Rovers succumbed to a boisterous Crewe side at Gresty Road, aka The Mornflake Stadium, going down 3-1 and barely making their mark on a game that saw them fall behind with less than a minute on the clock.
We had to wait until the 92nd minute of the game for Rovers finest moment and by then the damage was already done. Nevertheless, Bobby Kamwa’s consolation goal, struck from inside his own half, will surely be a contender for Goal of the Season.
Steve Evans, who watched this game from the stands as he served a one match touchline ban, was only able to name six substitutes and he made two changes to his starting XI, bringing in Spurs loanee Reiss Russell-Denny for his first league start and Kamwa in place of Shaq Forde and Fabrizio Cavegn.
The start of the game couldn’t have been any worse as Crewe scored after just 38 seconds. Played in down the right by Joel Tabiner, Jack Lankester cut inside and curled a left foot shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the area.
There was an immediate response from Rovers and, after two shots were blocked Ciaran Kelly struck the crossbar with a third effort.
Referee Matthew Russell, who looked like a schoolboy trying to break up a fight in the playground, endured a torrid afternoon and failed on numerous occasions to punish the shirt pulling meted out by both sides. He simply watched a seventh minute fracas that broke out on the edge of Rovers area and did brandish the first two of an eight yellow card afternoon but failed to exert his authority on proceedings.
Lankester fired a free kick over the bar as the home side searched for a second goal which eventually came from the penalty spot after Alfie Kilgour dragged Luke Offord to the ground a needless challenge that cost his side as Lankester sent Brad Young the wrong way from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 after only 18 minutes.
Jack Sparkes denied the hosts a third goal with a superb last ditch challenge on Adrian Thibaut. Lankester hit a shot wide of the target and Taviner saw a shot saved by Young while Rovers failed to test home keeper Tom Booth and didn’t force their first corner until the 41st minute.
Evans had seen enough and made four changes for the start of the second half, sending on Forde, Philip Sanayolu, Keenan Gough and Ben Purrington in place of Russell-Denny, Kilgour, Richie Smallwood and Sparkes.
The changes did, initially, spark some life into a lethargic Rovers side and Kamwa went close to pulling a goal back but was denied by Booth while claims for a penalty following what looked like a foul on Forde were waved away by Mr Russell and the hosts put the contest to bed on 66 minutes when Josh March sent a ball out to the right to pick out unmarked substitute Jordan Gibson who had time to bring it under control before drilling a low shot into the far corner beyond Young’s despairing dive.
That really was game over, though Kamwa’s long range effort in the second minute of added time was truly spectacular. Collecting the ball in the middle of his own half, he spotted Booth off his line and hit an audacious long range effort over the bewildered shot stopper and into the net.
This was a poor Rovers performance and they really do need to sort out their away form if they are to be considered as genuine promotion contenders. True, there’s a long way to go, but they have yet to achieve the level of consistency, in terms of results and performances, required by all successful sides.
‘Well, you can’t concede that early in a game, can you? Particularly when you go through a situation where we spend lots of time in the week, and lots of time this morning, as late as half past 12 today, showing players videos of where people go, and the boy Lankester comes in on his left foot; he can finish in there, and we show them an opportunity, and that puts you on the back foot. But at no time do we look threatening, composed, anything in the first half; we looked short of every bit of quality we had. The second goal, just the skipper’s to blame; he loses a runner. It’s a clear penalty. Perhaps you’d give another one as well; he commits a sloppy clearance. Alfie played as I’ve never seen him play before, just terrible. We had to make the change at half time.
‘I thought we were very good in the second half. I thought they scored with their only attack of any note in the second half. The complaint being that we didn’t make their goalkeeper work. We didn’t really make him make some saves. We got in great areas, in both wide situations, and failed to deliver, and didn’t put good balls into the box, but I thought our play was much more like us in the second half, but we understand the game’s hard at two, never mind giving away a third. We’re in good possession in the middle of the park with Forde; he tries to meg the boy, they break, and they get a goal completely against the run of play.
‘I said to our Chief Executive that I wish I could have done ten substitutions at half time. I didn’t think Brad had any chance with the goals. Although his distribution at times wasn’t at the level we expect, but he probably got dragged down with the others. I thought Keenan Gough came on and was outstanding. He was the best player in that part of the second half by a distance. But the complaint is that when we got Bobby Kamwa in great areas. Forget his goal; it was a fantastic goal, and people look back at that in isolation and say what a goal, but he didn’t get by his full back all day. In the second half, we gave him probably seven, eight or ten opportunities to get at him, and he didn’t go by him once. Young Philip got in good areas as well. He’s young, and he’s learning, so he’s a bit different to Bobby.’ Rovers Manager Steve Evans
‘It’s never going to help, conceding a goal that early. I think at the moment the trend of us being away from home, not being anywhere near good enough, is something we need to fix and fix quickly. The level of performance there was nowhere near it. It’s the kind of stuff that Jack Lankester does on a regular basis; it’s something that we should have cut out at source. But at the moment, those things we’re not doing away from home, especially, and like I said, it’s something that we need to fix.
‘I thought our substitutes came on, and they made a bit of a difference. I think as a team, we were probably a bit more on the front foot. I think it probably helped that they sat off a little bit. I mean, they obviously asked for a reaction at half time. We gave them a little one. Still not enough, obviously, looking at the score sheet. I mean, it’s just very, very disappointing.
‘It’s probably bittersweet for Bobby Kamwa. It’s an amazing strike. Unfortunately, it’s a little bit irrelevant today with the scoreline. It’s good for him to get another one. Hopefully that can kind of spur him into a run of games where he can get some more goals and assists, starting on Tuesday night.’ Rovers defender Tom James
‘Jack has missed 18 months of football and Joel has missed so much football, so they’re getting up to speed at the moment. But when they do e will be a very decent team. It was a brilliant firs touch from Jack and then he moved his balance and got away a great finish to set up the game.
‘The penalty was rightly given, but some of the decisions were quite bizarre, but I want to focus on the positives. Jordan Gibson and Charlie McNeill are disappointed they’re not playing, so I was pleased for Jordan to score – he’s got a track record.’ Crewe Boss Lee Bell
