We deserved derby win, claims Rovers chief Jones

A dramatic 90th-minute winner from Richard Chaplow earned Rovers their first league victory since August 29 and ensured a sweet first victory in six league matches.

It was Jones’ first win of his caretaker stint in charge, but he refused to be drawn on whether it has boosted his long-term hopes of landing the job permanently, saying that the triumph was not about him but ‘Doncaster Rovers.’

Jones said: “Did we earn it, yes. We earned it from start to finish.

“I felt we had a right go and the passion and desire was there.

“The willingness to run that extra yard was there. Everything from the second half in midweek came to fore.

“The win is a bit of a payback for the past four, five or six weeks.”

On the win aiding his own quest to land the Rovers job on a full-time basis, he added: ‘Its not about me. I am not interested in me. For the group as a whole, this is massive.”

Reds head coach Lee Johnson disagreed with the comments from Jones and felt his side dominated for large parts of proceedings, only to pay the price for two concessions, labelling Rovers’ late winner as a poor one to concede from his point of view.

It was a game in which Barnsley, who restored parity on the hour through Sam Winnall’s header and fifth goal of the season which cancelled out Keshi Anderson’s 35th-minute opener, had a number of chances, particularly in the second half.

Several were supplied by dangerman Kadeem Harris, who also spurned a couple of good opportunities which he carved out himself.

Johnson added: “It (winning goal) was a killer blow. But I was pleased with performance.

“We were excellent and I thought we ran game from ten minutes.

“On another day, maybe we come out winning the game quite comfortably.

“But there were so many positives in that game. We are very close to being a good side.”

Enthused by the vibrant showing of loanee Harris, he added: “How he (Harris) has not scored or set up a goal, I don’t know.

“He’s a fantastic player and it will come.”