Rotherham 3 Bradford City 0

Amid the touchline histrionics from Steve Evans, violence in the stands and comprehensive City defeat came a voice of reason.

It was provided by Phil Parkinson, who spoke to the press long enough after the final whistle to have let his rage subside.

What he offered was revealing.

It was damning, too, about a group of players who reached two Wembley finals and won promotion earlier this year.

“We looked like a team with a few players who have started to believe they are better than they actually are,” reflected Parkinson.

“I’ve got to nip that in the bud because we’ve had our success through honesty, hard work and a desire to do the best we can as individuals and a team.

“It might only be one game, but it hurts because there is a way to get beaten.

“When we lost to Wolves a couple of weeks ago, I thought we were outstanding and I told the lads that afterwards.

“I can live with that, but I can’t live with getting beaten when we’ve been second best.

“And we were second-best today – all over the pitch.

“It was a kind of performance that has been few and far between from us but that wasn’t good enough for us and I’m not accepting it.”

As Parkinson readily conceded, Rotherham were superior in every department from start to finish and City got what they deserved – nothing.

They bullied City up front, with only Jon McLaughlin’s outstanding display keeping his side in the game at the break.

It was tough to take for a manager who has built his side on a collective spirit which carried the club to such heights last season.

It is now five successive defeats to Rotherham and counting.

More worrying for Parkinson, though, is the rut his side find themselves stuck in.

The Bantams are without a win in six games and Sunday’s home clash with Coventry has taken on added importance.

Changes, if not wholesale then certainly enough to make a difference, are likely for the televised visit of the Sky Blues.

Parkinson accused his players of lacking bravery and not wanting the ball.

Only off-field was there fight, where a number of City supporters were involved in ugly scenes, clashing with police and stewards in the closing stages of defeat.

The mood among the 2,138 City supporters, however, was initially convivial.

They turned out in force for the magic of the FA Cup, the oldest and most famous knockout cup competition in the world.

Parkinson played his strongest possible side, which meant the only change was on the bench, with 17-year-old Oliver McBurnie replacing Caleb Folan.

But Rotherham quickly assumed control of proceedings and forced City onto the back foot.

The Millers controlled the midfield and Matt Tubbs and Alex Revell gave Rory McArdle and Matthew Bates a torrid afternoon at a rainswept New York Stadium.

The impressive Michael O’Connor was at the heart of everything for Rotherham in the middle of the park.

After he fired an early shot wide from distance, City fell behind in the 13th minute.

O’Connor’s lofted ball into City’s penalty was headed down by Revell and Kieran Agard rifled home a right-foot shot from six yards.

City looked to have fashioned an immediate response when James Meredith’s cross was spilled by Adam Collin and the ball ended in the net. But no goal was awarded after a foul on the Rotherham goalkeeper by James Hanson.

The Millers grew in authority as the first half wore on and McLaughlin took centre stage with some excellent goalkeeping.

In the 21st minute, Tubbs broke clear and hit a low right-foot shot which McLaughlin did well to turn round a post.

Moments later Ben Pringle crossed dangerously from the left flank and Revell’s thumping header was destined for the net until McLaughlin brilliantly came to the rescue with a right-handed save.

City’s only other chance in the first half came in the 33rd minute when Collin repelled Wells’ low shot from Kyel Reid’s left-wing delivery.

But McLaughlin then came off his line to deny Revell after Nathan Doyle’s horribly misplaced backpass played him in.

At 1-0 down, the onus was on City to come out in the second half and start performing.

But Rotherham’s dominance continued and they scored again in the 62nd minute when Revell fired home O’Connor’s free-kick after McArdle was booked for bringing down Tubbs.

Nine minutes later, Agard headed home another cross from O’Connor from the right flank to finish City off.

Wells, still working his way back to full match sharpness, was replaced by McBurnie with eight minutes remaining.

Rotherham boss Evans opted not to shake Parkinson’s hand and scurried down the tunnel before the final whistle after milking the acclaim of the home crowd.

Evans said: “In the past I’ve been accused of things that are fairy stories, so I went down the tunnel, waved bye-bye, did a Michael Jackson and disappeared.

“But I will shake Phil’s hand before I leave the stadium, as you would expect.

“It’s not about not shaking hands because I was in the dressing room for the last 30 seconds of the game.

“That was the strategy I adopted at Bradford when I went straight to the dressing room. That was the strategy we had here.”

Parkinson said: “Steve waited for me in the end and he was absolutely fine.

“I said to him ‘well done, your team was better than us today’.”

And that was the truth.