'Incredibly proud' Tranmere Rovers manager reacts to 'deserved' late equaliser against Chesterfield
‘Incredibly proud’ Tranmere Rovers manager Andy Crosby said his team got their ‘rewards’ as they rescued a late draw against Chesterfield.
The Spireites were heading for a 1-0 away win in what had been a strong performance after going in front early on when Omari Patrick turned the ball into his own net from James Berry’s cross. The Blues had further chances to double their lead but were not ruthless enough.
And then Connor Jennings scrambled home in the 93rd minute to pinch a point for the hosts. The result leaves Chesterfield seventh in the table, three points off the top.
He said: “It was brilliant that we kept going right until the end against a really good team, who will be right up there at the end of the season. They (Chesterfield) are so good technically, the attacking players they have got. They have got a lot of choices for each position.
"I am so proud of that performance and that we got something out of it, which we deserved. We got our rewards. We have got eight players out injured and we kept going and it carried on the momentum from last week.
"At the back end of the first-half I thought we were good from set-plays and corners. We should have got rewarded from it but we didn’t. But I am just incredibly proud that we went all the way to the end of the game.”
Town went ahead when Berry broke clear down the left and his low cross was ready to be swept in by Dilan Markanday but Patrick beat him to it. "There was a turnover around the halfway line and Omari has to go for it,” Crosby said. “He has tracked the wide player (Markanday) really well and if he doesn’t go for it then there is a tap-in at the back post.”
The Rovers fans screamed for a penalty in the first-half when they felt Chey Dunkley handled in the area but the appeals were rejected. Crosby said: "There was a blatant handball in the box. A defender has blatantly got his arm outstretched and the ball hits him in the six-yard box. I have got no explanation for that.”
And Crosby was even more annoyed that his team had an equaliser from a corner ruled out for offside just before half-time. He added: “We then got another corner and I can’t work out why the goal was disallowed and the reason we have been given. It is frustrating and disappointing.”