A young City side found the going tough at Millmoor when they came up against a much more experienced Rotherham outfit and suffered a third Pontins League defeat in four games.

The Millers were stiffened with first-team players, whereas City put out a youthful line-up based mainly on the Academy squad.

It was no surprise, therefore, that United used their extra strength and experience to run up a comfortable victory.

The young Potters did well to hold out against home pressure for nearly half an hour, but when the deadlock was broken it was quickly followed by a second goal - and a third before half-time.

Former Sunderland striker Michael Proctor opened the scoring after being set up by Paul Warne after 29 minutes and Warne swiftly added the second with a header.

Warne was instrumental in United's third goal just before the interval, having his first shot saved and then firing against the crossbar before Will Hoskins netted the rebound.

City fought back in the second-half and were rewarded when Jermaine Palmer grabbed his first goal since returning from his loan spell with Vikingur in Iceland.

But Rotherham regained the upper hand and restored their three-goal advantage in the 71st minute when Proctor found the net with a 20-yard free-kick.

City: Ben Foster, John Quigley, Daniel Smith, Adam Kirkpatrick, Keith Thomas, Richard Keogh, Eric Graves, Liam Page, Jermaine Palmer, Martin Patterson, Paul Tortoishell. Subs: Francino Francis, Nathan Slater, Robert Duggan, Daniel Hughes, Matthew Hazley