THE GAME
Following three consecutive defeats Rovers were hoping to take something from this match against Birmingham City who were playing their first league game at The Memorial Stadium.
Three changes to the starting lineup saw Clinton Mola, Matt Butcher and Taylor Moore come into the side at the expense of Jack Hunt, Joel Senior and Sil Swinkels.
In spite of a narrow defeat, there was quite a lot to like though it’s imperative we get more points on the board given that Burton won and closed the gap to us to just three points, with a game in hand and a far superior goal difference.
Birmingham arrived at The Mem nine points clear at the top of the table and having lost just three games all season and beforehand many felt that it was just a case of how many they would win by.
It didn’t start well, as we conceded early once again, though we did have to wait until the third minute for the goal to arrive; two minutes longer than the Mansfield game!
The goal was engineered down Birmingham’s left flank when Kieran Dowell picked out Keshi Anderson who took a touch before curling a superb right foot shot past Jed Ward into the far corner of the net. It might have been the first of an avalanche of goals as Birmingham looked mightily impressive going forward.
Inigo Calderon’s side, though, had other ideas and kept plugging away, determined not to concede again and Shaq Forde thought he had equalised when he slotted the ball home, but as he and many of the Rovers supporters inside the stadium celebrated, they failed to notice that the assistant referee had his flag raised for offside.
Nevertheless, it signalled the start of some sustained Rovers pressure and after Romaine Sawyers had fired over the bar we got back on level terms when Kofi Shaw’s superbly flighted free kick to the back post saw Connor Taylor head back across goal where Gatlin O’Donkor was on hand to score from close range.
Twice the woodwork saved the league leaders from going behind as O’Donkor headed against the crossbar and Ruel Sotiriou’s strike was touched on to the post by goalkeeper Ryan Allsopp.
It was an impressive 45 minutes from Rovers and quite a turnaround from the last three depressing performances and begs the question why it can’t be like this more often!
The second half, while not as action packed as the first became an absorbing contest and Rovers more than matched their visitors though the closest they came to a second goal was when Sotiriou blazed a shot over the bar on 63 minutes.
With the game seemingly heading for a draw which would have meant a valuable point for Rovers, disaster struck the unfortunate Connor Taylor as Jay Stansfield, who hardly had a look in all night, looked to cross and the ball hit Taylor’s hand. Penalty said referee Ollie Yates and up stepped Stansfield to send Jed Ward the wrong way and net his second spot kick against Rovers this season.
And so, Birmingham celebrated their 37th win in all competitions this season while Rovers were left to rue the woodwork that had denied them a famous victory against a side that will almost certainly be playing Championship football next season.
Calderon’s side, though, demonstrated the battling qualities that could see them reach safety, hopefully before the last game of the season at Blackpool. This was a much improved performance and they will need to show all of the passion, commitment and desire they showed last night once more on Saturday as they head to Bolton attempting to avoid equalling the record for the number of away defeats in a season, which stands at 16.
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘Football is not fair when you are down there, but that is the reality. I don’t think we have to feel sorry or say unlucky. I think we have to accept that, and I accept that. I think when you’re down there, the luck is not with you at all, and you have to do things better. I think we did 85 minutes really good. I think we started the game not too good, and we showed too much respect to them. After, I think we changed, and we were much, much better. I don’t think you could see that they were the top team in the division. It’s true again that the penalty, I don’t know, came from a lack of concentration.
‘Something happened in there, and it was a mistake, and that’s the reality. You cannot have mistakes when you are down there because they are going to punish you. Especially good teams. But it’s true that for 85 minutes, the team was really good. It was not easy at all, and that’s why it probably hurts even more because with everything we did, conceding the penalty is cruel and brutal.
‘I think we had chances with Ruel and Gatlin. I think we have a couple of chances. I would say more than them. I don’t think Jed Ward had to make too many saves today. That’s a credit to everyone who took part today because it’s not easy to concede that little chances against the top team in the division. But that was not enough, and we have to keep going and keep going and keep going. It has to be something on a loop because as soon as you stop, you’re done.’ (Rovers Head Coach Inigo Calderon)
‘It’s a tough one to take. I feel a bit deflated, and I think the whole dressing room probably feels the same, feels like we deserved more out of the game tonight. At least a point. Just to concede the goals in the manner that we did as well is frustrating. The first one so early on in the game again takes the sting out of the game a little bit, but we did so well to come back, and we put in a real battling performance tonight.
‘We’ve obviously spoken in there between ourselves. Not only have we got to do better at conceding the goals, but we’ve also got to do better at scoring them. We’ve got to take our chances, especially the position that we’re in at the moment. Those moments count, and I think the game completely changes there if we go and score a second or even a third. It would be a completely different interview that we’d be doing right now. A lot of positives to take, and I just feel that if we can match that type of performance for the remaining game of the season, we’ll be fine.
‘It was a dagger to the heart, a penalty like that, a handball. Whether it’s soft or not, I haven’t watched it back, but it just felt that there was a referee and an assistant there that were waiting to give something, and unfortunately, we gave them the opportunity to do that. But it was a real dagger to the heart.”’ (Rovers Defender Taylor Moore)
‘I’m sure they’ll be aware of that record (37 games unbeaten), and I’ll be reminding them. It’s a huge testament to the players. It’s one thing saying they are good players but the type of mentality that you need to do that, is a special kind of mentality and that’s what they have shown. I think we’ve been hungry so far to get that many wins, and it’s something I’m very proud of to do that at a club like this. It’s something for us to savour and now we need to add to it.
‘It was a scrappy game. I thought they would press us, and it became a little bit scrappy but we played the game in front of us and we attacked the space in behind well. The character and the heart and soul of the team was there tonight. I said to the players in the dressing room that these are the games you remember forever, and these are the wins that taste the best because you have to overcome real adversity and challenge. I thought if anyone was going to win it the game it would be us, so to get the three points was brilliant for us.’ (Birmingham Manager Chris Davies)
