Phil Parkinson described Bolton’s first win since September 29, courtesy of Gary O’Neil’s second-half goal, as his best present of the Christmas period.
O’Neil had not scored since November 2016 until he popped up with his first for the Trotters in a Betfred Championship relegation scrap against Rotherham.
Sammy Ameobi fired Wanderers in front after 35 minutes only for Will Vaulks to equalise for the visitors three minutes later.
“I got some good presents,” smiled Bolton boss Parkinson as the Trotters won at the 14th time of asking. “But not one thing was better than these three points.
“It’s been a tough run waiting for this win to come. And we needed it.
“But we have never let our heads drop or started to feel sorry for ourselves and we got our rewards in a tough game.
“We just needed the three points to give everyone a lift.
“It was edgy at times because everyone knew the importance of the game with Rotherham being in the mini league with us at the bottom.
“And there were some big moments: Sammy’s goal, Gary getting the winner and the moment when they had a shot from the edge of the box and four of our players threw themselves at the ball to block it.
“I’m pleased for the lads but also pleased for the supporters because they have stuck with us. They were great and really got behind the team.”
On O’Neil’s performance Parkinson added: “Gaz gives us that bit of quality and calmness on the pitch.
“It’s so important because you can’t keep chasing the ball the whole time.”
After watching his team fail to win for an eighth successive game, Rotherham boss Paul Warne said: “We had pockets of really good play but not enough.
“Going in at half-time at 1-1 in a game of few chances I thought we would be stronger second half.
“Did we do enough to win the match? I am not sure. I don’t think we deserved to lose.
“We got dragged into a little bit the way they were playing.
“Our goal came from the fact we switched the play really well, got the free kick and put a good ball in.
“I couldn’t see us losing. But unfortunately we are conceding goals which is something we need to look at.
“We have all got to try and get better because we want to win football matches. But the effort is unquestionable.
“However, there were times on the ball when we didn’t make enough good decisions. We might have made two but we didn’t make three.
“Or we made three but didn’t make four so we didn’t create enough chances to win a match.”
