Notts County 0-1 Rotherham United

The feel-good factor following the Liverpool game lasted for all of thirty-seven minutes today at Meadow Lane, as an initially sprightly and confident Notts County fell to pieces once again, this time at the hands of Rotherham, who left Meadow Lane with all three points following a 1-0 win. The Millers took a lead against the run of play through Kieran Agard's close range strike, and never looked back, as Notts' atrocious form continued and left them deep in the relegation mire, behind only point-deduction sufferers Coventry City.

Chris Kiwomya began the game with a 4-5-1 formation, Dean Leacock returning to defence and Yoann Arquin the sole striker behind a packed V-shape midfield.

Buoyed by a crowd eager to watch the team that so thoroughly tested Liverpool in midweek, Notts began with swagger and confidence, and within five minutes had their first chance, but Millers keeper Scott Shearer was able to get to it.

The first proper opportunity for Notts came in the thirteenth minute, when David Bell fired a shot from the edge of the box which tested Shearer. In the same spell of action, JCR whistled a cross across the goalmouth but Arquin was unable to convert.

Rotherham's initial attempts were all well over, as the likes of Lee Frecklington blasted the ball in a manner befitting a rugby conversion. Gary Liddle in particular was on great form in defence, always getting to the ball just in time to block potentially threatening shots. There was even an amusing moment when Shearer completely misjudged a Leacock clearance, seeing it bounce right over his head. However it was nowhere close to goal.

One disappointment during this good period was that JCR had to be subbed off with an injury. Adam Coombes, the young Chelsea loanee and scorer of the equaliser against Liverpool, came on in his place.

Once again, Notts ended up conceding against the run of play. On 37, Mustapha Dumbuya, who in all honesty wasn't playing to his usual standard, conceded a free kick on the edge of his box due to a handball. The defender cautioned, Rotherham then whipped in a free kick, and following a chaotic goalmouth scramble, Agard was on hand to poke the ball home.

Following the goal, Rotherham began asserting their presence in the game, and half time came at just the right time, allowing Notts to regroup. In theory.

After a very enjoyable half time Cornish pasty which actually turned out to be the highlight of the afternoon in hindsight, business resumed from where it left off at the whistle.

In all fairness, Notts were the victims of several questionable decisions by the referee in the second half, many of them relating to Rotherham's rough and tumble style, which intensified over time as they tried to see how much they could push their luck.

But the more minutes ticked by, the more Notts just drained in confidence, and by the end of the game they just ceased to threaten the Rotherham goal and miscuing several crosses and passes, much to the chagrin of the home crowd.

There were a couple of isolated instances in the second half where Notts threatened, when Coombes took a shot from the left hand side on 68 minutes following Enda Stevens' free kick, and later on when a penalty appeal was waved away following Coombes' marauding run in the box, which was impeded by two Rotherham defenders.

The game, however, would end 1-0, and there were few positives that could be taken after such a display. Notts have one point from 15 and sit in the relegation places, behind a team whose points tally is in the minus following a points deduction. If we can just close the book on a dire August - League Cup run aside - and start afresh in September, it would be best.

Baby steps must be taken to claw back points and confidence, then if we can start slowly climbing back up the table, then good, but we need to take it step by step, for this is now a relegation battle.