Alex Bruce not a happy man as Rotherham United throw away a two-goal lead
“It kills you because there were a lot of good things on the night.”
Frustrated boss Alex Bruce rued the errors that cost his Rotherham United victory as they ended a run of four straight defeats tonight.
The Millers claimed their first League Two points of October with a 2-2 draw against Newport County at AESSEAL New York Stadium that lifted them out of the relegation places to 22nd spot.
But the home side had been 2-0 in front early in the contest and Bruce found it hard to accept that his team had allowed the visitors an easy way back into the contest.
Centre-back Hamish Douglas conceded a spot-kick before the break to give County hope of a comeback and goalkeeper Julian Eyestone made a hash of a routine save nine minutes into the second half, following some poor defending, to give away an equaliser.
"I'm disappointed to chuck the game away like we did," the head coach said. "The mistakes that we made were just ... what can you say? They were just basic errors. The penalty was a lapse of concentration, and then the other one was just a calamity of three or four mistakes.
"It's a shame, because the way we started the game in the first half was a bit more like it, wasn't it? I was pleased with the first-half performance, but then we let them back into it and then we go a bit nervy and a bit edgy. That was the story of the night."
Bruce accepted that the relative inexperience of some members of his squad had led to the result after the home team had dominated the first half.
"I want to see it in for 90 minutes," he said. "We've got a young group. Julian's not played much football in his career, Hamish is a young lad, and there are others.
"Sometimes young lads are going to make mistakes. We've seen it tonight. It's just important that they learn from them. We need to build on the positives of tonight and take them into Saturday (home to Shrewsbury Town).
Rotherham were two goals in front within 12 minutes thanks to a Paul Mullin spot-kick and a precision strike from Aaron Nemane.
"When you go 2-0 up, the one thing you want to do is just see it out to half-time, have your 15 minutes and then get ready to go again for the second half," Bruce said. "To give them a penalty in that manner ... it's just a lapse of concentration. It kills you because there were a lot of good things on the night.
The performance, with a 4-3-3 formation, was an improvement on recent ones, but Bruce took little solace from that
"Is it a step forward? No, I think it's a disappointing night, unfortunately," he said. "When you go 2-0 up, you want to win the game."
Newport manager Hayden Mullins cut a much happier post-match figure after watching his side extend their unbeaten sequence to nine games.
He said: "It’s testament to the lads and the character we have in the dressing room.
"We want to stick together out on the pitch and look after one another," he said. “I am very happy with a point, and it keeps our belief and the run going.
"I was really disappointed with our first half. It was out of character for us. We addressed it at half-time. We calmed down a little bit and started to play our stuff. We got to grips with the midfield area.
"To go 2-0 down and get back into it is no mean feat. It is so hard to come from a couple of goals down on your travels."