Three games in a week, nine points gained, five goals scored, none conceded and a record equalling tenth consecutive home win in the league made it another good day for Rovers supporters who have had very little to cheer about in recent seasons.
Steve Evans and his staff have moulded this group of players into a very effective unit, all committed to the cause and making them a difficult team to beat, even when not at their best and, it could be argued, that this was one such occasion.
Evans, up against one of his former clubs, had the luxury of once again naming an unchanged side, though there was a welcome return, on the bench, for skipper Alfie Kilgour.
Rovers enjoyed a great deal of early possession and might have taken a 14th minute lead through Fabrizio Cavegn who was played
in by Bobby Kamwa down the left. The striker cut inside and managed to get a shot away that was deflected into the arms of goalkeeper Ted Cann.
A cross from Ben Purrington saw Tommy Leigh head straight into the arms of Cann as Rovers searched for an opening. Just after the half hour mark, though, Leigh scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game.
He began the move that led to the goal by lifting the ball over the Rotherham defenders to Kamwa who cut inside and fired a shot towards goal. However, the ball rebounded off the keeper straight into the path of Leigh who gleefully slammed the ball into the back of the net from ten yards out.
He might have added a second shortly afterwards but his effort, from a Clinton Mola through ball, was into the side netting.
Rotherham had seldom shown as an attacking force in the opening 45 minutes but Brad Young was called into action on 39 minutes and made a routine save from Brandon Cover.
The impressive Leigh, who had been outstanding in the first half, didn’t reappear for the second half. A tight hamstring was the reason, according to Evans in his post match interview. Ellis Harrison replaced the goalscorer.
Riley Harbottle and Purrington both headed over in the early stages of the second half and Kofi Balmer was unfortunate not to add a second goal when he collected a Rotherham clearance and saw his shot pushed up on to the bar by Cann. The rebound fell to Mola, whose shot was saved by the keeper.
Rotherham should have drawn level with nine minutes of the game remaining, but Fabio Tavares headed straight at Young from an Aaron Nemane cross. As we moved into five minutes of added time, a melee on the touchline involving both benches and several players ended with Rovers assistant manager Paul Raynor and Rotherham boss Alex Bruce red carded while Rotherham substitute Kieran Ngwenya received a card of the yellow variety.
The hold up while the fracas was sorted out, not very well it has to be said, by referee Darren Drysdale, the five added minutes became ten and just before it became 11 there was a huge let off for Rovers as a thunderous shot from Tavares rattled the Rovers crossbar and the rebound cleared upfield with the final kick of the game.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘Tommy plays a good ball to Bobby and the goalkeeper spills it, and Tommy finishes it. So, we’re 1-0 up, and the disappointing thing at half time is that we’ve not scored a second, because we’ve made a couple of good chances to go 2-0 up. I think if it goes two, we beat them well. Second half, I think it’s more in the balance. They’re not making any chances; they’re having a bit of play.
‘It takes until added time before they start throwing six up front, throwing caution to the wind and just launching it in. Therefore, we saw it off, apart from one that comes off the bar, and it’s more going over the bar than in, so let’s not be misguided. It did not bounce under the side of the bar; it’s more going over than in.
I thought some of Tommy Leigh’s passing was sensational, as it is in most games. I thought there was one crossfield pass to Shaq Forde that should be in the Premier League. It’s just that he’s drilled that a metre off the ground. He’s put it 70 yards to Shaq’s to us. It’s an amazing pass. He was just tight in his hamstring at half time.’ Rovers Manager Steve Evans
‘I think we know we can be better, but three points at the end of the day; that’s what we came here for this morning, driving in, and that’s what we wanted, and that’s what we got. Tommy Leigh was in the right place at the right time, he knows where to be and he’s quality. You fancy him putting it in the back of the net.”
‘We ground out a win today. Clean sheet. If we keep a clean sheet, when we’re up 1-0, that’s all we can do, and hopefully the momentum keeps us going. It’s brilliant, especially for goalkeepers and defenders. It’s what we pride ourselves on. There were scruffy moments in the game from all of us, and we know we can be better, but 1–0 looks good on the scoreboard.”
‘We’ve got a brilliant group, like we did in the back end of last year. We all know our roles and our jobs. It’s a good set of lads there; we all get on really well and I think it shows. When you’re battling in the last couple of minutes, defending your box, you’re in it together. Even the lads not in the squad were there with us all in the changing rooms celebrating afterwards. It’s a great group to be in.’ Rovers goalkeeper Brad Young
‘We knew it was going to be a really difficult game with Bristol Rovers top of the league. They are a direct and physical team and they do it well and we had to stand up to that battle and I thought we did that for large parts of the game. If the chance that hit the bar at the end had gone in the boys would have deserved it.
‘As for the red card issued to the manager, Alex has tried to get the ball and their boy has kicked it out of his hand. If somebody kicked you on the hand quite violently, what would you do? He’s disappointed, but it’s just the qualities that Alex has: he wants to win and his team over the course of the season will reflect that.’ Rotherham Assistant Manager Steve Agnew
