THE GAME
Inigo Calderon made three changes to his starting XI for this important game against Crawley Town, one of only four teams below his in the League One table.
Grant Ward, Luke Thomas and Isaac Hutchinson all started, in place of Sil Swinkels, Taylor Moore and Ruel Sotiriou respectively. While Sotiriou was away on international duty, Both Swinkels and Moore were on the bench.
The changes did little to help Rovers, who were woefully light up front and Calderon’s side seldom troubled the home side who, just two days earlier, had reappointed their former manager Scott Lindsey after dispensing with the services of Rob Elliott.
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy was denied a shooting opportunity by Connor Taylor early on, but Crawley made most of the early running and it came as little surprise when they took a 19th minute lead.
A strong run from Hepburn-=Murphy saw him set up Kamari Doyle comfortably finished from 12 yards out, giving Jed Ward no chance of saving.
Two minutes later the goalscorer fired into the side netting after collecting the ball when Ward parried a shot from Armando into his path. Skipper Scott Sinclair did fire wide of the target from 18 yards pout, but they were indebted to Ward for preventing a second home goal as he made a superb save from Hepburn-Murphy.
Crawley looked comfortable in possession after the break and although Rovers huffed and puffed, they never really threatened home keeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala on his league debut for the Red Devils.
Rovers best chance, almost their only one, came when Hutchinson drove forward from his own half but saw his shot claimed by Lo-Tutala.
Chances remained at a premium for both sides as the half progressed, but Calderon’s side really didn’t look like scoring all afternoon and all of the good work that came with wins against Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers has been undone by consecutive away defeats and his side are once again looking over their shoulder.
‘We were not good enough today. It’s as simple as that. Especially in the first half, I think we were always a bit late and reactive. I don’t think we were at the level of the game we have to play today. Simple. The plan was alright, but obviously we didn’t do it. For me, it was always that second that we were always arriving late, and I think the goal was a perfect example.
‘Until the goal we were not doing things right, and that’s why you get punished. We made them look better because of us. Credit to them because they played well, but we were not at the level today. It’s as simple as that.
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘I don’t want to talk about passion, but it’s the extra bit that we feel when we are at home. We feel that, and I don’t feel that when we play away. The only game I felt that was Shrewsbury and Cambridge away, that’s why we won. The rest of the games, there’s always something missing when we play away. For me, it’s the little extra thing that the fans probably give us. But that’s not an excuse because we still had a few fans who came here, and we didn’t give them anything at all. That’s not good enough.’ (Rovers Head Coach Inigo Calderon)
‘It was a frustrating afternoon. I don’t think we can read too much into where we are in the table and what this game meant. I think every game is massive for us. I think we need to be picking up points at every game, and today, that didn’t happen. I think the mentality on the pitch wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be in terms of the fighting edge and the battling side of it. We just couldn’t get a foot in the game.
‘We need to look at ourselves and think about how we’re going to affect the game. We can’t be worrying about how they’ve got a new manager or if their fans are loud. We needed to be at it from minute one, and we needed to focus on ourselves, which I don’t think we did.
‘You know how much I love playing for this club. Coming through and hearing the roar of the Gasheads, like I always say, it’s a surreal feeling. I get that it’s tough at the minute because we just want to be safe and be in League One for next season. But stick with us. We’re doing everything we can, and my passion will never go for this club. I’ll do everything I can to try and keep us in this league.’ (Rovers Goalkeeper Jed Ward)
‘I’m really proud of the boys today. I think they stood up to a lot of balls coming into our box, certainly at the end of the game. It’s difficult when you’re winning 1—0 and you’ve not been winning and you’re down the bottom of the table and they are throwing ball after ball into the box. It’s difficult t to keep going and I thought the lads kept going and I firmly believe we could have played the game until midnight and I don’t think Bristol Rovers were going to score just because of the character my players showed.
‘The biggest one is the first win. I’m here to instil some belief. We should have been further ahead by half time. We can’t change what has happened in the past, but we’ve got eight games to go, eight cup finals, and we have to win as many as we can. I’m pleased now to have a whole week to get coaching into them. There is a long way to go and this is a step in the right direction.’ (Crawley Manager Scott Lindsey)
