Steve Evans was delighted with Bristol Rovers’ application and heart in the 3-1 victory over Grimsby Town.
The Gas headed into Saturday’s Sky Bet League Two fixture on the back of three consecutive defeats, but a fast start and dominant showing helped the home showing to a deserved three points.
Kofi Balmer’s stunning volley early on was followed by Joe Quigley’s close-range finish inside seven minutes, putting Rovers in the ascendancy, although Andy Cook reduced the deficit with a goal back for Grimsby at the end of the first half.
Yusuf Akhamrich finished coolly in the second half to restore Rovers’ two-goal lead and ensure a happy homecoming for the Pirates after successive away fixtures.
Speaking to BRTV, Head Coach Evans was full of praise for his side and their efforts in the win…
Steve, I’m sure that win and performance feels great!
“It was a big win. I travelled up to Grimsby on Wednesday, and I got back to my family home at around 1.30am and was in the training ground back in Bristol before 7am! So it’s been a busy week in terms of preparing, which it is every week, but it was really key because everyone has seen what a good side Grimsby Town are. I watched them first-hand on Wednesday and they are a really good side.
“We knew we had to produce a big performance and full credit goes to the players, probably four or five of those lads went onto the pitch carrying knocks from Oldham Athletic. We spoke about the desire, and that was never better emphasised than by my grandson Joseph, who was one of the mascots today, and Carter who is the son of a member of the team here at Bristol Rovers. They were all nervous in the tunnel saying ‘the Gas have got to win’ and that was echoing what the players had been saying in the week. And, of course, we’ll never win a game here without our 12th man, our fantastic supporters. There were incredible today.
“We did a little tactical tweak at half-time because we felt we were giving up a lot of width advantage up to Grimsby and they’ve got quality in those areas. As soon as we made that change, I think we then totally dominated in the second half.”
We talk about how important a fast start is in football and two goals in the first seven minutes sets the team up brilliantly…
“It does. People said Kofi Balmer could only do it once, but Kofi is a very talented boy. And when he does things quickly without overthinking them, he’s an even better player. We’re trying to get that into him and when that ball is falling to him, I’m thinking ‘Kofi don’t even think about it!’ But he found the net and he’s such a good professional and I’m really pleased for him.
“The second one is really good play. We worked on it in training with the ball up to Quigley and Harrison, and Yusuf goes and finds himself some space and freedom. People will say that’s a shot from Yusuf but he’s picked Joe out in the box like he did in training five or six times. Joe was immense today, as was Ellis too, but I don’t think we had a poor player on the pitch today. We controlled long aspects and I think our supporters will wonder how we didn’t score six or seven today.”
You made a slight tactical tweak at half-time, as you said, which the lads took to and allowed them to dominate the second half…
“It was something I was discussing with Paul Raynor as we came in for half-time. You get involved in one-on-one conversations and we’re also trying to have a general discussion and then myself and Paul are mixing with individuals, talking to them about what they’re doing. Paul said to me ‘we’re better than this, let’s address these wide areas’ so we changed the shape of the team a little bit.
“I thought Kane Thompson-Sommers and Richie Smallwood…they were the highest stats for the season at Oldham of any player wearing a Bristol Rovers shirt, and we feared we could have been without them because of fatigue, but they were both on the pitch and I thought they were both terrific. Kane was terrific on the left side and Richie plays a captain role in the team. The tactical change worked and our front two are always going to cause problems.”
You mentioned Kane and Richie there, two January signings, and the three goals were scored today by three January signings. The lads that have come into the squad in the last month or so have really hit the ground running…
“I think the one we were waiting to come into his game a bit was Kane. He’s a quiet boy but we believe in him and some of his displays on the training ground have been very good, and now he’s proving that with some of his performances. But I don’t care if the player is a signing from before me or after me, if they’re a Bristol Rovers player then the Head Coach needs to treat each of them equally. We’re asking the lads to do a job and they’ve done it today.
“But let me be clear we’re not out of any woods yet. This is a tough gig but what we’ve beaten today is a really, really top side. We’ll go away and be pleased with that and the lads will be back in at the training ground, we’ll freshen them up and we’ll be ready for the short journey up to Swindon.”
Lastly, some marked improvements in the team when you look at the last three performances in progression...
“We’ve improved a million miles from when we came in but a million miles isn’t going to be enough. We need to find a bit more. The two performances which stick in my throat are Barnet at home and Cambridge away. They stick in my throat because I thought there was a lack of application and a lack of desire, which isn’t something that gets said about my teams.
"We need to improve as a unit, as a team, as a group, and our lads are playing with big hearts.”
