Glyn Hodges praised the quality of Kwesi Appiah’s last-gasp penalty after the substitute accepted responsibility to take the all-important injury-time spot-kick at Rotherham.
Speaking after the thrilling 2-2 draw in South Yorkshire, Glyn said: “I got asked the question in midweek about penalties and I said ‘we don’t get enough of them’. We got one today and Kwesi was confident. It’s about who wants to take it and Kwesi put his hands up. I thought it was a tremendous penalty.
“They are a good side, you can see why they are top of the league. They have a top manager and players, not a lot of teams are going to come here and get a point. We’ve stood up to two teams that were relegated from the Championship last season as we drew against Ipswich in midweek too. We rode our luck, of course, but we dug in with clearances off the line and our goalkeeper was magnificent again. Fortunately, the referee made the right decision to give us the penalty at the end.”
Glyn praised the resilience shown by his players on the day, defying Rotherham’s relentless attacking style.
“It was not only the saves Joe made, but also that he came for crosses and made punches,” added Glyn. “Max headed one off the line, Rudi made a goal-line clearance in the second-half, Shane did well too, and the three centre-backs. There were so many positives. Our players put their bodies on the line, they showed a never-say-die attitude, and we got something in the end.
“We came in 1-0 up at half-time, but I felt that we could have caused them a few more problems. Coming in at 1-0 up gives you something to hold onto, but it was an onslaught. The fans were brilliant here, it’s a good place to come and play football, and with our backs up against the wall we managed to get a point.”
Max Sanders struck Wimbledon’s first goal from long-range and our manager felt that his team-mates should have followed his example by shooting on sight.
“Before we went out I told them to pull the trigger, I don’t think we had enough shots,” added Glyn. ”I spoke to Joe Pigott as I felt he could have been more ruthless and greedy. I felt we could have had more shots because you never know in those conditions. We had that one shot from long-range and we scored. You are not going to get your own way here though, you have to dig in and fight, and we did that.”
Pic credit: Shaun Conway, Pro Sports Images.