For goalkeepers joining any Club, getting the first clean sheet is like a striker getting their first goal, with Luke Southwood delighted to get his first shut-out for Bristol Rovers in their 0-0 draw with Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night.
Rovers dominated the contest against the Latics and were unfortunate not to claim all three points, with Ruel Sotiriou having a point-blank effort saved in the first half before Alfie Kilgour had his header cleared off the line and Jack Sparkes rattled the crossbar with a curling free-kick.
However, there are plenty of positives to take from the draw at The Memorial Stadium, with the Gas gaining their first point of the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two season.
Southwood, who has started all five of Rovers' fixtures this season after signing from Sky Bet League One team Bolton Wanderers, was pleased to earn his first clean sheet for the Gas, with his only disappointment being his side could not find a winner against Oldham.
“I’m delighted from a personal note and the defensive and to be honest, the team as a whole because I’ve said it before, but a clean sheet takes everyone to come away with that,” he said. “So, we’re delighted as a team with that.
“We’re a new team. There are a lot of players that haven’t played together, me included, and we’re working out the relationships and how each other plays and what each other's strengths are. Hopefully, we can keep working on that and keep becoming more and more solid.”
He later added, “The messages in there were that we were happy with the clean sheet, but we know we could win that game, and we should win that game. We know, similar to what I said as us gelling as a defensive line, that as a team we’re still gelling and there’s still more to come from us.
“So, we’re obviously disappointed we didn’t get that goal tonight, but I think if we can keep moving in the right direction and keep pulling together like we have been because we know we haven’t been good enough until this point, we can definitely start to see things click and hopefully, the points reflect that.”
Rovers controlled the contest in the second half, with the Gasheads at The Mem creating a loud atmosphere that helped the players push forward and put Oldham under serious pressure. Southwood stressed the importance of the fans to Rovers' success and knows The Mem will be a tough place to come when everything starts to click.
“We’re fully aware of how important having them [the fans] on our side is because the atmosphere tonight, even when it’s 0-0 and we’re pushing for the goal and we haven’t quite got it yet, them being behind us just makes such a difference.
“We know how important that is, and that’s what we’re fighting for. If we can keep churning out performances and hopefully get them goals and everyone in this place onside and pulling together, I think it’s going to be a tough place for people to come.
“We know we’ve got belief in each other, and we know the staff and the gaffer all have belief in us as well. That’s always been a constant, even when we haven’t been performing. So, it’s important that we keep the belief and we know the gaffer will instil us with that every game, regardless of what’s going on. We all know it’s about finding that form and finding that momentum and gelling that together, and hopefully tonight was a step towards it.”
The Gas will be looking to go one better and claim their first win of the campaign when they host Cambridge United at The Mem on Saturday. It will be a repeat of the Carabao Cup first round clash earlier this month, where the U's progressed to the next round of the competition thanks to goals from Louis Appere and Ryan Loft.
Despite facing the same opponents, Southwood suggested that they can take very little from the previous meeting, as the performance fell below their expected standards.
“We know when we last played them in the cup that we were nowhere near the levels, and I think we’re all going to be really keen to put that right and show them what we really are about,” said the goalkeeper.
“We know we were so far off what we are on that game that it would be hard to reflect on it [the previous meeting] because we know what they did that night isn’t going to look the same as what they are going to have to do on Saturday if we get our jobs right and do what we know we can.
"So, there will be little bits, especially for me as the goalkeeper with the strikers and stuff like that, but as a team, I think we need to brush that aside and concentrate on what we want to be.”
