The Memorial Stadium is getting back to its very best, with Steve Evans emphasising the importance of the Gasheads after Bristol Rovers secured a vital 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.
After a quiet first half, with chances few and far between for either side, the Gas gained momentum after Steve Evans swapped around his attack, introducing Yusuf Akhamrich, Luke Thomas and Ellis Harrison.
Akhamrich immediately lifted the crowd, getting on the ball and getting two shots away before Tommy Leigh came up with the all-important moment, with his deflected shot from the edge of the box beating Matthew Cox on its way into the bottom corner. It was the Pirates' fifth win at The Mem in six outings, with the home of the Gas becoming a fortress once again.
Speaking to BRTV after the match, Evans suggested the Gasheads helped Rovers get over the line, while also discussing tactical changes that turned the game.
So, Steve, a tight victory at The Mem today, but three points in the bag. How do you reflect on it?
"Yeah, it’s certainly not a classic. I don’t think too many of our Gasheads and their family will go home remembering that game, but what they remember is the win. I think it’s just a scrappy first half, I said to the boys, I was disappointed.
"I was going to make some changes, but I was very conscious that in recent times I’ve made three changes at the break both times, and I said to them, I’m going to have to do it and I think they’ll liven up, and it livened up a little bit, but not to the degree that we needed it. But I suppose you have to be brave.
"I said to Paul, you know, after such a nervy first half, I’m going to be brave and I’m going to change the front three and I’m going to Yusuf off and let’s be honest, Yusuf has been softened up a little bit with Ramadan and different things, but he's coming through that at the end of the week.
"Bless him, he prays every day, but he’s coming through it. I said to Paul, we’ve had to be limited with him in terms of minutes on the pitch and lack of fuel. So, I thought to get him and Luke wide and to get Ellis to hold it up. I think that worked for us, and it freed up a brilliant pocket of space for Tommy Leigh, and Tommy Leigh does what I’ve seen Tommy Leigh do many, many times."
You mentioned Yusuf coming on there, not a goal or assist, but someone who will immediately lift the crowd. Get a few shots off and get those in the accendancy...
"It’s exactly what I said to Paul, I think the team was very systematic in the first half, but we seemed to lack a little bit of quality, a little bit of flair. We tried to have the two strikers on the pitch, but that didn’t work for us. So, the decision was to bring the flair players on, and you bring in Yusuf onto the pitch, and you bring Luke Thomas onto the pitch; they’ve got that little bit of magic that they can go by players, and they can create.
"It creates space for others, that’s what created the space for Tommy, with Yusuf and LT playing in to out and when they got it wide, they were a real handful. But Yusuf always loves the crowd when he comes on here at the Mem, and they just absolutely adore him.
"They’ll roar in ten days’ time when we get him fuelled up, ready for the remaining games, and I thought Ellis played a really big part when he came on. Really pleased with him. Listen, overall, it’s a good, good win for us, but we can’t get carried away. We go to my old club, Gills, on Saturday, and it’s a club I think highly of."
Like you said, it wasn’t a classic, but was it about just keep on, pushing on and pushing on, especially as Shrewsbury slowly dropped back?
"Listen. All Shrewsbury did was kill time, from start to finish. If you’re going to go and watch that every week, you’ve got to be a strong Shrewsbury fan to turn up and watch it. If that’s how they’re playing. We’ve only seen elements of it away from home. They get a lead, and they do that; they slow it right down.
"Then the referee allows the fourth official to add ten minutes. It’s mind-boggling when we’re watching what was going on at Bromley, for example, in terms of killing the game. I’ve got no problem; it’s part of the game. It’s part of what you do. But you don’t kill it as a team and then get rewarded for it! But I’m not going to mention the referee. I think the referee was good tonight; he got around the pitch.
"I think he got his two or three decisions wrong quickly in succession, which probably made the supporters think he’s not at it, but David Rock is a really good referee. He just said, ‘what a transformation of Bristol Rovers, since the last time I’ve seen them.’ So, that’s nice to hear, and the official said that."
You mentioned Tommy Leigh in there. Four goals in three games. He’s certainly one who has taken his chance when given.
"Tommy is a maverick, isn’t he? Anyone who is old enough to remember the film, he is a maverick. He is special. He does special things. But he can also do your head in, and he does my head in most days, but in a nice way, not in a bad way, because I won’t tolerate it, I’d throw him back to Bradford.
"But he’s loving every minute being a Gashead, and he’s loving every minute. The fans love him. He’s going around the city, and he’s become a bit of a talking to for the Gasheads and long may that continue."
Tommy Leigh will take the headlines, but another clean sheet as well today.
"Brad looked more assured today, didn’t he? I thought Brad was assured at Bromley, except for the goal. But he accepted it, he put his hands up when we reviewed it after the game and again on Monday.
"But he was really assured today, he took some high crosses and high throw-ins into the box and looked really assured, but the other side of the coin, is that I don’t think Brad Young made a save tonight. We huffed and puffed in their goal, but we got the goal that mattered."
Five wins in six at The Mem. It definitely feels like the Thatchers end sucks the ball in sometimes, doesn’t it?
"We spoke to the players, particularly Paul did before the game tonight and said 'we’ve come here over the years with many teams, and we’ve seen a fixture on the horizon, two or three days away, four days away, we’ve always thought to ourselves, this is really tough'.
"I thought the supporters were quiet in the first half, but they were watching a performance that was just a battle. There was no quality in it, but I really thank them for helping us in the second half, because they got right behind us when we made a couple of quick attacks, early attacks in the second half. It got them to raise their voice, and when we scored, it was the normal Mem, which is a magical place to be if you’re a Gashead."
