Rotherham interim boss Matt Hamshaw was delighted to start his reign with a 2-0 victory at Northampton on Tuesday.
Hamshaw was appointed until the end of the season after the sacking of Steve Evans and he saw his new team ease to a comfortable away win.
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu deflected in Louie Sibley’s shot to give the Millers a deserved lead midway through the first half at Sixfields and victory was rubber-stamped by Sam Nombe after the break.
“It’s a really positive start,” said Hamshaw. “A clean sheet and a goal from a set-piece is everything I want in a victory.
“We had to ride a bit of a storm at the start of the second half but we could have been two or three up at half-time and I was disappointed we weren’t.
“We frustrated them, we had plenty of opportunities and I don’t think they had a shot on our goal in the first half, but there was always going to be a reaction.
“Kevin (Nolan) would have got into them at half-time and to be fair they were the better team at the start of the second half, but then we get the second from a set-piece.
“I think we showed our quality after that and the shackles came off and that’s what I’ve been banging on about since I came in.
“I’m not going to pick out individuals because I thought everyone put in a massive shift. They’re blowing in there but that’s what it takes – hard work and determination.
“We’ve drilled a lot of information into the players and credit to them because they’ve taken it on board, but there’s loads of things we still need to work on.”
Northampton are now just four points above the relegation zone with six games to go.
Boss Kevin Nolan said: “There were a lot of things that weren’t good enough tonight.
“We weren’t good enough and that’s why we were beaten and we lost to two really poor goals again. It’s very similar to the goals we’ve conceded in the past few weeks.
“I felt we were slightly better than what we were against Blackpool in our last home game but the manner of the two goals we gave away are not acceptable.
“It’s not up to our standards and what we want to do. There was a reaction in the second half and we gained a bit of momentum but the first attack they have, it’s just a ball from the goalkeeper and we kick it out for a corner.
“The corner didn’t look like it was supposed to come in like it did but suddenly there’s a scramble, we don’t clear it and it bounces to their lad. It’s really poor on our behalf.”
