Just four days after Fleetwood Town humbled Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, Rovers also succumbed to the giant killers and were a well beaten side come the end of the contest.
Steve Evans was missing as many as six players through injury or suspension, though there were just two changes to the starting lineup and they saw Keenan Gough and Arvin Appiah start in place of Kofi Balmer and Joe Quigley.
It was Appiah’s first start for the club and there was another first on the bench as Stan Dunne joined the squad for a league match for the first time.
The changes made little difference, though, as Rovers slipped to a fifth defeat in their last six games in front of a management team that now includes the recently appointed Lee Tomlin.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi, who scored against Arsenal, should have opened the scoring early on as he got in behind the Rovers defence, rounded Brad Young and then managed to hit the bar with the goal at his mercy.
Tom James curled a free kick wide of the target and Jack Sparkes saw a shot blocked before Loupalo-Bi made up for his earlier miss when he took a pass from Lewis McCann and hit a shot into the corner of the net from just inside the area.
Fleetwood might have scored a second goal shortly afterwards when Mark Helm drove a shot across goal which drifted just wide of the upright.
Steve Evans replaced Shaq Forde with Joe Quigley at the start of the second half, but it was the home side in the ascendancy for much of the second period.
Ronan Coughlan headed straight at Young before the home side scored again when Rhys Bennett powered a header past Young from Harrison Neal’s cross.
Young then saved from Coughlan while Alfie Kilgour blocked a goalbound effort from McCann though, somewhat incredibly, Rovers pulled a goal back with six minutes remaining.
The scorer was Reiss Russell-Denny, with his first goal for the club, which came about after goalkeeper Jay Lynch misjudged his chip across goal and could only watch as the ball hit the post and crossed the line. The keeper attempted to keep it from entering the net, but he was behind the line in any case and the goal definitely belonged to the on loan Spurs midfielder.
As Rovers pushed forward searching for an equaliser they were hit on the counter and when Will Davies played in Josh Robertson, he curled a left foot shot past Young to seal a comfortable win for the home side.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘Well, I don’t think we deserved anything. I think the first half was hard for us. They’ve obviously got a little bit of momentum, but we didn’t feel we worked to the plan that we’d worked on for a couple of days and talked them through. We got the opportunity to change at half time. I had to bring someone on who is no better than 60 per cent fit, but I needed a presence up the pitch, brought him on, and I don’t think we really came to life at any stage.
‘We introduced two young men, one at 18, one at 20, just to bring us some life and some energy, and people want run about and drive and they did, and at one point, we were, for a few minutes, we looked as if we were in the game. Your two tens have to be the hardest working players on the pitch because they and your wing backs have to be the hardest working; it’s quite simple. If you’re not the hardest working, it’ll be a problem.
I always knew within myself and my experience, myself and Paul, that there would be a time when it doesn’t go right, and at a time when, if we did have a lot of injuries, we would perhaps struggle for a little bit, and that time is now, so as much as the criticism will come, I know that’s part and parcel of football, same as I took the plaudits.’ Rovers Manager Steve Evans
It was tough and, ultimately, not good enough. On the ball and without the ball, we weren’t great. We were all in there and all disappointed. We were not good enough in many areas. It takes everyone. We’ve got a few injuries and things like that, so chopping and changing is necessary to manage that. We tried a different shape, different personnel, and tried to play a little bit differently than in the first half, as I’m sure you’ve seen. As a collective, we’re trying to find the winning answers and unfortunately today it didn’t come off.
‘You work hard all week as a professional and try and live your life right as well, on and off the pitch, and it really hurts when you put all that work in on a Saturday and it doesn’t come off. Formations, personnel, things like that – ultimately, it’s 11 men versus 11 men and it’s League Two, so it’s about who’s working harder, who’s bang at it, and we’ve come off second-best.”
“We were on a massive poor run last year and the gaffer came in, changed things round and galvanised the place. As players, we know that can happen. A lot of the time in football, these things are fine margins, small things, the rub of the green, and something just clicks into place. You get that winning mentality and you go in every week thinking you aren’t We’re not going to lose. We’re not quite getting that at the minute, but the lads are working hard. We’ve got a good, honest group here. A good group of boys, of professionals, who work their socks off, but we’re hurting. It’s another disappointing day on the road.’ Rovers skipper Alfie Kilgour
‘To make history on Tuesday night was incredible for everyone involved in the football club, but we wanted to make sure that we followed that up with a win today. When Grimsby beat Manchester United last season, they then lost their game at the weekend and we didn’t want that, so I was really pleased that we’ve been able to get the win.
I was really pleased with the manner of the performance but I thought we probably could have had more with the chances we created. Azza (Aaron Loupalo-Bi) rounded the keeper and hit the bar early on and then Batts (Jake Batty) missed a one on one at the end so it could really have been five or six.
We had to freshen it up and make changes to the team from Tuesday as a night like that takes a lot out of you both mentally and physically, so to still perform at that level is brilliant.’ Fleetwood Manager Matt Lawlor
Just four days after Fleetwood Town humbled Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, Rovers also succumbed to the giant killers and were a well beaten side come the end of the contest.
