Thanks chaps, finally rolled into Lime Street at 1.30 am.
I thought I would add a summary to my earlier rambling comments.
In the first twenty minutes we were quite poor, with a lot of possession of the ball but playing at the same pedestrian pace as in the Bank Holiday matches. The Aldershot players and crowd were well up for the game and Waddock clearly had a game plan to soak up pressure and hit us with the pace of Fenelon on the counter attack. This is how the first goal arose, Fenelon left unmarked on the right wing whipped a dangerous ball into the box which was slotted home. In the opening stages we continued to dominate possession but created little, whereas Aldershot looked a threat on the counter. Midway through the half Rovers finally clicked into gear, with Connor Jennings becoming prominent in his midfield role. Our football in the next 45-50 minutes was as good as it has been all season and we created good opportunities: Connor Jennings missing a one-on-one with the keeper; Norwood slotting just wide after a great run and cross from Maynard; and Cook finally scoring a deserved equaliser with a superb header into the top corner.
After the break, the match continued in a similar vein with Rovers well on top: Norwood forced their keeper into a good save with another angled drive and Cook had a good header cleared off the line. At the sixty to seventy minute mark I could not see any way Aldershot could get back into the match as they had been subdued for a long period. However, a long stoppage for an injury to one of their players seemed to disrupt us, and with twenty minutes to go the Shots had a little spell of pressure which resulted in a ball into the box, a rash challenge from Maynard and a needless penalty. Rendell fired home, and the Shots fans went berserk. A couple of minutes later we conceded a quick-fire third from a corner when we still appeared punch drunk from the unexpected penalty. The remainder of the game was difficult for Rovers with the game becoming stretched and the vocal home support in jubilant mood, as you can imagine.
My overall feeling coming away from the ground was that it was a highly competitive, entertaining game against the best team we have played so far, yet we had thrown a point away. We did not deserve to lose over the ninety minutes and with more defensive discipline in the closing stages we could have earned at least a draw.
Tactically, I thought Brabin was right to freshen things up and the display was much improved on the previous two. However, the gamble in playing Mekki did not pay off, as he was terrible. He offered little attacking threat, but more importantly did not track the full back on this side of the pitch. Waddock - the 'Ginger Mourinho' as the Aldershot fans call him - is obviously quite astute tactically and had the home team playing with width and pace, with both full backs bombing on to exploit our narrow system. This demanded that Mekki followed their left back when he attacked, but he failed to do this and left Maynard exposed and Norwood to do his work for him. I think this may have been the reason for switching Mekki to the centre for periods of the game, but in my view he should simply have been substituted.
More generally, I thought switching Jennings to the centre improved the quality of our football. However, I did get the impression that Brabin was tactically outdone by a manager getting the absolute maximum out of a more limited group of players. In possession of the ball Aldershot were certainly not as good a side as Rovers and were happy to simply kick us the ball and defend their half of the pitch for long periods. However, with Fenelon on the wing, their counter-attacking game was more effective than any of the sides we have faced previously.
In conclusion, I think it was a decent display from Rovers and some of the reactions to the defeat have been hysterical and unhelpful. Supporters have been calling for Brabin to be more adventurous: well yesterday he was, and unfortunately we came out losers in a decent game. Perhaps he should have made changes for the Guiseley game, but having played with the same eleven last Monday there was no doubt we needed some fresh ideas and legs yesterday.
I am no fan of GB, but realistically he could not have done any more this season. We were undefeated in seven, top of the league, and unbeaten away from home in nine months. We are going to lose games and I would rather we did it against a decent team away from home, than to someone like North Ferriby. I think need to lay off the manager a bit and see how things develop in the next five to ten games. We have so many things going for us this season and excessive negativity from the crowd could be our undoing.
Finally, a word for both sets of supporters yesterday. They contributed to a cracking atmosphere, the best at a Rovers game in ages.
A massive match next Saturday and we need the three points.