Derby 3-0 Rotherham: Rams romp to victory

Derby eased to a third Sky Bet Championship win in a row as they hammered hapless Rotherham 3-0.

The Rams are upwardly mobile under Steve McClaren and they had little trouble getting past an abject Millers side who are winless in 13 games.

Tom Ince and Darren Bent scored within four first-half minutes of each other to put them on track before a second for Ince applied gloss on a win that sends Derby into the top half of the table.

Ince should have been going home with the match ball but his second-half spot-kick was one of two that Rotherham goalkeeper Lee Camp saved.

Other than Camp's performance it was another miserable afternoon for Rotherham. The loss continues a sorry season which has seen them win just once - 91 days ago against Brentford. Sitting sit nine points adrift of safety, League One already beckons.

They had 15 minutes of grace at the iPro Stadium before the Rams got going, and they hit Rotherham with a double blow which effectively ended the game as a contest.

First, from a Millers attack, Ince broke at speed and when in the penalty area, he drew a needless foul from Darnell Fisher. Although Camp superbly kept the spot-kick out, the Derby man had an empty net into which he tapped the rebound.

It was 2-0 in the 19th minute when another quick counter-attack ended in Bent drilling the ball across Camp into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

That allowed McClaren's side to assume total control and only a wonder save from Camp denied them a third on the half-hour as the Millers stopper miraculously clawed away Alex Pearce's header.

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The second half was predictably one-sided as Derby flexed their muscles and tried to further improve their goal difference.

The third came in the 63rd minute when an unmarked Ince raced onto Bradley Johnson's header and slipping past Camp.

The Millers goalkeeper proved sterner opposition four minutes later though, as he kept out a second penalty of the afternoon as he blocked Ince's driven effort. Ince deserved a hat-trick, but Camp was a worthy adversary.

Derby boss Steve McClaren: 

"We didn't start well, once we got the goal we settled. We could have scored more and we created chances. Five or six games a go we were wondering if we would ever score, but now we are creating chances and credit to the staff.

"We could have scored four, we missed a penalty but the clean sheet was important. Progress was made. We are not the full package, there is still a lot of work, but I am still encouraged by the response of the players."

Rotherham boss Kenny Jackett: 

"We are still struggling to find a defensive set-up that can keep us competitive. We started the game pretty well in the first 20 minutes, we had a lot of it, we had the ball and made inroads but then we gave two very poor goals away on the break when we were in good positions.

"The second half was similar, we were playing in and around our box and then gave away a very, very poor third goal away. The key moments took the game to them.