Matt Taylor applauds Rotherham ‘cult hero’ Georgie Kelly

Rotherham boss Matt Taylor praised “cult hero” Georgie Kelly after he netted the winner in their 2-1 victory over Huddersfield.

The second-half introduction of Kelly from the bench proved to be pivotal with the Irishman netting the decisive goal just minutes after being introduced by Taylor.

It earned Taylor his first win as Millers manager after making the move from Exeter to replace Paul Warne.

Taylor said: “It’s the most consistent performance we have had since I came in.

“I thought we kept them at arm’s length in the second half. The players will get all the praise and rightly so. We are judged on winning games of football. Even more so at home.

“We looked a good team for certain parts of the game. I am really pleased that we impacted the game at certain times.

“I am still learning about Georgie, he seems to be a cult hero in these parts due to last season. But in terms of the impact with his physicality he is second to none. He was on his knees when he scored the goal as well. That was a big moment for us.

“He was in the right place at the right time and he did affect the game with his physicality.

“You could sense the atmosphere just changing as he came on. We have got to keep working with him because he’s raw.”

Both sides struck within minutes of one another in the first half.

Rotherham went ahead in the 25th minute with Conor Washington curling into the top corner after being played in by Dan Barlaser.

The lead only lasted four minutes with Huddersfield striking back from a well-worked move which saw Sorba Thomas find Danny Ward, who then rifled beyond Viktor Johansson from close range.

Huddersfield started the second half the stronger with Ben Jackson and Duane Holmes both forcing decent saves out of Johansson.

But the introduction of Kelly proved inspired as he put Rotherham back in front after 61 minutes. The striker was on hand at the back post to force home from Barlaser’s ball.

Rotherham had their chances to make it three with Kelly denied by Lee Nicholls on two occasions.

The visitors appealed for a penalty when Jack Rudoni went down under the challenge of Cohen Bramall but had to leave the New York Stadium empty handed.

Terriers head coach Mark Fotheringham said: “It was bitterly disappointing to lose two goals like that.

“On another day we put that game to bed early on. We are a team at the bottom of the league but still creating loads of chances. The final ball and killer instinct has got to be there.

“The performance levels from a team, who are low in the table, to come here and create as many chances as that, I cannot be too hard on them because they played with big confidence and quality.

“It felt in terms of performance it was a step up again. We have got so much power and fluidity. It is clear to see, we are going to give teams problems but we need to take care because we know this league is relentless and it has a habit of biting you on the backside.

“We know we can defend the two goals much better than what we did and I have to take responsibility for it.”