Steve Evans post Gillingham...
Rotherham United manager Steve Evans praised his side’s spirit and tenacity after they came out on top in a seven-goal thriller at Priestfield, their first win at the venue since 1988.
Kieran Agard put the Millers ahead after 14 seconds, but a rollercoaster game saw them behind before a magnificent hat-trick by substitute Tom Hitchcock saw Evans’ side guarantee a play-off position.
“It’s a game that’s had everything isn’t it,” Evans said afterwards. “We score after 14 seconds and what a move that is with one and two touch passes. The crowd are as quiet as I’ve ever known it at the Rainham End and we have some good passages of play. We conceded a couple of sloppy goals today and we don’t get those individual errors but we’ve got the spirit and tenacity that not many teams have.”
Hitchcock, who netted two goals in the reserve team demolition against Mansfield Town on Monday last scored as a substitute in the 6-0 victory over Notts County, but eclipsed those feats with his triple with just 30 minutes remaining.
“A lot of your substitutions as a manager you get wrong, but we put Tom Hitchcock on and I think it could be my best of all time. It was a fantastic hat-trick with three excellent goals and he went on early in the game because we just needed something a bit different. He looked sharp in the reserves on Monday and looked sharp when I took the strikers yesterday and it was a tough call not to start him.”