Promotion hopefuls Brentford climbed into fifth position in the Championship table as a second-half goal from Stuart Dallas earned them a 1-0 win over Rotherham United this afternoon.
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Following a tame opening 15 minutes in which Rotherham failed to get a foot on the ball, the visitors sought to take aim from distance as both Adam Hammill and Jack Barmby fired wildly over the Brentford goal.
Brentford had to wait for almost 20 minutes to muster their first opportunity and it came via a cross from Moses Odubajo, which saw Dallas head wide of the left post.
Richard Smallwood was the architect behind United's chance in the 24th minute when he picked out Matt Derbyshire, leaving the striker to send his effort wide of the target.
The visitors should have taken the lead when Barmby picked out Smallwood inside the box, but he was thwarted by a fine reaction save from David Button at the bottom corner.
The home side went ahead against the run of play in the second half through Dallas, who collected the ball in the centre of the box before lashing home into the bottom-left corner.
Rotherham were not ready to give up without a fight, though, as both Derbyshire and Hammill forced important saves from Button within a minute or two of each other.
Dallas almost returned to make Brentford's points secure and would have but for Adam Collin, who flew to his top-right corner to keep out the midfielder's shot from the centre of the area.
Christopher Dodd
