Warne happy to give Rotherham something to smile about

Posted Sunday, February 23, 2020 by PA

Paul Warne hopes he is putting the smiles on the faces of Rotherham players and fans after another tough week at the club ended with a 2-1 win over Accrington.

Defender Adam Thompson’s dad, Mark, died this week and they have also suffered heartache through the loss of assistant manager Richie Barker’s brother recently and midfielder Matt Crooks’ best friend Jordan Sinnott.

On the pitch, substitute Freddie Ladapo forced the ball over the line from Michael Ihiekwe’s far post header after 64 minutes to put the Millers ahead with Jordan Clark equalising a minute later with a fierce strike.

Another substitute Ben Wiles headed home what turned out to be the winner in the 91st minute from Dan Barlaser’s ball in.

Stanley’s Ozzy Zanzala missed a free header after that while there was also time for Rotherham’s Crooks to hit the woodwork.

“It’s probably one of the most satisfying wins of my managerial career,” said Rotherham manager Warne.

“There were a lot of fans here, it was a late goal and I am pleased for Thommo and that was for his family.

“We have had a lot of loss and heartache this season and hopefully this is a bit of sunshine.

“I was disappointed with the first half and Accrington should really have gone in 1-0 up but I think our second half performance justified the win.

“To score so late makes it feel like a bigger win but I think we have done enough to win it and as a manager that makes me proud.

“We are a very close club, I think you could see that in that everyone, including the bench, celebrated the winning goal. It was a nervy five minutes after that but we fortunately saw it out.”

Stanley’s three game winning run came to an end and manager John Coleman was frustrated.

He said: “We at least deserved a point. If you go on the balance of chances created, we made the better chances.

“There are two chances at the end – their lad heads it in injury time and Ozzy heads over the bar which is harder to miss.

“But I can’t ask any more of the players, they more than matched Rotherham who are a good side.

“It’s disappointing in that we defended every corner well except one, which they scored their first goal from and then we have dealt with most crosses into the box until late in the game.

“We shouldn’t be losing that game today and we have lost too many games this season we shouldn’t have lost. That’s why we are where we are in the league and why Rotherham are top, that’s their 10th away win of the season.

“We didn’t take our chances and that’s frustrating.”