County drew first blood after 32 minutes at the New York Stadium with a quality strike. Yoann Arquin met Alan Sheehan's cross from the left and struck a sweet volley on the angle from 20 yards to claim the opener and his seventh of the season.
Three minutes before the break Rotherham levelled after their best period of the half.
Daniel Nardiello's determination paid off when he sent Michael O'Connor down the left and his inviting low cross was met by Ben Pringle on the run to drill home.
"I'm still pleased to be in the hat," said Curle.
"I thought we started the game very well and then I felt the game petered out. We struggled to have anything to build off up front.
"We ended up camped in our own half because we weren't able to progress and take the ball into the opposition's half on a regular basis. So we had to rely on our defensive capabilities.
"We didn't have the fluidity in our play that we are used to but the lads who came in did well.
"We scored a fantastic goal and the goal Yoann scored no other player on the pitch would have scored that goal I thought it was fantastic. He set himself up and got a great connection.
"I thought it was a very committed performance from Gary Liddle I thought he was our best player."
