Bristol Rovers v Fleetwood Town

THE GAME

For this clash with one of the division’s form teams, Steve Evans made three changes to his starting XI, bringing in Shaq Forde, Ellis Harrison and Mees Rijks in place of Tommy Leigh, Fabrizio Cavegn and Joe Quigley.

He then saw his side put in a dogged and determined performance to win the game by a slender margin against a side that probably feel aggrieved they didn’t take something from the game; it was certainly a match that the pre-Christmas Rovers side would have struggled with and would probably have lost.

Rovers best chance of a fairly evenly contested first half fell to Harrison, who was played in by Forde. However, the striker’s first time effort drifted narrowly wide of the upright. Kofi Balmer’s long throws did cause the visitors a few uncomfortable moments, though goalkeeper Jay Lynch.

Similarly, Brad Young, in Rovers’ goal, was relatively untroubled, and although Fleetwood looked dangerous on the break they rarely threatened Rovers back line. The defining moment of the half came when

Balmer was adjudged to have brought down Will Davies in the area and referee Darren Drysdale pointed to the penalty spot.

After a lengthy wait, while the match official consulted his assistant, Ethan Ennis stepped up to take the spot kick but he was denied a goal by Young, who dived to his right to push the effort away from goal much to the delight of the majority of the 10,000 fans inside The Mem.

Fleetwood began the second period brightly and went close to taking the lead twice soon after the restart through Ched Evans.

Rovers, who had made on half time substitution, sending on Ryan De Havilland for Clinton Mola, then made a triple change as Leigh, Quigley and Yusuf Akhamrich entered the fray, replacing Alfie Kilgour, Harrison and Rijks.

It was one of the new arrivals, Quigley, who broke the deadlock with 66 minutes on the clock. The striker won the contest with a glancing header from a Jack Sparkes corner.

Rovers defenders had to withstand some pressure from the visitors after the goal and, Evans again went close to scoring. Once again, though, Young distinguished himself with an outstanding save from Jordan Davies.

It wasn’t all one way traffic, though, as the lively Akhamrich caused problems for Fleetwood and he went close to scoring with a powerful drive that was well held by Lynch.

Rovers defended well late on as the visitors pushed for an equaliser, showing a steely determination to win, or block, every goal threat and they held out to claim all three points and finally erase thoughts/fears of relegation.

WHAT WAS SAID

‘I think they had more composure than we did on the ball today. We seemed to have a lot of energy but a lack of quality. You need your goalkeeper to produce a big performance to win in scrappy games. Brad did that, and then we needed brilliant movements. A number of people were saying to me, coming up the tunnel, that we’d have lost that before, but Steve Evans teams win games like that. That’s what happens. You dig in, and you fight for the cause, and the cause is Bristol Rovers being in the Football League. So, we’re one point away from that.

‘We’ve looked at it back; it’s just outside the box. It’s not even in the box. He went to play the ball, and once the referee gives a penalty, then you can’t allow the double jeopardy law in football anymore. That was previous days, I don’t know why they were moaning on the bench, because they had to keep up to speed with the laws of the game. The laws of the game state that if he gives a free kick, we could have no defence of a red card, but when he gives the penalty, you can’t have double jeopardy.

‘Brad makes a big save; James Bittner deserves enormous credit. You know, he’s done a lot of work with Brad; you don’t need to work with Luke Southwood because he does that, doesn’t he? He makes penalty saves. But Brad has done a couple of crucial saves in the second half, and more importantly, some terrific handling. He had some brilliant performances in front of them today. Kofi Balmer and Riley Harbottle don’t get any better in defenders getting blocks in.’ Rovers Head Coach Steve Evans

‘I will not give too much away, but I was confident in the moment. I had a feeling for where I thought he would be going; I made the save and helped the lads out. I think it livened us up. It definitely livened the crowd up. It was a good buzz making the save and the noise after, but it was a good moment for us. We train all week, to be fair, James Bittner is brilliant, the amount of detail he goes into, it is one of the best I have been with. I have worked with a lot of good goalkeeper coaches, but to be fair, Bits is right up there, the detail, the sessions, everything and the way he makes us feel, me and Luke Southwood and obviously Jed Ward, so credit to Bits.

‘It is a good header, good ball in from Sparkes, good movement. The big lad has put it in the back of the net; that is what he is here for.  He is definitely a threat, so long may that continue as well. The lads, Ellis Harrison and Quigley, both, when you have got them in defending, they are so aggressive in the air as are the centre backs, but when you have got them in that free zone, yeah, you feel a lot of confidence, you know that the ball is coming, they are there, and they are going to go and header, take the lot. Love it.

‘It was a right buzz. The noise levels after penalty saves make your hair stand up on the back of your neck. Fair play to them, thank you for your support. If we can get that every week, what a place this is, and it is a tough place to come. We said that before, when the fans are like that, and when we play with the aggression and positive mindset, not many teams are going to come here and have a chance, so long may that continue.’ Rovers Goalkeeper Brad Young

‘I’m really frustrated. Frustrated with a good performance again, but the result isn’t there. We need to start pitting the ball in the back of the net. The dominance we had, the chances we created, the penalty, the one on ones, that’s the frustration.  My overall feeling is that we have to be more clinical. For long periods again today, we were the dominant side and created the better opportunities. But if you don’t score, you pay the price.

It’s about belief and trusting your instinct in those moments. We give the players freedom in the final third, and when you get into those situations, you’ve got to enjoy it and make the right decision. At the moment we’re just not quite getting that final action right, whether that’s picking the right pass or finishing the chance. But that’s the next step for us.

‘We know how we want to play. We have a clear plan, and we’re putting teams under pressure. That will give us a much better chance of success going forward. You can’t just sit back and hope. We’re taking the game to teams, and you can see that in the chances we’re creating. It’s just about turning that into goals now.’ Fleetwood Boss Matt Lawlor