Gareth Ainsworth praised his squad for the level of commitment they showed in Gillingham's 4-1 victory against Rotherham United.
Paul Mullin gave Rotherham an early lead at the New York Stadium, but Gills went in level at the break thanks to a fantastic Ronan Hale volley. Ainsworth admitted that the opening period was below the expected standards, but credited Steven Craig and Pete Gill for a tactical change at half-time that allowed Gillingham to take control of the game with a blistering second-half performance.
The Gills boss was proud of his side and their efforts throughout the game as they battled hard to come away with the win, with the defensive unit standing out to him.
Armani Little made his first start since the opening day, when he went off through injury. Ainsworth was delighted to have the midfielder back in the starting XI and hailed his battling performance.
There were 565 Gillingham supporters at the New York Stadium, and the 53-year-old was glad to reward their sensational efforts with what was a memorable victory.
Assessment of the victory...
Some of the play, some of the running for each other, and some of the actual commitment for each other that's what I want. Goals are goals. Goals are great, and Ronan's volley to get us back into it is superb. If you want it to fall to anyone, it falls to Ronan Hale, and that is superb.
Ollie Wright made a crucial save just before that, by the way, to keep us at 1-0. We weren't great in the first-half. We weren't brilliant, and I need to give credit to Stevey Craig and Pete Gill, my staff. They don't get enough of a mention sometimes. At half-time, when I have a million and one things going through my head, they are calmly thinking behind the scenes, going, 'Right, if we just dropped a little bit and screened rather than went all out press.'
That worked a treat in the second-half. We sort of delayed our press a little bit, and we took control of the game. We really did. We thought that down the sides would hurt them with a bit of pace. Lamin, I thought, had a sensational second-half. I think that everyone did; everyone stepped up for that second-half.
I am really pleased with that. It's the performance and the commitment that I love... What a win. They deserve so much credit. They have given everything today, and they have won the game.
His pride in the squad...
I think that we have to look at the boys and say that they are a totally different group to what I have had before, and the work rate.
Armani Little was back in the midfield counter-pressing and was an absolute warrior. He cramps up, and there was a bit of confusion with the sub, and he wanted to stay on, but there was no risk. That's with a few of the players. When it goes like that, it is brilliant.
Boys, thank you. Your efforts were absolutely brilliant. The defending again, wow... They will all take the credit together, because Jack Daley comes on. What a unit. With Ollie [Wright] at the back, we are so secure now. I feel great.
That makes the point last week, where Newport came and stopped us playing and shut up shop; that makes that point so much better today. I said that to the boys. We haven't achieved anything, but it is exciting when you see the boys do that.
The fantastic away support...
The fans, they were absolutely fantastic. They never shut up, and they got right behind us. I know that they were singing at 1-0 down and getting behind us. It was so good and so good to hear. We gave them plenty to sing about again, but they helped us through that.
It sounded like 5000 at times. They were right behind us. At the end, I am glad that they got to celebrate with the boys because of that support.
