Jimmy McNulty was pleased with the patience his players showed in the 2-1 win at home to Aldershot Town on Saturday.
Dale fell behind in the 37th minute but equalised just five minutes later through Jimmy Keohane, before Kairo Mitchell’s winner 11 minutes from time.
The Head Coach praised his players for their fight and said it was a deserved three points.
“I’m happy for the team and the fans. Happy for my staff,” said McNulty.
“It’s a long week reflecting on a last-minute loss in the last game, which looking back at we can’t believe we didn’t win the game. We should have been out of sight.
“But it was a deserved victory today. We had total control in the game, but you hope that we handle some of the moments that we haven’t handled previously. We did that today and we were more than value for the win.
“The team always fights. No matter what the circumstances or the feelings. They got the goal back before half-time, which was big, and it was a good goal. It brought us into half-time with a bounce.
“As the first-half was growing, we were controlling huge parts of the game, it was just about would we be able to break them down. We were confident we would and to be fair to the team, they kept their patience, stuck to what they believe in over the course of the 96 minutes.”
Dale’s winner came from a well-worked set piece routine, and Mitchell also had an earlier attempt saved from another routine.
“We work really hard on them moments, trying to stop them and trying to score them.
“They contribute to successful seasons no end – they’re a really important factor of the game.
“We pay them as much attention as we possibly can and work them, and hope that they come to fruition on days like today. We got a reward from that today.”
Watch the full interview with McNulty via our YouTube channel below.