The reluctant praise for Rotherham United star man Josh ‘Big Head’ Benson!
DELIGHTED number two Dale Tonge jokingly refused to give hat-trick hero Josh Benson all the credit he deserved this evening after Rotherham United's march into the last 16 of the Vertu Trophy.
The League One Millers scored four unanswered second-half goals as they routed League Two Salford City 7-2 at the Peninsula Stadium, including a breath-taking effort from close to the halfway line from their attacking midfielder.
The summer signing's audacious 45-metre lob over the goalkeeper was sandwiched by a superb first-half free-kick and a bullet close-range header as he became the first Rotherham player to rack up a treble since Kieran Sadlier in the same competition, against Manchester City Under-21s, in October 2021.
“Let's not talk about Benno too much,” grinned Tonge. “He's got a big enough head already in the dressing room this evening!”
The assistant boss soon relented and went on to speak glowingly about the 25-year-old whose career has been hampered by injuries.
“Josh has got that quality,” he said. “Off both feet as well. His set-piece delivery is superb.
“Our job is to make sure he gets on the pitch for as long as he can. He's doing all his work off the pitch as well, which is all you can ask. He'll get the rewards if he does that, like he has tonight.”
The Millers’ other goals came from teenagers Josh Ayres, James Clarke and Dean Gardner and 21-year-old Manchester United loanee Dan Gore. For the latter three, it was their first goal in senior football - a point not lost on Gore's teammates after his miss in a Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out at Salford earlier in the season.
“There were a lot of mentions of that as Dan was coming on the pitch, for obvious reasons bearing in mind our previous game here!” Tonge said.
Rotherham, who led 3-2 at the break following City goals for Nicolas Siri and Cole Stockton, made eight changes from the 11 that had started the 1-1 home draw with Wycombe Wanderers last Saturday – a result that stretched their unbeaten third-tier run to nine matches.
“There's a lot of positives to take from tonight,” the assistant boss said. “It just shows the value of this tournament. These games become really, really important, not just for the boys who need minutes because they've been on the bench but for the lads who are just coming back from injury.
“Benno's just come back into the team. This will give him a lot of confidence leading into the next game. It's also an opportunity to blood younger players, and they've got their rewards with goals.”
After a tight opening period, Rotherham – who have a blank weekend coming up before returning to their league campaign at home to Blackpool on December 10 – ran away with the contest following the interval
“It wasn't the game we wanted in the first half,” Tonge said. ”How we defended was very disappointing. The manager made it clear at half-time what we wanted.
“Obviously, we rectified things. It was difficult conditions. The pitch isn't amazing. However, I thought the boys conducted themselves very well in the second half.”
It was the first time the Millers have scored seven times or more on their travels since they won 8-1 at Crewe Alexandra in 1973.
They last did it on their own soil in 1994 in a 7-0 thrashing of Hartlepool United.