blood went to the home team to put the Boundary Park outfit on the back foot.
Rob Scott's long throw into the area was only partially punched away by Gary Kelly in the visitor's net but unfortunately for him it fell perfectly for Paul Warne on his left foot and he happily lashed it into the back of the net.
Things went from bad to worse five minutes later too as Scott did the damage once again with a deep cross that found David Artell arriving at the back post to head home for the second in only his third senior start for Rotherham.
Little was seen of Oldham as an attacking force for the entire game as they recorded only one shot on target, and that allowed the home team to cruise to victory although they should have had more.
It was without doubt the easiest home win of the season for the Millers, Alan Lee should have had two or three goals for his efforts and he missed an absolute sitter just after the quarter of an hour mark that would have put the game completely out of reach for Oldham.
Scott, Warne and substitute Monkhouse should all have added to the tally but a third goal did end up coming with only a matter of ten minutes of normal time remaining when Stuart Talbot picked up on a Paul Hurst throw and barged past Shaun Garnett to smash in a shot that Kelly could only parry up and over his head into the back of the net.
That completed a comfortable win for the Millers and left Oldham to travel home wondering what they can do to halt their current struggle near the foot of the table.