THE GAME
This certainly wasn’t a game that will live long in the memory, but the important thing was that Rovers picked up another three points thanks to Tommy Leigh’s 79th minute goal.
Steve Evans made four changes to his starting XI following defeat at Bromley; in came Alfie Kilgour, Riley Harbottle, Tommy Leigh and Joe Quigley and they replaced Tom Lockyer, Ryan De Havilland, Mees Rijks and Ellis Harrison
The visitors made a bright start and Will Boyle headed wide of the target while Iwan Morgan also hit a couple of efforts wide. It took a while for Rovers to get a foothold in the game, but while they began to enjoy increased possession, there was little to trouble goalkeeper, and former Rovers loanee, Matt Cox.
Leigh did see an effort blocked by a packed and well organised Shrewsbury defence while Shrewsbury went close to opening the scoring when a long range effort from Morgan skimmed the crossbar.
The opening 45 minutes ended with Rovers on the attack with Shrewsbury clearing after a goalmouth scramble following a corner and Quigley volleying over the bar.
The second half saw both sides attempt to up the tempo and Evans, for the third match in a row, opted to make a triple substitution, though he did wait until the 63rd minute before doing so!
The Head Coach introduced Yusuf Akhamrich, Ellis Harrison and Luke Thomas in place of Harbottle, Quigley and Fabrizio Cavegn.
Akhamrich, with his pace and trickery, certainly posed a threat to Shrewsbury and the on loan Spurs went close on two occasions, though both efforts were wide of the mark. As the half progressed, the visitors dropped quite deep, seemingly content with a point.
Rovers, though, managed to break the deadlock with 11 minutes of the contest remaining. Kofi Balmer’s long throw caused problems in the Shrewsbury defence and the ball was only cleared as far as Leigh who fired a shot, that appeared to take a deflection, into the bottom corner of the net.
Cue a sense of relief from Rovers fans after a frustrating evening that saw very few goal attempts from either side. We reached the 90 minute mark and then, from somewhere, were told that there would be ten additional minutes; the match officials were obviously enjoying the game more than the fans!
The visitors did become a little more adventurous during time added on, but Rovers remained strong, with every player making sure there would be no late equaliser.
The three points leaves Rovers on 40 points, ten points clear of the final relegation place, meaning League Two survival is tantalisingly close. However, bearing in mind what happened last season, this is no time for complacency and the sooner it’s mathematically impossible to go down, the better.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘I don’t think too many of our Gasheads and their family will go home remembering that game, but what they remember is the win. I think it’s just a scrappy first half, I said to the boys, I was disappointed. I was going to make some changes, but I was very conscious that in recent times I’ve made three changes at the break both times, and I said to them, I’m going to have to do it and I think they’ll liven up, and it livened up a little bit, but not to the degree that we needed it. But I suppose you have to be brave.
‘I think the team was very systematic in the first half, but we seemed to lack a little bit of quality, a little bit of flair. We tried to have the two strikers on the pitch, but that didn’t work for us. So, the decision was to bring the flair players on, and you bring in Yusuf onto the pitch, and you bring Luke Thomas onto the pitch; they’ve got that little bit of magic that they can go by players, and they can create and I thought Ellis played a really big part when he came on. Really pleased with him.
‘Tommy Leigh is a maverick, isn’t he? Anyone who is old enough to remember the film, he is a maverick. He is special. He does special things. But he can also do your head in, and he does my head in most days, but in a nice way, not in a bad way, because I won’t tolerate it, I’d throw him back to Bradford. But he’s loving every minute being a Gashead. The fans love him. He’s going around the city, and he’s become a bit of a talking point for the Gasheads and long may that continue.’ Rovers Head Coach Steve Evans
‘It wasn’t pretty, but not many games are at this level. It was a huge win, a little bit of luck, I think it got a bit of deflection, but Tommy was in the right place again at the right time, and he struck it, and thankfully he has got half a decent contact on it, and it skimmed against the line and in the bottom corner. It was just what we were waiting for all game, because it was a pretty scrappy game.”
‘Tommy is obviously a technical player, and when he puts the hard work in like he has done since he has been there, he gets the reward as he has got the quality to score goals and assist goals, and make a difference in tight games like this and long may it continue because he’s in a rich vein of form. Football can change in a second, and the subs the last few games have been impactful, and they have done well, and the lads have found themselves in the team. It is up to them to keep hold of it, and obviously, the subs have got to be ready to make an impact because we are going to need everybody.
‘I’ve really enjoyed it here, what a brilliant Football Club. The full set up from the training ground, everything through there and hopefully the games have picked up, and I have managed to get a few minutes and keep hold of the shirt now, so may long that continue, and I am absolutely loving it here at The Mem, just keep picking up the wins and see what happens.’ Rovers midfielder Richie Smallwood
I think that on Saturday I probably protected the players a little bit too much. Having watched it back, we know that we probably weren’t where we needed to be. A couple of players going on their own agenda. But this evening. I think we pulled that back. A lot of endeavour, great attitude, great application. When we defend like that we will always be in games.
‘The problem is when the ball turns over, if we aren’t good enough in possession, they are always going to get a chance. Really, really disappointing; a deflected shot just really means that Matt Cox is never going to get there. It’s really disappointing, really frustrating, but what sums it up for us is great attitude, lots of endeavour, hard work, desire, doing a job and a half without the ball.
‘But for us to get to the next level. We need to be better with the ball. We were constantly screaming from the sidelines, sharpening our game up, wanting to pass it a lot more. When we did it, we actually started to hurt them on a couple of occasions. The lads are well aware, it’s a collective thing. It’s all of us, we need to be better.’ Shrewsbury Boss Gavin Cowan
