League Two Rovers (2) v Bradford City (1)

[Sparky]

Hopefully the goal gives Morris a boost as on his day we know he’s a good player at this level. Fully expect him to start in place of Walker on Saturday

 

[Ian]

Really enjoyable game tonight, especially in the second half. A few hairy moments early on when Bradford really came out the traps looking for an early goal, but McGee made a couple of fine saves. That's the poorest Bradford team I've see for a while, but I think the big word here as RLC mentions above is character. We showed a hell of a lot of it tonight and whilst some games might be tough, we need to scrap and battle and fight for the points. We also look a completely different team home and away where we do not show any kind of battling qualities away from home.

With Adkins in charge we should do OK at home, we just need to improve the awful away record to actually gain some momentum. Results were good tonight and all in all a really good night for Rovers. Hopefully we'll all sleep well tonight.

 

[Boz]

We rode our luck at times, but provided more of an attacking threat in the second half; there was a good save from Jennings just before the penalty and a couple of other half chances. Good battling performance, although I'm still not convinced about the formation or Nigel's team selections.

Aside from their goal, defensively we seemed fairly comfortable and in that, Halliday should have been closed down rather than being allowed the time to pick out a perfect ball onto Cookie's head for the inevitable outcome. McGee pulled off a couple of good saves and the woodwork came to the rescue early on.

Thought Hawkes had a reasonable game, but from IFollow, it was clear he lost his footing on a few occasions in good positions; time to change his boots or get better studs maybe.

There were plenty of decent performances, but Connor Jennings MoM for me and set up the winner. There was some suggestion the decision to bring him back to the club was on sentimental grounds or a sop to the fans, but he is in the team on merit.

 

[Higgy 2]

A bit harsh Higgy. His record apart from tonight is excellent

He has good record - no doubt. But he just doesn't fill me with confidence.

 

[Am on mobile]

Hi guys so glad we won. But had a very hard night not to happy off to bed

 

[Higgy 2]

Could not disagree more to be honest. He has not missed many, if any, for us, prior to today, and it was actually Bradford's gamesmanship that caused him to miss tonight. Hawkes was excellent in the second half.

Yep I do get he has an excellent record. I've just never felt that confident when he steps up. I was urging him to go and pick the ball up again, and take charge while the gamesmanship was ongoing.
He's a top player and had a really good game tonight. Equally I wish he'd have swung his left foot at the ball when he was put through.

 

[Goody Two Shoes]

Pretty much agree with RLC’s assessment of the game, so won’t waffle further.
The ref didn’t help with the penalty by walking over to the Bradford bench to book somebody (why couldn’t that wait until afterwards). Thought he was pretty dire all night.
Hey ho, feels good to bag the three points.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I thought it was a deserved victory after an excellent second half performance.

In the first twenty minutes we carried on where we left off on Saturday. We looked very low on confidence and Bradford cut us open at will, with the lack of protection for the back four from the midfield a major issue again. On another day we could have been two or three down in that opening period. However, you could not fault the spirit or workrate of the players, and in the middle of the half we did get a foothold in the game, albeit without looking particularly convincing.

The second half was a huge improvement. We retained the ball much better, played some decent football, and finally got Hendry and Hawkes into the game, both of whom had very good halves. Aside from Cook's header, Bradford rarely threatened and our winner had been coming and was deserved. I think it is impressive that despite the penalty miss we did not buckle, and showed the character that has been lacking for most of the season.

Individually, I thought Walker was classy on the ball, but his lack of legs was still a problem at times. Jennings workrate was fantastic and McGhee again kept us in the game in the first twenty minutes. The two centre halves were pretty solid, and Woods improved at left back after a shaky first half. I was delighted that Morris scored the winner.

That is two wins from four games now under Adkins, and if that ratio continues for an extended period we will be well clear of trouble.

Thank you, RLC. I will sleep a lot better tonight.

 

[mellow submarine]

Still buzzin. Lady luck smiled on us tonight (just like she frowned on us at Crawley). A massive win, if we had lost the pressure on the the team and manager would have been immense. The team responded well to Cookies great goal , and the missed pen. Lets get behind the team and show the league what we can do if we stick together.

 

[Am on mobile]

One thing that's got me just a little when the first goal went in some of the players did not celebrate but either way a win is a win and that's 2 in a row at home now

 

[Boz]

Few thoughts;

Jolley tries hard and got no protection from the ref last night, but his contribution was fairly limited. Actually think using Saunders in the central position, despite his lack of inches, would give a defence more to think about than Charlie. Connor Jennings despite his lack of stature is better in the air than either, though obviously wouldn’t want to move him from where he’s playing so well. Hope that Beck isn’t a factor in Jolley’s favoured status.

