
THE MATCH
Rovers took all three points against Barnsley, to register back to back wins in the league, with a battling performance against a side looking to achieve promotion.
Inigo Calderon handed recent signing, Romaine Sawyers, his Gas league debut for this game but saw his side under pressure from the off.
Barnsley arrived at The Mem on the back of four successive league wins and started this game as though they were intent on making it five. They created a number of chances in the opening stages of the game and Josh Griffiths had to be at his best to keep out efforts from Davis Keillor-Dunn, Adam Phillips and Max Watters.
Luca Connell thought he had scored for the visitors with 17 minutes on the clock, but his ‘goal’ was disallowed for offside. There was little respite for Rovers, though Scott Sinclair should have made more of the two chances that came his way and Isaac Hutchinson saw his rasping drive dealt with by keeper Ben Killip.
Griffiths saved again from Keillor Dunn and Watters midway through the half as Barnsley continued to probe for an opening. Their movement off the ball was excellent
and posed many problems for Rovers defence, but they paid for the profligacy in front of goal on 41 minutes. A chipped shot from Sinclair came back into play off the crossbar and Grant Ward claimed possession before crossing into the box where Gatlin O’Donkor headed past Killip to give Rovers a half time lead.
That lead was doubled six minutes into the second half when a surging run forward by James Wilson ended when Killip blocked his shot, though he collected the rebound and squared the ball to Hutchinson who slotted the ball home from close range.
Killip then denied former Barnsley player Luke Thomas while, at the other end, Griffiths did well to keep out a shot
from Adam Phillips before Barnsley reduced the deficit when Corey O’Keeffe’s free kick was headed home by Josh Earl.
The visitors squandered a couple more decent goalscoring opportunities before Rovers sealed victory with an 85th minute goal with a second assist of the game from James Wilson. By now wearing the captain’s armband following Sinclair’s substitution, the defender again raced forward before finding Ruel Sotiriou on the box and the striker did the rest, netting his first league goal at The Mem.
Barnsley were left to rue their missed chances, which cost them, while Rovers put in a much improved performance and collected three very welcome points.
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘It feels really, really good. I think we all deserve that. The game against Ipswich was not a good moment for us because I don’t think we were ready for that game, and it is true that it was a difficult defeat. I’m so pleased with the boys, for the staff, for the fans obviously because I think we found a way to win today and probably could have scored a couple more.
‘You could see the passion. That’s why when you play at home, you have that extra lift. You have the centre backs overlapping and crossing. So, that’s more passion than tactics, and I was really, really pleased. They have been working really hard in a difficult situation because football is so much different when you are down than when you are up in the table.
‘I think Josh Griffiths was great, especially in the first half, he was unbelievable. You need that. It was a great group performance; it was a great Individual performance, and that helps. He was outstanding today, really outstanding, so it gives us that confidence from the back, so I think it was a great win.’ (Rovers Head Coach Inigo Calderon)
‘I thought it was an action packed game. I felt like Barnsley had a number of chances, which they obviously didn’t take. I feel like that’s the most we’ve created all season. I feel like it could have gone either way and luckily it went for us today.
‘Josh Griffiths has pulled us out of the mud a lot of times this season, to be honest. He’s won us games, and obviously, as the ten outfield players, we’ll try and help him as best as possible, but he’s an unbelievable goalie. We call him Goliath for a reason. He’s just a man mountain in the goal, and I’m buzzing for him. He’s a top lad as well.
‘I took the shot, and it’s gone through the guy’s legs. Hopefully, it’s a turn of form and confidence and maybe that bit of luck. It’s an amazing feeling. I got brought into the club to score goals, and obviously, it didn’t work. Now, the new manager has come in, and I feel like his style of play suits me down to a tee. So, I’m really happy.’ (Rovers striker Ruel Sotiriou)
‘Some games have you massively scratching your head and this was one of them. We were dominant for large stretches of the game, although fair play to Rovers as they did hit us on the counter attack.
‘But you can’t have as much possession as we had and not take the chances you’ve created. As a performance it was exactly what I wanted to see from my team going forward – we had 14 corners and 25 efforts on goal, 11 of which were on target.
‘We came to win the game and we will keep attacking the season like this because the lads are giving me everything.’ (Barnsley manager Darrell Clarke)