THE GAME
For a third successive league game Rovers conceded four goals and continued their slide down the League Two table.
As expected, Tom Lockyer was included in the starting XI following his signing in midweek, while Promise Omochere returned from injury and Joel Cotterill while Shaq Forde also started.
Darrell Clarke’s side started the game well and Omochere looked dangerous on the break. However, the striker lasted a little over half an hour before being forced off with what was later diagnosed as a calf injury.
Luke Thomas replaced the striker, but within minutes of his arrival on the pitch Clarke’s side were reduced to ten men after Jack Sparkes handled in the area following Kyle Scott’s corner. The resulting penalty was missed, though, as former Rovers striker Ryan Loft hit the post to let his former side off the hook.
A Shaq Forde shot was pushed on to the bar by home keeper Joe Wollacott, but just as it seemed as though the ten men would head into the break on level terms, Crawley took the lead in what was the ninth minute of first half added time when Scott Malone’s drive took a deflection off of Alfie Kilgour and ended up in the back of the net.
The home side doubled their lead early in the second half through substitute Harry Forster, who was on hand to net from close range following a cross from Malone who then added goal number three when he scored from close range.
Louis Flower netted goal number four when poor defending by Rovers afforded him the opportunity of scoring from close range.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘I’m saying it too often at the minute, but the same as I said to my staff there, I’ve got to be there to support my players. Hold accountability. Always, as always. Another apology to our fans, it’s happening too often these last few weeks. I thought we started the game solidly. We should look after three or four transitions and score the first goal if we look after that final pass, and then it’s a crazy decision. It’s a crazy decision by an experienced player.
‘We went down to ten men; they missed the penalty, and then the goals we conceded were poor. But listen, there are times to go and smash my lads with a stick, and now’s not the time. They need my support, the staff’s support, and we have to get through this rut and this really bad situation, not trying to paper over it. There aren’t a lot of things going for us at the moment, but we’ve got to pull together and go together. It’s nothing that I haven’t seen before. It’s just really disappointing when you go unbeaten in ten and then for the
‘I’ve tried hitting them with a stick all week, in on Sunday and triple sessions. It’s not for a lack of effort; it’s just that at times, when things are going against you, I feel like there are times where you have to be that real, abrupt, like I was last week with the non-negotiables. But now I see the team lacking a bit of confidence. Things are going against us on the pitch, so I’ve got to be supportive. While still not accepting it, I never will. It’s tough, really. Tough for the Gasheads. It’s tough to show my face around Bristol at the minute, but we’ll respond.’ Rovers Head Coach Darrell Clarke
‘I think it’s obviously not been the best three and a half weeks for us. Obviously, me being out for the last month, then just coming back into this now, you can tell that all of the boys are deflated. Everyone’s deflated. I just think it’s how we react, and obviously, the fans are upset; we completely get that. We understand that, and we don’t blame them because the results over the last three and a half weeks haven’t been good enough.
‘I think it’s just a mentality thing, which obviously is massive. I think now, starting next week, things need to change quickly, and we’ve got a week now to work up until Bromley to put it right on that Saturday. We can sit here and say the handball has killed us, but we were still in the game. We had Shaq’s opportunity when he hit the bar. If Shaq scored that, maybe it would have been a different game, but when they scored that first goal at the end of the first half, we knew we were still in it at half time, because we did really well in the first half.
‘The FA Cup is a competition that any team wants to progress in, so, I think that might change a few mindsets, but I think in a way, we should still have the same mindset, whether it’s a league game or a cup game. But we need to change that around very quickly, and like I said at the start, I know it’s tough for the fans because they don’t deserve that. We know that. It’s nothing to do with the gaffer or the backroom staff, we know that it’s players, it’s down to us. But I don’t think we are looking any different, like I said, we want to progress, but it should be the exact same mentality going into any game. It’s going to be a big week for us, and we need to change around quickly.’ Rovers midfielder Joel Cotterill
‘I thought we were really good, I thought we managed the game well. I think the pleasing thing from my point of view is we keep a clean sheet, we score from a set piece, which is always a big plus because we work extremely hard on that. Harry Forster’s goal is an action that we worked on, back crossing the ball. Scott Malone put the great ball in the box. So, there’s lots to be encouraged by, and of course, it could have been more.
‘We missed a penalty and Lofty, I’ve got to say, he stuck about four or five in the top stanchion on Friday in training and said ‘I’m on penalties’. But it happens, you know, it happens. And I know we played against 10 men for large parts of it, but I thought we were really good, I thought we managed it really well. And I thought there were some good goals – very good for our money.
‘There was massive character shown, because I think probably everyone in the stadium felt it, but the players didn’t. They continued with their work, which I was really pleased about and kind of didn’t mention it at half time. We actually changed our shape a little in the second half, because we knew they were a man down. So, we found different spaces because they changed – obviously it has to change something. We found different spaces. So, we changed our shape more. We played like a diamond in midfield, with Louis Watson more central. I thought Harry Forster was a real threat in that second half as well, getting right down the side of them all the time. There were some really good performances. I thought the subs made a real impact as well when they come on. So I’m really pleased with the whole day’s work.’ Crawley Town Manager Scot Lindsey
