THE MATCH
A lacklustre first half, in which they fell behind after just 17 minutes saw Rovers troop off the pitch at half time looking as though they had accepted that this just wasn’t to be their day.
However, Head Coach Steve Evans obviously had a few strong words for his charges during the half time break, made three substitutions at the start of the second period and saw them influence a very strong second half performance that saw his side eventually take all three points courtesy of one of those substitutes, Tommy Leigh.
Evans made just one change to his starting XI for the visit of play off hopefuls Crewe Alexandra, recalling Jack Sparkes in place of Ryan De Havilland but a frustrating first half performance saw Rovers a goal down at the break after a half in which they failed to create a goalscoring opportunity.
Ellis Harrison had already fired a wild shot over the crossbar by the time Crew took a 17th minute lead and by that time they had set their stall out for the match. A difficult, well organised and streetwise side, masters of the dark arts intent on stifling the opposition.
Their goal had a touch of good fortune about it, to be perfectly honest. Jack Powell’s free kick into the box found Tommy O’Reilly. He, in turn, worked the ball to Alfie Pond and although his first shot was blocked, the clearance his him and rebounded into the net.
The remainder of the half saw Rovers with their backs to the wall and having to defend a number of Crewe attacks that might have seen them concede again. Most notably, Powell was denied a goal when Brad Young tipped his effort over the bar, Josh March saw a shot blocked by a packed Rovers defence and two O’Reilly efforts met the same fate.
Evans sent on Leigh, De Havilland and Fabrizio Cavegn for the second half, in place of Harrison, Yusuf Akhamrich and Kane Thompson-Sommers and the changes sparked his side into life.
However, they were denied any clearcut chances by an uncompromising Crewe defence and although enjoying the lion’s share of possession, they couldn’t make the vital breakthrough, being denied by vital blocks, strong tackles and a poor decision making.
A rare Crewe breakaway saw Young touch a Mickey Demitriou effort over the bar but just when it seemed that it wasn’t to be their day, Rovers made the vital breakthrough with three minutes of normal time remaining. When Joel Senior’s cross came into the area, Leigh managed to lose his marker and headed beyond goalkeeper Ian Lawlor for a well deserved equaliser.
Most Rovers fans would probably have settled for a point at that late stage, knowing that teams around them at the foot of the table were also dropping points. However the players, and Leigh in particular, had other ideas and went in search of another goal.
We were deep into the four minutes of stoppage time when Leigh struck again after battling work by Clinton Mola saw the ball drop to him, he rifled a shot into the bottom corner of the net to secure victory.
Cue wild celebrations, on the pitch, on the terraces and in the stands. In a season that has had far more downs than ups, Leigh’s goals and these three points could well be the turning point as this side battles to preserve its League Two status.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘For every one of the Gas family in the stadium, thank you for sticking with us after a really poor first half. And I don’t mean, Crewe weren’t missing chances and dominant, but they were in front, deservedly in front. We didn’t look as if we could have two passes or the energy to go and compete in a football match. It’s not many times, maybe once or twice, that I’ve had to take the paint off the walls in the dressing room to freshen and liven people up.
‘Tommy’s taken a little while to settle, and it’s easier to say he’s got a little bit frustrated, but I actually pointed out to the Director Of Football, Ricky Martin who watches training every day, but I said coming off yesterday, I just told Tommy Leigh that his training sessions in the last two or three days have been remarkable. They’ve been a different gravy. So, we were eager to get him onto the pitch, but the opportunity jumped earlier than we thought and not only his goals, I think his passing. I think he had one wayward cross into the box behind. But I think other than that, everything was on the money for him. I thought he was really good, but he was supported by a number of players that really stepped up in the second half.
‘The scenes around the ground, up in the stands, up in the seats, up behind me, on the terrace. Men, women, boys, girls. I keep seeing them hugging each other and seeing the fans at the end coming off, and they’re going to have a pint or a curry. Enjoy your Saturday night, that was hard earned.’ Rovers Head Coach Steve Evans
‘I saw the lad marking me. I don’t know how long he was on me for, but I just saw him switch off in the last second, and I nipped in front of him and won the header, and luckily enough, it has hit the back of the net. For the ten minutes, all you could hear was our fans; you couldn’t hear any of them. They gave us the boost to go and get the winner.
‘I can’t remember a lot’, he said when reflecting on his second goal. ‘All I remember is getting bundled by loads of lads. It just dropped quite softly, and then I just smacked it as hard as I could. I scuffed it, but they all count, don’t they? The noise was absolutely brilliant. As I said, the fans were fantastic. You can hear them, especially when we got the first goal to 1-1, all you do is hear them for the ten minutes at the end. For the ten minutes, all you could hear was our fans; you couldn’t hear any of them. They gave us the boost to go and get the winner.”
‘I’ve come here a couple of times, and it’s a tough place to come and especially to get three points is very hard for an away side. We want to make it that tough. We don’t want to let the game go by; we want to give it our all and get the three points over the line, especially at home. At this time, we need the three points, and we need to win more games, and I think we can.’ Rovers goalscorer Tommy Leigh
‘What an absolute waste of 90 minutes. What an absolute waste of 90 minutes of working your backside off to go and lose concentration at the end. We have to do better. All of us. I always start with me and looking at what we did. But those two moments have cost us. Two shots on target and two goals.
I thought our back three were magnificent. They knew what we had to stand up to coming here and that’s why we went to that shape – and they dealt with everything. But we’ve not stopped a cross or picked up runners, and second phase from a set play people running up the pitch not doing their jobs and that’s cost us. It’s a real hard one to take.’ Crewe Boss Lee Bell
