Alex Bruce happy with one player and unhappy with another as Rotherham United throw away victory
The Millers should have won but finished up drawing
Frustrated boss Alex Bruce had words of praise for one player and voiced his angst at another as he reflected on a win that got away for Rotherham United last Saturday.
The Millers had fought back from two goals down to lead 3-2 against Salford City at AESSEAL New York Stadium and were looking likely to extend their lead in the League Two clash until substitute Jili Buyabu needlessly gave away a penalty that allowed the visitors to salvage a 3-3 draw.
Bruce was pleased with the debut of young loan goalkeeper Julian Eyestone but labelled the Buyabu foul that led to the spot-kick as "a moment of stupidity".
Despite conceding three times, 20-year-old Eyestone handled and kicked well. He could do nothing about a stunning strike from Rotherham old boy Joe Powell that made it 0-2 or the spot-kick tucked away by Macauley Langstaff.
The American was preferred to Ted Cann in the net, and Bruce said: "I think he'll be a good player for the club. It was his first game in the Football League. He looked like he’d played for many years.
"He was calm, he came and collected things. I thought his kicking was very good. He can be pleased with his debut, and we'll see if he can kick on from here."
After falling 2-0 behind in the opening 31 minutes, the Millers quickly hit back with Brandon Cover's first goal for the club and a Paul Mullin penalty.
An Ossma Ashley shot in the second half put the home side in control and they were on course for a thoroughly deserved victory until Buyabu erred in the 74th minute.
"That's probably where the most disappointment comes in," said Bruce. "It's a moment of stupidity from Jili. I think he'll learn from that as a young boy. When you see it back, it's just sheer naivety and not being in the right position. He pulls the lad's shirt. Hopefully, he won't do that again."
There are encouraging signs that Rotherham they are developing well under their new head coach.
He added: "At half-time, I just said to the players: 'You weren't at it in the first 20/30 minutes and you got your punishment.' When you give the opposition that much time on the ball and just jog around and don't really press with an intensity, you're in trouble.
"Salford have got good players and they can hurt you. We got hurt early on but, fair play to the lads, I was really pleased with the reaction.
"When we get the third goal, you think: 'Right, go on and win it.' We should, really, have got a fourth. Salford defended well. They went into a really low block with 10 men and we just couldn't break them down at the end."