Paul Warne: ‘deserving’ Rotherham could have scored five against Cheltenham

Rotherham are beginning to make a move in League One and the rest of the division should be wary.

The latest victory was as commanding as they come, a 2-0 win at Cheltenham that never looked in doubt.

Goals in the second half from Will Grigg and Rarmani Edmonds-Green settled matters at Whaddon Road and it could have been more.

While Paul Warne and his side will have enjoyed their Sunday basking in their victory, there will have been one man in Rotherham not so happy.

Cheltenham goalkeeper Scott Flinders is a Rotherham boy. He was born in the town, went to school at Wickerlsey and still lives in Bramley with his young family.

The 35-year-old single-handedly kept the scoreline respectable with a string of fine saves, denying Michael Smith and Ollie Rathbone with fine stops before the break.

It was Flinders' only slip that allowed the Millers to go in front six minutes after the restart as he spilled Dan Barlaser's shot on the goalline, allowing master poacher Grigg to poke home from close range.

There was nothing he could do about the second as Edmonds-Green, cementing his place in Warne's side in recent weeks, fired home a 20-yard thunderbolt into the bottom corner.

After an inconsistent start to the league campaign, the Millers are beginning to hit their straps.

Boss Paul Warne said: “We deserved the win. I always want perfection and thought we were a little sloppy at times, generally I overall play was good, we had 10 or 11 shots on goal but their keeper kept them in it, a couple of good efforts early on.

“We just needed that goal. I was looking forward to half-time so I could reiterate not to go away from our gameplan, that is always a fear as a manager.

“We asked them to get the ball out of the middle quick, get it wide and go for the one v one. Fortunately, in the end we came away with a clean sheet and a nice 2-0 win.

“The overall scoreline could’ve been a 5-1, Cheltenham made it difficult at times. We had to be patient, you can't be disrespectful to the league or how they are coached.

“They’re a well-coached team, people don't look at the table because they’d only played four games at home before today and beat Oxford, drew with MK Dons, beat Ipswich and lost to Wycombe so they are four ridiculously tough games.

“We told the lads not to turn up and think it will be an easy game. Every team gives you questions. Luckily today our quality came through in the last half hour.”