THE GAME
Rovers were outstanding in the opening 20 minutes of this game but failed to take any of the numerous goalscoring opportunities that presented themselves; they really should have been three or four goals to the good at half time.
While Matt Taylor’s side dominated first half proceedings, Crawley put in a second half display that belied their lowly league position. That they didn’t go on to win the game was down to resolute defending by Rovers and some outstanding saves by Josh Griffiths.
Isaac Hutchinson’s third minute effort thudded against the crossbar and set the tone for the next ten minutes or so. Luke McCormick then glanced a header wide from Bryant Bilongo’s cross and then forced an amazing save from goalkeeper Connal Trueman, who managed to touch the ball on to the post, from another Bilongo cross.
Shaq Forde’s goalbound effort was diverted behind for a corner while Hutchinson was again denied a goal, this time by keeper Trueman, while Crawley’s best opportunity of the half fell to Panutche Camara who was thwarted by a last ditch block by Bilongo.
It was an entirely different story after the break, even though the first chance of the half fell to Rovers’ substitute Scott Sinclair. However, when put through by Chris Martin, he lobbed the ball over keeper Trueman, who had strayed off his line, and also the crossbar.
Ronan Darcy fired a shot wide of goal before Griffiths made an outstanding double save from substitute Tola Showumni. Jack Roles then fired over the bar when played in by Darcy and there was another let off for Rovers just before the final whistle when Griffiths pulled off an outstanding save from Bradley Ibrahim.
And so, a game that should have been won comfortably by half time, ended with Rovers hanging on against a determined Crawley side. That’s four points dropped in two home games in a week and a tough schedule ahead.
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘If you’d interviewed me at half time I would have said that was probably the best we’ve been. Given the number of chances we created, how we didn’t go ahead in that first half is beyond me.
‘We lost a bit of control of the space in the second half. Credit to Crawley, as they used that better. The space between our players just grew a little bit too big, and they had the ascendancy in relation to that, still without troubling our goal often enough.
‘We hit the bar twice, their goalkeeper made saves with his fingers and his body and there were blocks. But we have to find ways of forcing the issue and add quality moments in the opposition box.’ (Rovers manager Matt Taylor)
‘It’s a tough game to describe; I thought in the first half that we had a lot of chances and that their goalkeeper kept them in it really well. It was a game where we needed a goal to get the momentum going and then go on to win by three or four.
‘In the second half we lost a little bit of control over the game, but we did well to keep a clean sheet. On the positive side we were creating chances. It’s what we aim to do every game, get the ball wide, get crosses in and link together.
‘However, we have to get the ball in the back of the net. If we score in the first half, we do go on to do brilliant things. On a personal note, it was amazing to start, and I enjoyed myself in front of so many people, something I always try to do.’ (Rovers defender Bryant Bilongo)
‘It was frustrating not to come away with three points, because we should have done, but I think that performance showed me that we’re going to pick up more than three points on the road.
‘The work rate from the lads was incredible. There’s work rate as a professional footballer and there’s running beyond that, and the lads ran beyond that today.’ (Crawley manager Rob Elliot).