Dennis drew defenders with a run before the winning goal and did some good work running the clock down. Need to be giving him more match time now, Nigel.

Walker had a decent game, both in a defensive and attacking sense. When he went off, Hendry was quietly effective in the deeper midfield role, which he’s said is his preferred position.

O’Connor had a decent game as right-back despite his harsh booking. A couple of good crosses and tended to be more involved in the attacking play than Wood on the opposite flank. Too early to make a judgement about our latest left-back, but he’ll regret not giving Halliday a harder time in the cross for Cookie’s goal and kicking the ball straight back to a Bradford player in the closing attack.

Liked the way Adkins was encouraging the side to get forward in the closing stages. It reduced the number of chances the Bantams had at the end.

 

[Ian]

Adkins was full of praise for Jolley last night so it looks like Dennis might have to wait a bit longer for his chance. Also, what has happened to Norris? He's been out for weeks now. Another crock?

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Jolley has the advantage as would Dennis of looking balanced on the ball especially in front of goal. I too would have switched him and Saunders at some point, however I feel Harvey is just quicker and less robust than Nevitt but equally unbalanced and headless.
Dennis made a run into an offside position which he repeated in the next attack if he gets slotted in it will be wasted. He showed an ability to resist the defenders more than Jolley but we are clutching at straws with him.
Walker seems to have a permanent limp? He does need to stay in the game more. I would seek to get Jenno up the pitch more, he is poor in our half. Tricky as out wide isn't him either, I would try him up top giving Jolley a rest like Taylor well earned.
Did Hawkes have soap on his feet he tripped himself several times?

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Adkins was full of praise for Jolley last night so it looks like Dennis might have to wait a bit longer for his chance. Also, what has happened to Norris? He's been out for weeks now. Another crock?

Expect Jolley to be rested then! I'd try him out wide and let Jenno lead, allowing Morris a start him playing near Hawkes could be lethal

 

[Sparky]

Adkins was full of praise for Jolley last night so it looks like Dennis might have to wait a bit longer for his chance. Also, what has happened to Norris? He's been out for weeks now. Another crock?

Someone said on Twitter that Norris said to them last night he’ll be another 2-3 weeks yet

 

[Ian]

Thanks @Sparky

 

[frenchrover]

A win is a win, and in our current position the 3 points were crucial however our performance, whilst gritty and determined, lacked any pattern particularly in the first half. Far, far too much hoofball and head tennis and little composure when we had the ball and this against a very average Bradford side. The defence on the whole did well limiting Cookie to only a few dangerous opportunities, although he didn't waste the one from which he, almost inevitably, scored giving McGee no chance. Hawkes I feel was let down by the referee over the penalty. He was kept waiting to take the spot kick whilst the ref allowed himself to be distracted by gamesmanship tactics on the Bradford bench aimed deliberately to put pressure Hawkes. Whilst nowhere near our best game, in what has been a difficult start to the season, the through ball from MOM Jennings to allow Morris to show he still has the ability to score classy goals was a moment to savour. I think we will need to up our game on Saturday for the visit of Grimsby but hopefully the win last night will be the encouragement to play with the ball on the deck as we have done with some success in some parts of some earlier games. Onwards and upwards.

 

[bigmart]

Someone said on Twitter that Norris said to them last night he’ll be another 2-3 weeks yet

If that's the case he will have been out for 10 weeks.

 

[Ian]

I think we have to remember how awful we were under Dawes and especially away from home how awful we still are. There is a lot of work to do with this squad to get them firing again and it's not going to be a quick fix but at least we can see improvements under Adkins.

 

[Sparky]

Still buzzin. Lady luck smiled on us tonight (just like she frowned on us at Crawley). A massive win, if we had lost the pressure on the the team and manager would have been immense. The team responded well to Cookies great goal , and the missed pen. Lets get behind the team and show the league what we can do if we stick together.

I agree luck was on our side again last night. Certainly first half anyway. Against Accrington their keeper went off injured and they had a man sent off. The penalty wasn’t good luck as it was handball.

Last night first half as well as them hitting the post and cookie sending an easy header straight at McGee, I also thought they should have had a penalty when wood handballed it with his arm outstretched. So we got away with that one.

Second half was much better though and arguably you make your own luck. Fine margins though.