Manager Mark Robins was disappointed his side was on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline in a realistically tight affair at Spotland.
Goalless at the interval and following better chances for the Iron, substitute Joe Bunney crashed the hosts into the lead before Murray Wallace restored parity. Peter Vincenti was accredited with the winner late on.“There wasn’t a great deal between the two sides,” he told The Iron PlayerHD.
“We had decent opportunities – we hit the crossbar, we’ve scored a decent goal from a corner and we’ve conceded two really poor goals. The first one wasn’t great. It may have gone through a load of bodies, but we should still be dealing with that and then for the second one we should deny the cross.
“We should have stopped the cross and when the ball came in we needed to do better – our body positions weren’t right, we weren’t deep enough in terms of being goal side of the attackers.
“That was the disappointment, because I thought we had done okay in the game. We defended pretty well, they move the ball well and they are a good side.”
Following a largely solid defensive performance, Robins was frustrated with his side's brief lapse which meant that United journey home with no points.
“The second goal was the one occasion which inevitably cost us at least a point,” he continued.
“There were plenty of times during the game where we haven’t allowed the cross to come in and we have got our bodies in the way. The second goal they scored was majorly disappointing because we could have stopped it at source.
“We started both halves quite well – the second half in particular with Paddy hitting the bar to give us the lead – but that was the story of the day. I honestly didn’t think there was a great deal between the sides and Rochdale are a really good side.
“If we go back to last week, we were more aggressive in our mindset right the way through the game and there was no way Coventry were coming through. Today we’ve switched off on two occasions and they’ve managed to get two goals.”
Murray Wallace was on the scoresheet, netting his first goal for Scunthorpe and second goal of the season – from a corner-kick manoeuvre which paid dividends
“I was delighted for Murray,” he continued
“It’s another piece of training ground work that has paid off. It’s the other side of it that frustrates and angers you. We were solid throughout, but there are two instances where we have been punished and that’s the cruelty of it. The reality is we’ve defended pretty well and we’ve avoided a lot of threats on the wings due to the full backs and the wingers doubling up.
“The ball comes into the penalty area and everybody says whose fault is that – because there’s a blame culture. It’s everybody’s fault and we’ve got to do this collectively.
“We’re almost a good side and we’ve just get to get over this last little bit which is holding us back.”
See much more from Mark Robins, Murray Wallace and Gary McSheffrey on The Iron PlayerHD.
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