THE GAME
With Matt Taylor still absent due to family matters, Wayne Carlisle and David Horseman were once again in charge of Rovers as they faced Leyton Orient at the Gaughan Road Stadium (formerly Brisbane Road, which was much easier to spell!)
The managerial duo made six changes from the side that beat Barnsley on penalties in the FA Cup last weekend and recalled skipper Scott Sinclair led the side out for the 105th league meeting between the sides.
The ninety or so minutes that followed were not pretty to watch as Rovers really didn’t turn up and found themselves three goals down at half time. They were overrun in the opening 45 minutes and fared little better after the break, though there was no need for the home side to exert themselves as the game was already won and the points secured.
Orient made five changes of their own following their FA Cup exploits at the weekend, but they were by far the stronger team, right from the first whistle. They suffered an early blow when, following an aerial collision with Jamie Lindsay, skipper Darren Pratley had to be substituted.
It made little difference as it was virtually one way traffic from Orient, who took the lead after 17 minutes when Tom James swung in a free kick that was met by Dan Happe whose header entered the net off the post.
There was little or no reaction from Rovers and they fell further behind just before the half hour mark. When Ollie O’Neil dispossessed Taylor Moore out on the left, he cut inside and curled a delightful effort into the top corner of the net.
Rovers were seldom out of their own half and conceded again before the half time whistle, with the goal coming from the right on this occasion. As Clinton Mola attempted to shepherd the ball over the line for a goal kick, Daniel Agyei nipped in and won possession before cutting inside and netting from a tight angle.
That really was game, set and match, as Rovers showed very little appetite for the fight in the second half and capitulated all too easily. Orient could easily have scored more but Josh Griffths, Man of the Match on Saturday, once again proved his worth and his save from Agyei was top drawer.
Rovers only goal attempt of the night arrived five minutes from time and Sinclair shot wide when played in by Joel Senior. Things need to improve…and quickly!
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘It really hurt and, first of all, I need to apologise to the fans that came because that’s unacceptable to us as a group. That’s totally on me because you can’t play that poorly with and against the ball if it’s not the coach. It’s really hurt me, as a Bristolian. That’s not something that I would want to see, but I have to start looking at the messages I give before looking at any players.
‘I didn’t think we were very good with the ball on Saturday, against Barnsley, and we didn’t create enough and again tonight. But on Saturday we won tackles, we blocked, we chased and we just didn’t give up space on the pitch like we did tonight. We have to find a level of consistency because when we do that we’ll be a good team.
‘If you don’t retain possession very well then the ball is always going to keep coming back at you. We didn’t give ourselves a chance in the game and that really hurts because I think we’ve got some really good players, really good people, and they do care. But they have to show it because it’s no good talking about it. People want to see action and we never showed enough of that tonight.’ (Rovers acting/interim manager David Horseman)
‘It was a tough night for us on all fronts and all over the pitch we were dominated. We hold our hands up to that. I thought coming into this game that we were in a decent run of form. We had a good result at the weekend and a decent FA Cup draw. I thought we would be more up for it, but I think we just got it wrong all over the pitch tonight.
‘We didn’t battle enough, we didn’t get enough second balls, we didn’t lokk a threat and I think we had one shot. We were just completely dominated. We aren’t consistent enough and we haven’t won two or three games in a row. We can’r really get that consistency at the moment.
‘We have to hold our hands up for that and aim to rectify things on Saturday. All I can say is apologies to the travelling fans. They have paid their money to come to the game tonight and it’s only right that they give their opinion.We always clap them at the end of the game.’ (Rovers midfielder Grant Ward)
‘We spoke to the players beforehand and I told them that the first half an hour would be important as both teams played 120 minutes at the weekend. We made changes to freshen up the side, as did Rovers, but we created a lot of chances, played forwards, landed on the second balls, pressed them high, and showed some great combination play so overall it was a really good performance.
‘Football is a mental game and if you have a confident team, with confident players, it becomes a lot easier. Injuries are forcing our hand at the moment and again today with a few substitutions so it’s been difficult, but you can see we’ve changed the way we play with our full backs. I watched the game from upstairs this evening and didn’t need to come down until full time because it really flowed and all aspects of our game were really impressive.
‘We know they have some talented players and threats but it was really good, from start to finish.If you win a couple of games on the bounce it massively changes the table. We’re so early on, so let’s see where the next six or seven games take us.’ (Orient manager Richie Wellens).
