Paul disappointed with result, but not effort
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale was happy enough with his side’s battling qualities against Rotherham United, even if the result went awry as they slipped to a 1-0 home defeat to Rotherham United.In trying conditions, with heavy rain falling before and during the game, the fixture required a real level of commitment from the Grecians. The boss was reluctant to criticise the players for their performance, coming off the back of a good streak of results including back-to-back wins against Bradford and Gillignham.
“I’m very disappointed we’ve lost, but I’m not too unhappy with the way we’ve committed today. Again, it becomes very difficult when we concede the first goal, which has happened too often,” said Tisdale.
“I’m finding it hard to criticise the players’ commitment and effort. They certainly had enough about them today to get something.
“We knew we were going to get a tough game from [Rotherham]. They’ve picked their game up after a few poor results. But we could have easily gotten the first goal – Jamie [Cureton] had a decent chance and Alan [Gow] hit the crossbar – but they were fair game for their first half result. They certainly gave us a lot of problems on a difficult day to play.”
The Grecians manager indeed had no qualms about the playing surface, despite the suggestions in some quarters that the match might be called off. Owing to the hard work of the ground staff, the game had never been in serious condition of being called off.
“The weather made it something. It made it a different type of game, which I enjoyed. So there’s no excuses there, I enjoyed the day, the conditions and the pitch. But obviously I’m disappointed with the result.”
With a two-week gap now before the trip to Spotland to face Rochdale, Tisdale was looking forward to a well-earned rest despite it coming off the back of an unfavourable result.
“We need a bit of a rest, and it’s there for us to take it. We need to pick ourselves up to go again in two weeks’ time and hit that Christmas period, because December and into January is going to be full-on with games and we need everyone fit and raring to go.”