Noble obliges with precious double

Bristol City 3

Rotherham 1

Half-time: 2-0

Att: 19,517

Relief, delight and celebration were all around Ashton Gate yesterday as Bristol City stuttered momentarily, looked nervous occasionally, but in the end ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Rotherham United to seal their place in next season's Championship.

The City manager, Gary Johnson, confessed he had hoped to seal promotion in front of the home support, but after last week's blip with defeat at Mill-wall and a 15-minute period midway through the first half when Rotherham assumed control, he would possibly have been fearing the worst. "No way," said a delighted Johnson. "We were not going to get beaten today. There has never been a more focused bunch of players, and their willingness to win was too great.

"This is the final chapter of this season, but it has taken this club to new heights, where we want to go to. If I had a crystal ball and knew we were going to win promotion I would want to achieve that goal here at Ashton Gate in front of a full house.

"I am proud of my players, they are a great bunch of lads, but there is still a lot of work to be done," said the former Yeovil manager.

Johnson had demanded a bright opening and his players delivered as they grabbed an early, nerve-settling goal. David Noble's fearsome volley in the eighth minute gave Neil Cutler in the Rotherham goal absolutely no chance.

However, a small period of unscripted panic set in as the Rotherham striker Marc New-sham missed a free header on the edge of the six-yard box which may well have had positive repercussions in Nottingham and Blackpool.

But Noble struck a second just before half-time to ease the nerves, with Alex Russell making it three after a sharp volley. Rotherham struck back immediately with a Newsham shot but the Bristol will remained strong and meant the post-match pitch invasion by the delirious home support was not to be denied.

The Rotherham manager, Mark Robins, said: "If we had been quicker on the ball and closed them down more it might have been different. We had one or two good chances but it was just an OK performance."

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