Match ends, Hull City 5, Rotherham United 1.
Hull City 5-1 Rotherham United
- From the section Championship
Hull City prepared for the Championship play-offs in style, coming from behind to thrash Rotherham United.
Rotherham led through Lee Frecklington but goals from Robert Snodgrass, Abel Hernandez, Jake Livermore and Mohamed Diame put Hull 4-1 up by half-time.
Livermore added his second and the hosts' fifth after the break and the visitors slipped to 21st in the table.
Victory secured Hull home advantage in the second leg of their play-off semi-final against fifth-placed Derby.
Steve Bruce named arguably his strongest side, resisting the chance to rest key players, and was rewarded with a classy, bicycle kick from Hernandez - the Uruguayan's 20th league goal of the season.
Snodgrass' fine volley had cancelled out Frecklington's strike into the top corner, and the hosts netted five times between the 25th and 59th minutes.
Rotherham, who had been looking for a league double over the Tigers, dropped one place in the table as Fulham beat Bolton.
Neil Warnock's side had gone 11 games unbeaten before last Saturday's loss to Blackburn but now end the season with consecutive defeats.
Hull had been winless on the final day of their previous 11 seasons, with four draws and seven losses.
Hull manager Steve Bruce: "We're always saying it's nice to have a bit of momentum and it was good to see today. We really looked a very good side.
"It's nice to go in with a bit of impetus but they are two huge games to play in. All of my big players and the experienced ones were playing today."
Rotherham manager Neil Warnock: "We started the game well but we had that 20-minute period where we just lost the plot.
"We had to play for our pride in the second half, I didn't want to get battered by eight or nine goals."
Line-ups
Hull
- 1McGregor
- 2Odubajo
- 21Dawson
- 6Davies
- 26Robertson
- 27El Mohamady
- 14Livermore
- 8Huddlestone
- 10SnodgrassSubstituted forClucasat 77'minutes
- 17DiaméSubstituted forMaguireat 72'minutes
- 9HernándezSubstituted forMaloneyat 80'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Bruce
- 11Clucas
- 12Maguire
- 15Maloney
- 16Jakupovic
- 19Akpom
- 24Aluko
Rotherham
- 1Camp
- 12KellyBooked at 68mins
- 5Broadfoot
- 6Wood
- 16Richardson
- 15Halford
- 17Ward
- 8FrecklingtonSubstituted forGreenat 90+4'minutes
- 33Smallwood
- 9WardSubstituted forBailey-Kingat 84'minutes
- 19Clarke-HarrisSubstituted forBestat 69'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Mattock
- 11Green
- 26Belaid
- 28Facey
- 30Kenny
- 42Bailey-King
- 50Best
- Referee:
- Scott Duncan
- Attendance:
- 18,670
Match Stats
Home TeamHullAway TeamRotherham
- Possession
- Home59%
- Away41%
- Shots
- Home26
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home12
- Away4
- Corners
- Home11
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home10
- Away11
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Hull City 5, Rotherham United 1.
Attempt missed. Tom Huddlestone (Hull City) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Jake Livermore.
Substitution
Substitution, Rotherham United. Paul Green replaces Lee Frecklington.
Foul by Curtis Davies (Hull City).
Leon Best (Rotherham United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Richard Wood (Rotherham United) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Richard Smallwood with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Rotherham United. Conceded by Allan McGregor.
Attempt saved. Leon Best (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Kirk Broadfoot.
Attempt saved. Tom Huddlestone (Hull City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Harry Maguire.
Corner, Hull City. Conceded by Grant Ward.
Foul by Curtis Davies (Hull City).
Leon Best (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Sam Clucas (Hull City) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Shaun Maloney.
Offside, Rotherham United. Richard Smallwood tries a through ball, but Leon Best is caught offside.
Substitution
Substitution, Rotherham United. Darnell Bailey-King replaces Danny Ward.
Foul by Tom Huddlestone (Hull City).
Kirk Broadfoot (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Shaun Maloney (Hull City).
Richard Wood (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Offside, Hull City. Tom Huddlestone tries a through ball, but Shaun Maloney is caught offside.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Shaun Maloney replaces Abel Hernández.
Harry Maguire (Hull City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Grant Ward (Rotherham United).
Attempt saved. Jake Livermore (Hull City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sam Clucas.
Attempt missed. Harry Maguire (Hull City) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Ahmed Elmohamady with a headed pass following a corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Sam Clucas replaces Robert Snodgrass.
Corner, Hull City. Conceded by Richard Wood.
Attempt blocked. Abel Hernández (Hull City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Foul by Harry Maguire (Hull City).
Stephen Kelly (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Hull City. Conceded by Kirk Broadfoot.
Attempt blocked. Moses Odubajo (Hull City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom Huddlestone.
Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Greg Halford (Rotherham United).
Attempt blocked. Grant Ward (Rotherham United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Danny Ward.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Harry Maguire replaces Mohamed Diamé.
Corner, Rotherham United. Conceded by Andrew Robertson.
Substitution
Substitution, Rotherham United. Leon Best replaces Jonson Clarke-Harris.
Booking
Stephen Kelly (Rotherham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
