THE GAME
In spite of ringing the changes and finding room in his squad for all four of his recent signings, who all made their league debut, Steve Evans saw his side lose a home league game for the eighth consecutive time.
Following a promising midweek display against Plymouth Argyle in the Vertu Trophy, there were high hopes that Rovers could claim all three points and build on their New Year’s Day victory against Shrewsbury Town, but they never really imposed themselves on a strong Colchester side.
In terms of goal threats, then the first half as almost a non event and it was very much stop start as visiting players went to ground under innocuous challenges and resorted to a great deal of shirt pulling. It was
quite a surprise that such an experienced match official should be conned by players wanting free kicks at every opportunity and even more of a surprise that the worst of the shirt pulling went unpunished.
That’s not really an excuse, though, as Rovers looked jaded after their midweek exertions in the Vertu Trophy and Colchester looked a very competent League two outfit.
There were a couple of threats from Colchester free kicks before their best chance of the half arrived just after the half hour mark when Kane Vincent-Young raced into the area and found Samson who attempted to curl a shot into the top corner but Luke Southwood managed to touch the ball behind for a corner.
As for Rovers, there was very little to cheer, and the closest they came to scoring came as half time approached when a Jack Sparkes cross flashed across the face of goal with Fabrizio Cavegn just unable to get a touch and divert it into the net.
Colchester almost scored in the 57th minute when Kyreece Lisbie picked out Micah Mbick in the area and his shot beat Southwood but came back into play off the upright. Shortly afterwards Samson Tovide hit a shot just past the post as Rovers came under a great deal of pressure.
Colchester substitute Owura Edwards, Bristol born and a former Bristol City player, was sent on after 73 minutes and with five minutes of normal time remaining he struck what proved to be the winning goal. Collecting the ball out on the left he cut inside and unleashed a tremendous right foot shot into the top corner of the net.
In response, Ellis Harrison headed an effort straight at his former Roves youth teammate Matt Macey and Isaac Hutchinson smashed a shot from the edge of the area against the crossbar.
There’s a lot of work to do to start the climb up the table and Evans and his side now face to tough trips on the road, at Salford City and MK Dons.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘I think overall it was a disappointing performance. I think we paid a price for going toe to toe with Plymouth in the week. I think a lot of players who, in my opinion, really excelled in the Plymouth game looked a little bit jaded today, a little bit tired. I think we just appeared to be a yard off it all round the pitch for a lot of the game, not all of it, but a lot of it.
“We lost a number of key duels and didn’t press with the intensity we had, plus the fact that we are playing a really good side that’s been established under Danny Cowley now. They’ve been together since the summer and are working through the processes. So, we will learn a lot from today, and we’ll need to obviously have a week ahead, so we have an opportunity to freshen up ourselves, get on the training ground, and we’re facing a difficult game next week. As I just said to the players, the season started in August, and we have to find a way to come through this spell that we’re in.”
‘I think the only time we had a real purpose was when we brought on Ellis. I thought Ellis had a big contribution; we put them under pressure, and he won a few knockdowns and got unlucky with a few near misses. But we don’t kid ourselves, the better team won today.’ Rovers Head Coach Steve Evans
‘It was very disappointing. I don’t think we did enough across the board as a team today to win the game, both defending and going forward. So, back to the drawing board on Monday. Reflect, regroup, learn and go again. It was nowhere near good enough, really, today. Obviously, on Tuesday night, we didn’t keep a clean sheet and conceded quite a few goals, but going forward, we were a threat. We were simply all at it.
‘It’s tough at the minute. It seems to be either one way or the other. I just said to the lads, if we can’t win it, we don’t lose it, take a point. To be fair to the lad, it was a great strike, but it was an avoidable goal. We’re disappointed, and we weren’t quite at it today, and that’s not good enough. That’s not us, and that’s not Bristol Rovers as a collective, as a whole. So, yeah, we maybe need to take a look at ourselves, regroup, refresh, reflect and be better. Simple as that.”
‘I’ve known Riley (Harbottle) for a long time, obviously. We were two young lads at Mansfield for half a season. He’s a great lad, and he’s a great player, so we get on well and it’s great to have him here. High calibre player, obviously, he’s come from Notts County and Hibs, and he’s been around, and he’s played a lot of games. He was vital at Wimbledon last year. So, it’s great to have him here, and he’s a good lad. He’s a good pro, and I get on well with him, so another good lad to have in the group.’ Rovers skipper Alfie Kilgour
‘The boys not in the team work so hard every week, doing extras, and the substitutes never know when their opportunity is going to come, but they know they have to be ready. And most of the professional players are always ready.
‘Frankie Terry came in and put in a really solid performance but Owura Edwards will get the headlines. I said to him that he’s played well in our last game and I left him out, but he was really unfortunate. I’ve seen enough players in dressing rooms who sulk at that moment, but he didn’t. He understood and he just said to me that he’d be ready if he was needed.
In spite of ringing the changes and finding room in his squad for all four of his recent signings, who all made their league debut, Steve Evans saw his side lose a home league game for the eighth consecutive time.
