After another success in Sky Bet League Two, Steve Evans is proud of the Gas’ result in front of the Gasheads.
Neither side were able to find a foothold in the game until a penalty in the latter stages of the first half. Cod Army’s Ethan Ennis directed a right footed shot towards the sticks but his penalty was denied by Brad Young.
Joe Quigley broke the deadlock after Jack Sparkes curled a corner towards the box, where Joe Quigely nodded in the winner.
Speaking to BRTV after the fixture, Evans is glad to get three points in front of 10,000 Gasheads.
Steve, certainly tough conditions, but three points...
“Yeah, listen. I said a few weeks ago that it was a strong wind, and it was the same again today. I think it’s the one thing that all players and football-minded people don’t like, including supporters, because instead of seeing a good game, they see a scrappy game.
“I think they had more composure than we did on the ball today. We seemed to have a lot of energy but a lack of quality.You need your goalkeeper to produce a big performance to win in scrappy games. Brad did that, and then we needed brilliant movements.
“Straight off the training ground, we worked with Joe and Ellis doing that, but you’ve also got to get the delivery right. The delivery was on the money, and the run-in and header from Joe was fantastic, and to be fair, what the boys lacked in quality, they made up for in effort, determination and spirit.
“A number of people were saying to me, coming up the tunnel, that we’d have lost that before, but Steve Evans teams win games like that. That’s what happens. You dig in, and you fight for the cause, and the cause is Bristol Rovers being in the football league. So, we’re one point away from that.”
When it was goalless, Brad came up with the game-changing moment, making that penalty save.
“We’ve looked at it back; it’s just outside the box. It’s not even in the box. He went to play the ball, and once the referee gives a penalty, then you can’t allow the double jeopardy law in football anymore.
“That was previous days, I don’t know why they were moaning on the bench, because they had to keep up to speed with the laws of the game. The laws of the game state that if he gives a free-kick, we could have no defence of a red card, but when he gives the penalty, you can’t have double jeopardy.
“Brad makes a big save, James Bittner deserves enormous credit. You know, he’s done a lot of work with Brad; you don’t need to work with Luke Southwood because he does that, doesn’t he? He makes penalty saves.
“But Brad has done a couple of crucial saves in the second half, and more importantly, some terrific handling. He had some brilliant performances in front of them today. Kofi Balmer and Riley Harbottle don’t get any better in defenders getting blocks in.”
It felt like there were warriors on the pitch. I mean, there were two or three different stoppages in the first half that were bangs and bruises.
“I think sometimes maybe the way we are playing when we are winning, the referee and the fourth official give them enough time to score goals. But for 11 minutes, ten minutes, 14 minutes, but I think he’s played six and a half today, and we were thinking more like three.
“Listen, they do what they have to do; we have to separate ourselves from that. It was spirit and determination that got us a win today, and I have to say, the one piece of real quality in the game got us the goal.”
Another thing that changed the game was a triple substitution, Joe Quigley being one of them, and he came up with the vital moment.
“It was fantastic. It was a brilliant run with Joe. You can see what it means to everyone in the stadium. I saw it when the time was up, when the points are in the bag, and we’ve won, and fans are happy. I looked up to the director’s box, and I saw our chairman. Our chairman left his home country, and they’re subject to being part of the war in the Middle East.
“He drove seven hours through to a different country to fly over because he wanted to be here today; he knew how important it was. I’ve been speaking to him; it has been well documented. I’ve been speaking to him a couple of times on Zoom calls.
“He said that he desperately wanted to be over here and wanted to come, and I was really surprised when he called me last night from the airport yesterday morning, saying he was on his way. Thank you to him, but every Gashead in the stadium today deserves that.
"They’ve had a rough time; today, we’ve had a good day. I think all but goal difference, we are mathematically safe, but let’s go on Monday and get the point against a good Harrogate side. I keep saying that this was a good Fleetwood. Let’s be ready, and we’ll freshen it up again on Monday.”
We talk about the goal from Quigley there. That was the seventh different goal scorer in a row. It shows that goals are across the pitch for your side.
“The first time I ever addressed it with the players before the game today, I said, when I was offered the job here by Ricky Martin and subsequently the Chairman, a number of people in the game told me not to come in because it would have been a forlorn conclusion.
“I said to the boys, we kept the best players around that we’ve got, and we’ve added brilliantly to the group. I don’t think all of the loan players were especially good today, but all over the piece, they’ve been absolutely terrific.
“Joe felt it was harsh to be left out; Ellis would have felt it was harsh after Gillingham. There will be times when they will play together. We didn’t even get young Fabrizio Cavegn on the pitch today because he looked a little bit tired; he may not look so tired on Monday.”
With the game goalless, I think it’s the third or fourth time that a Thatchers goal has proven to be the difference. I don’t think there’s a coincidence there...
“I think all sides of the ground today, everyone knows about the Thatchers End. When I’ve come here, I’ve had plenty of stick off of them. They were tremendous. I came out before the game, and I’ve been surprised every time.
"I come, and Paul came in from the warmup, and I just glanced out of the tunnel, look at this again. He just told me, they’re mad. They’re mad for it. To every Gashead in the country, we'll be in the football league next year, so we’ll see what the next few weeks bring."
Finally, there’s only a couple of rest and recovery until we go again and try to get the same result.
“The boys will be in. We’ll travel on Sunday and train on Sunday. We’ll get their legs going again, and we’ll be trying to be fresh against a team that is fighting for their lives as well. So, I think young Jason does a terrific job; he has for four or five seasons now. We’ve got to try and regroup ourselves and try and come back with a point or three.”