Steve Evans was missing as many as six players through injury or suspension, though there were just two changes to the starting lineup and they saw Keenan Gough and Arvin Appiah start in place of Kofi Balmer and Joe Quigley.
It was Appiah’s first start for the club and there was another first on the bench as Stan Dunne joined the squad for a league match for the first time.
The changes made little difference, though, as Rovers slipped to a fifth defeat in their last six games in front of a management team that now includes the recently appointed Lee Tomlin.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi, who scored against Arsenal, should have opened the scoring early on as he got in behind the Rovers defence, rounded Brad Young and then managed to hit the bar with the goal at his mercy.
Tom James curled a free kick wide of the target and Jack Sparkes saw a shot blocked before Loupalo-Bi made up for his earlier miss when he took a pass from Lewis McCann and hit a shot into the corner of the net from just inside the area.
Fleetwood might have scored a second goal shortly afterwards when Mark Helm drove a shot across goal which drifted just wide of the upright.
Steve Evans replaced Shaq Forde with Joe Quigley at the start of the second half, but it was the home side in the ascendancy for much of the second period.
Ronan Coughlan headed straight at Young before the home side scored again when Rhys Bennett powered a header past Young from Harrison Neal’s cross.
Young then saved from Coughlan while Alfie Kilgour blocked a goalbound effort from McCann though, somewhat incredibly, Rovers pulled a goal back with six minutes remaining.
The scorer was Reiss Russell-Denny, with his first goal for the club, which came about after goalkeeper Jay Lynch misjudged his chip across goal and could only watch as the ball hit the post and crossed the line. The keeper attempted to keep it from entering the net, but he was behind the line in any case and the goal definitely belonged to the on loan Spurs midfielder.
As Rovers pushed forward searching for an equaliser they were hit on the counter and when Will Davies played in Josh Robertson, he curled a left foot shot past Young to seal a comfortable win for the home side.
WHAT WAS SAID
‘Well, I don’t think we deserved anything. I think the first half was hard for us. They’ve obviously got a little bit of momentum, but we didn’t feel we worked to the plan that we’d worked on for a couple of days and talked them through. We got the opportunity to change at half time. I had to bring someone on who is no better than 60 per cent fit, but I needed a presence up the pitch, brought him on, and I don’t think we really came to life at any stage.
‘We introduced two young men, one at 18, one at 20, just to bring us some life and some energy, and people want run about and drive and they did, and at one point, we were, for a few minutes, we looked as if we were in the game. Your two tens have to be the hardest working players on the pitch because they and your wing backs have to be the hardest working; it’s quite simple. If you’re not the hardest working, it’ll be a problem.
I always knew within myself and my experience, myself and Paul, that there would be a time when it doesn’t go right, and at a time when, if we did have a lot of injuries, we would perhaps struggle for a little bit, and that time is now, so as much as the criticism will come, I know that’s part and parcel of football, same as I took the plaudits.’ Rovers Manager Steve Evans
It was tough and, ultimately, not good enough. On the ball and without the ball, we weren’t great. We were all in there and all disappointed. We were not good enough in many areas. It takes everyone. We’ve got a few injuries and things like that, so chopping and changing is necessary to manage that. We tried a different shape, different personnel, and tried to play a little bit differently than in the first half, as I’m sure you’ve seen. As a collective, we’re trying to find the winning answers and unfortunately today it didn’t come off.
‘You work hard all week as a professional and try and live your life right as well, on and off the pitch, and it really hurts when you put all that work in on a Saturday and it doesn’t come off. Formations, personnel, things like that – ultimately, it’s 11 men versus 11 men and it’s League Two, so it’s about who’s working harder, who’s bang at it, and we’ve come off second-best.”
“We were on a massive poor run last year and the gaffer came in, changed things round and galvanised the place. As players, we know that can happen. A lot of the time in football, these things are fine margins, small things, the rub of the green, and something just clicks into place. You get that winning mentality and you go in every week thinking you aren’t We’re not going to lose. We’re not quite getting that at the minute, but the lads are working hard. We’ve got a good, honest group here. A good group of boys, of professionals, who work their socks off, but we’re hurting. It’s another disappointing day on the road.’ Rovers skipper Alfie Kilgour
‘To make history on Tuesday night was incredible for everyone involved in the football club, but we wanted to make sure that we followed that up with a win today. When Grimsby beat Manchester United last season, they then lost their game at the weekend and we didn’t want that, so I was really pleased that we’ve been able to get the win.
I was really pleased with the manner of the performance but I thought we probably could have had more with the chances we created. Azza (Aaron Loupalo-Bi) rounded the keeper and hit the bar early on and then Batts (Jake Batty) missed a one on one at the end so it could really have been five or six.
We had to freshen it up and make changes to the team from Tuesday as a night like that takes a lot out of you both mentally and physically, so to still perform at that level is brilliant.’ Fleetwood Manager Matt Lawlor
A FEW FACTS
