Rotherham bowed to the inevitable as their relegation to League One was confirmed, while Plymouth delivered a shot in the arm to their own chances of survival.
The Millers have known their fate for a long time. After staying quite comfortable last season, they just couldn’t get close to the championship ranks this time.
Just four wins from 41 games and 82 goals conceded tell a very sad story, with the only real surprise being that they held on until April.
Leam Richardson will have long since turned his thoughts to how they can return for the first time next season.
He has the know-how. He has guided Wigan to the League One title in 2022, ahead of Rotherham, and the South Yorkshire club know how to get out of the third tier even if they don’t make it in the second tier.
Bali Mumba (left) scored his 10th career goal in the 32nd minute to give Plymouth Argyle a huge boost in their quest for survival
The Millers saw their two-year stay in the Championship ended at the hands of Argyle on Friday evening
Rotherham have only managed to win four games from their 41 attempts in the Championship this season
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For Plymouth, Bali Mumba’s goal in the first half could be of inestimable importance.
This win put them four points clear of danger and they will now keep their feet up to see how Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday do on Saturday, having moved up two places to 19th.
Argyle gambled this week by sacking manager Ian Foster after a torrid run that saw them sucked into the mud.
They resisted the temptation to hire a ‘Houdini’ in Neil Warnock, put football director Neil Dewsnip in charge and he engineered a crucial win.
The Pilgrims still have big games ahead of them against the likes of QPR, Millwall and Stoke, all the teams around them in the table, so there can be no question of letting up.
A tight opening matched the danger of the occasion, with Plymouth’s Callum Wright the first player to get a clear view of goal on the fifteen minute mark as the sliding Hakeem Odoffin blocked his effort.
Rotherham had given themselves a reprieve by beating Millwall on Easter Monday – their first win since Boxing Day – and a bit of early pressure suggested they were still in contention.
In the 17th minute, Sam Clucas saw that a low effort from distance did not have enough power to trouble Argyle keeper Michael Cooper. Quite appalling considering their situation, that was Rotherham’s last shot of the entire half.
Gradually Plymouth, backed by an impressive contingent who had traveled from Devon on Friday evening, began to look all the more threatening with talisman Morgan Whittaker pulling the strings.
Wright headed wide from a Ryan Hardie throw when left unmarked in the middle, but Plymouth would take a crucial lead just after the half hour.
Mumba’s goal was one of the few moments of class on the night between the relegation rivals
Talisman Morgan Whittaker pulled the strings for the visitors and scored the only goal of the match
Rotherham had their chances late in the match and enjoyed more possession in the closing stages, but were unable to capitalize on them
Unsurprisingly, Whittaker was the architect, stepping into the field from the right, holding his head high and pinging a powerful pass down the left to Mumba.
It had just enough height to intercept Seb Revan’s desperate leap, with Mumba controlling the ball perfectly and smartly beating Viktor Johansson at his first post.
In no time, Plymouth rose two places in the standings, but Rotherham needed two more goals to avoid relegation for a little longer.
Plymouth continued to apply the pressure and Wright’s header at the back post was denied by Johansson as the half drew to a close.
Rotherham had to show more fight and shortly after the restart Odoffin headed over from a Clucas corner in a short lift for the largely resigned home crowd.
But they were soon holding each other again as Whittaker effortlessly skipped into a space before hitting a shot that Johansson deflected with his fingertips. Moments later he curled another effort straight at the Swedish keeper.
Richardson rolled the dice with a triple Rotherham substitution, but the direction of traffic remained largely in Plymouth’s favour, with Johansson going down to save from Jordan Houghton.
Nearly 9,000 Rotherham United fans were in attendance as their side were sent back to the third tier
Neil Dewsnip’s side have climbed out of the relegation zone, but those below them still have a game in hand
The Millers’ Cohen Bramall might have given some hope but he aimed the ball wide after a Clucas corner somehow found its way to him when it was unmarked at the back post.
A better opening followed for Revan, who shrugged off Mumba to fire a shot which Cooper handled well and Odoffin was not far away with another shot.
Argyle almost wrapped it up when Ben Waine headed onto the post from Adam Randell’s corner and Waine should have scored when Revan played a poor back pass but Johansson blocked.
But Rotherham had nothing left to fight against the dying of the light as they went down with a whimper.