Rotherham United: ‘Waste of breath’ complaining about referee in Sheffield Wednesday draw admits Millers boss Paul Warne

Rotherham boss Paul Warne says life is too short for regrets, but when he analyses his side's 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in the cold light of day he might take a different view.
Rotherham boss Paul Warne warms up with a cuppaRotherham boss Paul Warne warms up with a cuppa
Rotherham boss Paul Warne warms up with a cuppa

The Millers looked set to end Wednesday's dominance over them in their own backyard, which stretches back 43 years, as his side were leading 2-1 going after the allotted eight minutes of time added on.

Goals from Jon Taylor and Richie Towell had overturned Fernando Forestieri's opener and a deserved three points - and a first home league win over the Owls in 12 attempts - beckoned.

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But referee Darren England found an extra two minutes from somewhere, allowing play to continue, and with the last kick of the game Dominic Iorfa earned Wednesday a draw they did not warrant.

The regrets for the Millers will be plentiful – England's decision to carry on playing so long after the allotted time, their inability to defend one final set-piece and not having the game sewn up long before the 100 minutes were up after a host of golden chances went begging.

In the immediate aftermath, it was the official that dominated Warne's thinking.

“I could go and speak to the referee now but I don't know if I have the gumption to do it,” he said.

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“It makes no difference, it's a waste of breath. He'll apologise or something and I'll just say OK politely.

“I just don't get it. I had a digital watch on, I asked him how long, he said eight minutes, I respectfully accepted it so it is tough to take.

“In fairness we should still see the game out.

“I don't know where the extra time has come from, if there is extra time on the eight then I don't know where from. There was no injury, no goal, no substitution, I was going to make a substitution but changed my mind because I thought he would just add another 30 seconds on.”

It would not be a talking point had the Millers again not squandered clear chances that came their way.

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Michael Smith wasted two that any striker in this division should be putting away, while Anthony Forde missed a one-on-one and Towell squandered two before he finally found the net.

“I'm not going to criticise my players, they are trying to score goals,” Warne conceded.

“But at this level you don't create many better chances than that.

“We scored two, I thought we could have scored five. I am not criticising my lads, they are top guys.”