Ten-man Rotherham secured an important point in their quest against relegation with a goalless draw at Hull.
The visitors were handicapped after 79 minutes when substitute Domingos Quina was sent off for a professional foul on the edge of the Millers’ penalty box.
But Rotherham boss Matt Taylor will be the happier of the two managers as the hosts – now with one win in nine – never looked cohesive inside the final third until Quina was dismissed.
Before that, a near-sell-out crowd had endured a damp squib of a Yorkshire derby from which neither side deserved to win.
Hull substitute Ozan Tufan struck the crossbar after 63 minutes, but Liam Rosenior’s men never gained enough momentum to make it count where it mattered.
Rotherham had lost their last two matches, but they were disciplined at the back and fully warranted parity in a result that keeps them two points above the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.
A poor first half never got going until Regan Slater, who firstly did well to break up a Rotherham attack in his own penalty area, dragged one just wide of the left post after 15 minutes.
But Hull fans expecting their side to have then shown greater enterprise were frustrated.
Rotherham improved markedly following Slater’s half-chance – with Shane Ferguson’s dangerous set-pieces emblematic of the visitors’ threat going forward.
Taylor was, however, indebted to the agility of goalkeeper Viktor Johansson after 27 minutes.
Adama Traore’s perfect threaded ball towards Ryan Longman inside the penalty area provided the Hull attacker with a one-on-one opportunity from a central position.
Longman did everything right with a cute lob, but Johansson stayed big and strong to snuff out the danger.
Rotherham, however, continued to probe, and Ferguson will regret not having made cleaner contact off a skidding cross from Cohen Bramall shortly before the break.
The beginning of the second half mirrored that of the first: Hull having plenty of the ball, but not doing anything with it, and Rotherham offering a fleeting threat from the wings.
That was until the 63rd minute when Malcolm Ebiowei teed up Lewie Coyle on the right of Rotherham’s box.
Coyle’s low cross was deflected towards Johansson, who parried the ball towards substitute Tufan.
Tufan’s powerful hit was goalbound, but Ferguson did brilliantly to pre-empt the danger – with the ball ricocheting off the Northern Ireland international’s back and onto the crossbar.
Similarly to when Longman was denied in the first half, Rotherham rallied, but they gave away possession in a decent attacking position that led to Quina’s sending off.
Tufan was artfully played through on goal by Traore in a stirring counter-attack, with Quina having little option but to foul the Mali international inches from the inside of the penalty box.
The resulting free-kick came to nothing as Rotherham – one late Slater chance aside – played out the remainder of the game with relative ease.