Following a promising midweek display against Plymouth Argyle in the Vertu Trophy, there were high hopes that Rovers could claim all three points and build on their New Year’s Day victory against Shrewsbury Town, but they never really imposed themselves on a strong Colchester side.
In terms of goal threats, then the first half as almost a non event and it was very much stop start as visiting players went to ground under innocuous challenges and resorted to a great deal of shirt pulling. It was quite a surprise that such an experienced match official should be conned by players wanting free kicks at every opportunity and even more of a surprise that the worst of the shirt pulling went unpunished.
That’s not really an excuse, though, as Rovers looked jaded after their midweek exertions in the Vertu Trophy and Colchester looked a very competent League two outfit.
There were a couple of threats from Colchester free kicks before their best chance of the half arrived just after the half hour mark when Kane Vincent-Young raced into the area and found Samson who attempted to curl a shot into the top corner but Luke Southwood managed to touch the ball behind for a corner.
As for Rovers, there was very little to cheer, and the closest they came to scoring came as half time approached when a Jack Sparkes cross flashed across the face of goal with Fabrizio Cavegn just unable to get a touch and divert it into the net.
Colchester almost scored in the 57th minute when Lisbie picked out Mbick in the area and his shot beat Southwood but came back into play off the upright. Shortly afterwards Tovide hit a shot just past the post as Rovers came under a great deal of pressure.
Colchester substitute Owura Edwards, Bristol born and a former Bristol City player, was sent on after 73 minutes and with five minutes of normal time remaining he struck what proved to be the winning goal. Collecting the ball out on the left he cut inside and unleashed a tremendous right foot shot into the top corner of the net.
In response, Ellis Harrison headed an effort straight at his former Roves youth teammate Matt Macey and Isaac Hutchinson smashed a shot from the edge of the area against the crossbar.
There’s a lot of work to do to start the climb up the table and Evans and his side now face to tough trips on the road, at Salford City and MK Dons.
‘I think overall it was a disappointing performance. I think we paid a price for going toe to toe with Plymouth in the week. I think a lot of players who, in my opinion, really excelled in the Plymouth game looked a little bit jaded today, a little bit tired. I think we just appeared to be a yard off it all round the pitch for a lot of the game, not all of it, but a lot of it.
“We lost a number of key duels and didn’t press with the intensity we had, plus the fact that we are playing a really good side that’s been established under Danny Cowley now. They’ve been together since the summer and are working through the processes. So, we will learn a lot from today, and we’ll need to obviously have a week ahead, so we have an opportunity to freshen up ourselves, get on the training ground, and we’re facing a difficult game next week. As I just said to the players, the season started in August, and we have to find a way to come through this spell that we’re in.”
‘I think the only time we had a real purpose was when we brought on Ellis. I thought Ellis had a big contribution; we put them under pressure, and he won a few knockdowns and got unlucky with a few near misses. But we don’t kid ourselves, the better team won today.’ Rovers Head Coach Steve Evans
‘It was very disappointing. I don’t think we did enough across the board as a team today to win the game, both defending and going forward. So, back to the drawing board on Monday. Reflect, regroup, learn and go again. It was nowhere near good enough, really, today. Obviously, on Tuesday night, we didn’t keep a clean sheet and conceded quite a few goals, but going forward, we were a threat. We were simply all at it.
‘It’s tough at the minute. It seems to be either one way or the other. I just said to the lads, if we can’t win it, we don’t lose it, take a point. To be fair to the lad, it was a great strike, but it was an avoidable goal. We’re disappointed, and we weren’t quite at it today, and that’s not good enough. That’s not us, and that’s not Bristol Rovers as a collective, as a whole. So, yeah, we maybe need to take a look at ourselves, regroup, refresh, reflect and be better. Simple as that.”
‘I’ve known Riley (Harbottle) for a long time, obviously. We were two young lads at Mansfield for half a season. He’s a great lad, and he’s a great player, so we get on well and it’s great to have him here. High calibre player, obviously, he’s come from Notts County and Hibs, and he’s been around, and he’s played a lot of games. He was vital at Wimbledon last year. So, it’s great to have him here, and he’s a good lad. He’s a good pro, and I get on well with him, so another good lad to have in the group.’ Rovers skipper Alfie Kilgour
‘The boys not in the team work so hard every week, doing extras, and the substitutes never know when their opportunity is going to come, but they know they have to be ready. And most of the professional players are always ready.
‘Frankie Terry came in and put in a really solid performance but Owura Edwards will get the headlines. I said to him that he’s played well in our last game and I left him out, but he was really unfortunate. I’ve seen enough players in dressing rooms who sulk at that moment, but he didn’t. He understood and he just said to me that he’d be ready if he was needed.
‘He comes on to the pitch and he practices that shot into the top corner rep after rep in training, so when the moment comes he’s ready to find that goal’ Danny Cowle
‘He comes on to the pitch and he practices that shot into the top corner rep after rep in training, so when the moment comes he’s ready to find that goal’ Colchester Head Coach Danny Cowley
