THE GAME
Rovers made it through to the next round of the Vertu Trophy by beating Cambridge United 4-2 in a penalty shootout, though they certainly made life difficult for themselves.
After taking a two goal lead they were pinned back by a Cambridge side that passed and moved the ball at pace and were, for the most part, the best of the two sides on show.
Darrell Clarke selected a strong side for this match and was rewarded by seeing his side take the lead from the penalty spot on eight minutes, when Ellis Harrison converted the spot kick awarded after Freddie Issaka had been brought down by former Rovers defender James Gibbons.
Harrison scored his, and Rovers, second goal nine minutes later after being played in by Luke Thomas but just when it appeared that Rovers might coast to victory in this unloved competition, Cambridge stepped up a gear and created a number of chances. Ben Knight went close to equalising on two occasions, but fired his best opportunity over the bar after being played in by Elias Kachunga.
Rovers, though, defended well and still held their two goal advantage going into the half time break. Clarke made three changes at the start of the second half, sending on Kamil Conteh, Ryan Howley and Fabrizio Cavegn in place of Josh McEachran, Joel Cotterill and Harrison.
However, his side were under pressure right from the off and it came as little surprise when Cambridge pulled a goal back. Rovers failure to clear their lines from a George Munday corner saw the ball eventually reach Kelland Watts who was able to score from close range.
The pressure on Rovers back line was relentless and both Sullay Kaikai and Gibbons went close to equalising, though in a rare break Rovers almost scored their third of the evening, but Taylor Moore saw his effort cleared off the line.
Just when it seemed that Rovers would, somehow, hold on to their lead, the visitors were awarded a penalty in the first minute of time added on after Luke Southwood had brought down Liam Bennett.
Kaikai just about beat Southwood with his spot kick to make it 2-2 and so the game had to be decided on penalties.
Cavegn, Jack Sparkes, Luke Thomas all scored from the spot, while Southwood saved from Kaikaie, Josh Bropohy scored and Southwood saved again from Josh Brophy. Stepping up to seal victory, recent signing Callum Morton saw his effort saved by Ben Hughes and Pelly Mpanzu scored for the visitors, so it was left to Conteh to convert Rovers fifth penalty and seal a 4-2 win.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘We do make hard work of things. Look, the job’s done and I think that’s probably the main takeaway from it. We’re through to the next round. But a difficult game to watch, from the sidelines and I’m sure from the stands as well. There are positives. We created some good opportunities and we were quite good on the break, and that’s something obviously that we’re looking to add to our game, is getting the goals. But I think in terms of overall performance, it’s not at the level we need it to be, and I think that’s clear. At times we were really under the cosh, we had to defend our box a lot, and you hope you can do that for the latter stages of the game, but we just allowed the game to come on top of us a bit too much. Like you said the positives are we’ve scored a couple of goals which we’ve not been doing much of recently. I think it’ll do the group the world of confidence. I think just putting the ball in the net is the hardest thing in football. I know that from being a striker myself and going through patches when you’re not scoring. It’s difficult, and it’s those moments that are going to get you over the line and win you football matches.
‘To go two nil up was really really pleasing in the first half, even though I didn’t feel we played very well in the first half, I think there were moments of quality which is the moments that we’ve been lacking in the run that we’ve been on. I don’t want to be too negative because we’ve done the job, and when you’re in the spell that we’re in at the minute, any positive you take you grasp onto it and you try and build on it, so we’ll do that.
‘The games are coming thick and fast now in the next couple of weeks and then a busy schedule up to Christmas. Like I say, we take the positives and we take what we can into the next game. We know that Saturday is the FA Cup, it’s going to be a random game again, there’s going to be all sorts kicking off I’m sure, because that’s the way the FA Cup goes. So we need to be ready for that.’ Rovers Assistant Head Coach Jon Stead
‘It’s a really proud moment for me to get my first start. I feel like I’ve been doing everything I can to get that. I never expected to come in and walk into the team. So, I’ve been doing everything I can to get that opportunity, and I’m really grateful to finally get it. The coaches said if I kept working hard, I would get my opportunity, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do. I’m happy that I finally got it. It’s been a bit gradual, but it has been really helpful to ease my way into the team, so when it gets to that point, I know what the lads are like, know what the
‘I’ve seen the ball fall nicely for me. So I ran onto it, and I just tried to work my shot. I felt the contact and went down. From the first day, I’ve felt really welcome by the team and everyone. The staff and the players have been really good. I can’t really ask much more. Football wise, I just want to crack on and do everything I can. So, just keep working hard, but from the loan point of view, that’s been really good.
‘It’s been a lot different to being in Plymouth. There’s a lot more going on, but it’s been really good for me, not just from a football perspective but also as a person. I feel like I’ve grown a lot. We have been working really hard in training and, of course, the results haven’t been going our way recently, but a win is very good for us. Whenever you get a win, it’s a positive feeling and that usually, the lads can take that into the week in training and into the next game. The win will be very positive for us.’ Rovers midfielder Freddie Issaka
‘We have got so many games in December and January, being out of the competition is a blessing. It’s not about Saturday either, not about Stockport, as much as we are hugely respectful to the best cup competition in the world, it’s all about Tuesday against Chesterfield and the following Saturday against MK Dons. What people have to realise is that we have got injuries at the moment and players that can’t put consecutive games together over a period, so people might be surprised by the team selection at the weekend, but my job is to make sure I have the best team available against Chesterfield next Tuesday.
‘We were outstanding, we were by miles the better team – it should have been 15-0. We gave two really poor goals away where we just shot ourselves in the foot and gave ourselves a mountain to climb, but we hung in there, we created numerous chances, fought back late and took it to penalties. Ultimately, I see this as another game unbeaten, the penalty shootout is a little bit irrelevant. We’re out of the competition and it’s not hugely disappointing for me that, I’ve got to be honest.
‘There were some good individual performances, minutes for players to top their minutes up, I’m pleased with the goalscorers, the impact from the bench was excellent… loads of positives, no negatives. It’s on to Saturday now against Stockport – another competition where we can go and have a free hit at them.’ Cambridge boss Neil Harris
