Rooney reacts to frantic Middlesbrough draw

Argyle Head Coach Wayne Rooney was left, not for the first time in recent games, balancing positive and negative feelings, following his side’s 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough.  

Firstly, the positives. Argyle took the game to a side in the play-off places, playing with verve, forward intentions and no little skill. The Greens had the best chances before and after Lewis Gibson’s opener, and the Pilgrims led at half-time.  

Middlesbrough equalised soon after the break, via Jonny Howson, and this set the tone for a frantic second period, in which Argyle led twice more, through goals from Darko Gyabi and Mustapha Bundu, and each time Boro levelled, through Hayden Hackney and Emmanuel Latte Lath respectively.  

Rooney’s instinctive thoughts, speaking after the game, centred on his side’s inability to hold on to the lead they possessed on three occasions, but he was also happy with the creativity his team showed.  

“Firstly, it's probably the most chances - clear chances - we've created all season,” he said. “That's a real positive for us. In the first half, I thought we were excellent. Defensively we were excellent in how we pressed, how we nullified them playing through the lines, and forced them to go long.   

“I thought we created a lot of chances today; we were unlucky to go in only 1-0 up.  

“All three goals we conceded were poor from our point of view, but the reaction to them scoring was fairly good, in terms of getting back on the front foot, creating chances.  

“There was a bit of naivety I felt, in terms of two of their goals, not clearing the ball well enough and not picking up on second balls on set-pieces.  

“In the second half, we maybe got dragged into feeling we were going to win the game. [Maybe because] we haven't won for a while, we sat off them a little bit and allowed them to dictate the game.  

“There's moments where we can improve. I think just controlling the game and controlling your opposition makes a big difference. I didn't think we did that well enough, and it cost us today.  

“Overall, it feels like a defeat, but there’s certainly a lot of positives.” 

Three players – Michael Obafemi, Ryan Hardie and Brendan Galloway – all exited the scene with injuries, meaning Rooney was limited to the amount he could do tactically from the bench. Speaking to Argyle TV, he gave us an update on the trio, with hopefully none of the knocks being too serious.  
“Ryan, I think is just a gash which is getting stitched up,” Rooney said. “I'm pretty certain he won't be available for Boxing Day. Michael and Brendan, we’ll just have to see how they are in the system and see how their reaction is to today.”