THE GAME
Rovers extended their unbeaten league run to seven with a hard fought victory against Salford City who were in second place in the league table coming into the game.
Ellis Harrison and Fabrizio Cavegn scored the all important goals as Darrell Clarke’s side came from behind to claim all three points.
However, they had Luke Southwood to thank for holding on as he saved a last minute penalty with a fine double save to preserve his side’s lead.
Clarke made four changes going into the game with the injured Promise Omochere and Kacper Lopata not available and Luke Thomas and Kamil Conteh left on the bench. In came Taylor Moore, Clinton Mola, Joel Cotterill and Ellis Harrison.
Opting to play three at the back, presumably to match the Salford lineup, Clarke’s side were second best for much of the first half and seldom threatened their visitors, who took the lead after only 11 minutes.
When Kallum Cesay challenged for the ball following Brandon Cooper’s throw in, the loose ball fell to former Rovers loanee Matt Butcher who hit an unstoppable left foot shot high into the roof of the net.
Luke Garbutt saw a shot saved by Southwood before Rovers threatened through Cavegn whose cross from the right was deflected on to the crossbar.
Referee Gareth Rhodes wasn’t winning any friends with a very erratic performance and he should have shown a red card for Adebola Oluwo who was the last defender when he hauled down Cavegn who was through on goal. The match official seemed as though he was about to blow his whistle, but changed his mind for some reason, allowed play to continue and didn’t even award a free kick!
The visitors went on to create a number of chances to double their lead as Cesay hit a shot wide of the upright, Haji Mnoga hit another effort over the bar, as did Dan Udoh who then saw a low shot saved by Southwood.
They were made to pay for the profligacy in front of goal in first half added time when Southwood’s long free kick was headed across goal by Alfie Kilgour to Harrison who guided the ball past goalkeeper Matt Young for the equaliser.
Rovers, forced to replace the injured Joel Cotterill just before the break, made another substitution at the start of the second half as Kamil Conteh replaced Taylor Moore, resulting in Rovers playing with a back four.
Cesay and Mnoga wasted good opportunities to put their side ahead at the beginning of the second period while Garbutt drilled a free kick into Rovers’ defensive wall just after the hour mark and almost immediately afterwards Rovers took the lead.
Cavegn took advantage as a hesitant Odoh dwelt on the ball and raced on before hitting a shot which went through the legs of goalkeeper Young which nestled in the back of the net.
Harrison might have added a third goal shortly afterwards, but his tame shot was easily saved by Young. Neither side could manage another goal, though the game exploded into life in the final minutes of time added on.
As the ball was played into the Rovers area, Luke Thomas appeared to win the ball ahead of Jorge Grant. Referee Rhodes thought otherwise and, much to everyone’s surprise, awarded the visitors a penalty. The spot kick was delayed as Mr Rhodes also decided to send off Salford’s Mnoga for an offence only he seemed to have spotted.
Eventually Garbutt was ready to take the penalty but after a stuttering run up he hit his effort to Southwood’s right and the keeper guessed correctly and dived to smother the ball though it squirmed from his grasp and he had to dive at the feet of Oluwo to prevent his effort going in.
The final whistle went shortly afterwards and the shot stopper was engulfed by teammates and staff as his save had preserved the three points and meant that his side have won five and drawn two of their last seven matches.
WHAT THEY SAID
‘I don’t know where to start to be honest with you. I thought we were poor in the first half but we got the goal just before half-time which gave us a boost. We had a bit of a change of things around at half time and I thought the second half was a lot better. Credit to the boys, and the whole group as well. It was lovely to see the seven players we’ve got injured there on the side cheering the boys as they’ve come off the pitch. That is proper togetherness. We needed that in abundance today because Salford City are a really good team. You can see how well they’re doing with Karl and the form they are in, and we had to dig in and I don’t think we’ll get many games like that at the end with the penalty save.
‘I thought it was justice. I thought the decision to give the penalty wasn’t the right one. I’d have been raging if that had cost us the game but credit to the boys, and Luke Southwood makes a great double save for the penalty and we’ve managed to get the three points.
‘We’ve come from behind to win a game of football and that’s a box we haven’t ticked this season. It’s important you tick those boxes and we’ve managed to do that today against a massively in-form team with seven key players out of the group. Hopefully that gives the whole group a lot of confidence. I’m pleased with the togetherness in the group. I still have the same opinion that I had last month in that there is still a hell of a lot of work to be done. There is a lot of work in progress and certainly with the circumstances at the minute, with the injuries we have got, everyone’s having to come in and pull their weight and that’s really pleasing to see.’ Rovers Head Coach Darrell Clarke
‘It’s about as good as it gets. I was devastated when the referee gave the penalty but then I thought immediately, ‘this is your chance now, you can get the boys a well deserved three points.’ To go and do it, it’s about as good as it gets for a goalie, and the feeling is incredible. You do a bit of analysis and a lot of it goes on feeling, to be honest, in the moment and what you think, and you go with your instincts. It’s luck, but good technique to save it and get the rebound as well.
‘I don’t think it was quite in the corner, and I dived past it, which makes it hard to catch. I managed to throw a hand, and I think one of the other lads got back and blocked it with me. It’s incredible.’
‘We showed so many different sides to our game today. I think in the first half, we knew we weren’t at the levels, but then against such a good team, we got in at half time at 1-1, which shows where we are at the minute with the belief and the ability to dig in. In the second half, we showed our quality a bit more, and I thought we were probably the better team in the second half. I think we deserved the three points in the end.’ Rovers goalkeeper Luke Southwood
We deserved way more than a point. No individual game ever defines you, but sometimes when you see a performance like I did today, I think that could define us. We’re not what we used to be, we’re far from that. We’re a team that’s aggressive, we’re positive forward thinking, and we are relentless in trying to achieve our goals. Today I’ve seen a group of players that have given me everything.
‘Ok errors are part and parcel of being a human being, not just a professional footballer, and the way they conducted themselves and the way they kept going, the questions they kept asking, I’m proud of them. It’s about doing the right thing again, working hard, asking the consistent questions of who we are, making sure our style is consistent with our philosophy and our performance levels.
‘We should be proud of that performance, keep driving, keep asking questions, and keep getting better.’ Salford Head Coach Karl Robinson
