Luke Southwood cut a pleased figure in the aftermath of Tuesday’s Vertu Trophy Round Of 32 win against Cambridge United – even with blood still streaming from his nose!
The Bristol Rovers goalkeeper was the hero of The Memorial Stadium as his shot-stopping from 12 yards secured the Gas a penalty shoot-out victory over the U’s, progressing into the last 16.
It was not without cost for the Rovers No1, who sustained a bloody nose during the shoot-outs, but it was a price he was willing to pay.
“I think the penalty hit my hand which then hit my nose afterwards,” Southwood laughed. “It didn’t really hurt but it just started leaking blood. It’s settling down and I’m doing good!”
No permanent damage then for the 27-year-old. For sure, the pain would have been worse had Rovers exited the competition, particularly having led by two Ellis Harrison goals at half-time following an improved showing.
Cambridge’s fought back in the second half, halving the deficit through Kelland Watts’ strike, before late penalty drama. Sullay Kaikai stepped up in added time to level the game. In truth, the U’s could have snatched the win late on, with only a strong Southwood palm keeping Rovers in it.
“The first half was closer to the levels we know we can get to,” the goalkeeper continued. “The second half, we know they’re a good team and we had to make changes as well, which disrupted the momentum of the game, but I think the boys ultimately did really well to dig in.
“It was disappointing to concede in the last minute but we showed the character we’ve got in the squad to go on and win on penalties. We’ve got plenty to work on but I feel like we’re moving in the right direction and starting to pull it all together.”
It was not just Southwood’s shot-stopping prowess that earned him even more rave reviews. The goalkeeper’s long pass forward in the first half directly led to Harrison’s second goal, after Luke Thomas’ clever touch and pass.
“The gaffer is big on that side of things,” he continued. “He tells us we’ve got the quality to hurt teams if we do things quickly and he gives me the license to try things. Luke Thomas got on the ball and got in behind, and it’s a great finish from Ellis too, so it worked out perfectly and it’s the exact sort of thing the gaffer wants from us.”
Progression in the Vertu Trophy kick offs a busy December for the Pirates, who are eager to turnaround a disappointing run of league form.
A trip to Port Vale awaits next for Darrell Clarke’s side in the FA Cup Second Round, and Southwood knows more high performances will led to more good results.
“After Saturday against Notts County, we were all so frustrated because we all knew we had done enough to win that game two or three times over,” he added. “But the message around the group has been, if we keep performing like that, we’re going to win more games than we lose. I think it’s something we all know deep down but, in the moment, we’ve got that raw frustration of knowing we should have won the game. We’ve had a few like that recently.
“Ultimately, we need to keep churning out performances. That’s the main thing. This league has loads of games left and, if we keep our performance levels high, we will win more games than we lose.”
