For 53 minutes, Steve Evans' Bristol Rovers dominated Bromley, with Head Coach Steve Evans delighted with the way the Pirates started.
The Gas created a massive number of chances, making their dominance count when Jack Sparkes blasted his strike from the left into the top corner before Fabrizio Cavegn doubled Rovers' advantage with a clever finish into the bottom corner.
However, Shaq Forde's red card before the hour turned the game on its head. The Pirates were forced to sit deeper, with a header from Nicke Kabamba and a brace from substitute Ben Thompson turned the score around.
Reflecting on the fixture to BRTV, Evans thought the Gas were outstanding before the red card reduced them to ten men and took the positives out of the performance at The Mem.
Steve, that was a real gut punch at the end...
“Yeah, listen. For 53 minutes, it was an outstanding performance, particularly in the first half. Let’s be honest, we could’ve gone four or five up. Shaq missed a good chance, Fabrizio missed a good chance after two or three minutes.
“We’ve had a couple of things that have gone the wrong side of the post; we're so far in front of the game. Top of the game. You always know you’re going to get a reaction from Bromley, the way they play, the way they played last season, the way they play this season.
“But the start of the second half, they’ve come out for four or five minutes, the game’s level again, we’re on the ball again. Then Shaq commits a silly challenge, and it’s a second yellow, no complaints with the referee’s decision.
“Then you’re having to dig in and find a way, and then Bromley get belief, and then they get a goal back, and then we’re camped in a bit. Listen, we tried two or three times to change formations and situations, but again, we’re short on certain personnel to help us on that front.
“Listen, we’re really down today, but my job is to come in tomorrow morning and go through the down points with the players and then show them the good points, because there were lots of them, lots of them. Then we’ll regroup and start preparing for Barnet.”
You mentioned the good points. For 53 minutes, your team played the team that is third in the league off the park at times...
“Tactically, we got the shape, the system right, we got the runners right, we got the personnel right. Everything was good, but if you get an ill-disciplined individual within a team, that affects everyone. It affects balance, we’d walked on for two or three minutes and the boys, there was a real balance – players were interlinking.
“They knew where they were. So that was easy, and then all of a sudden, it’s out of shape, it’s out of kin, and you give the opposition oxygen. If they have oxygen, they’ll breathe, and if you’re a real good side like Bromley are, you’ll breathe well, and you’ll probably go on to win the game.”
You have been in the job for for ten days. The result was far from what we wanted, but are you pleased with what you have seen from the lads...
“Well, we did for the best part of 53 minutes, probably longer. On 53 minutes, the sending off, 55 minutes, 56 minutes on the clock, we should have gone 3-0 up when we missed the chance, and that’s always the difference, that little bit of quality.
“I’m not going to berate the man because he’s covered every blade of grass and got a goal, and he’s been a real handful for them.
“We didn’t have the type of personnel that we felt we needed to change it, but I’m not worried about it going into January and the future, because that will take care of itself with the recruitment that we do, but we just have to learn that one minute, if one individual is ill-disciplined, it costs the team.”
There are lots of games coming up. How are you going to work with the team over the coming days to prepare them...
“Well, they’re all tough. First and foremost, we have to have a bit of a role call tomorrow when we’re in. Obviously, Alfie had come off, and we’re not sure where he’ll be, but again we’ve got one or two options in that position, so not so much there, I'm more looking in the attack and the forward options as to what we can do and I’m looking at the medical department but we have to be led with them.
“We’re not going to take chances with individual players, but we’ve got a lot of positives, a lot to work on, but we go home deflated, but my job tomorrow is to help these young men and make them believe because after 50-odd minutes I can assure you.”
Finally, you were very complimentary of Bristol Rovers as an opposition manager. How was it walking out as Head Coach at The Mem?
“Unbelievable. I think the fans were great. I think with the fans as well, to see some fans there still and the disappointment they’ve got, the position in the table, 2-0 up and we lose 3-2, and I saw a lot of people in the stadium still, still clapping the boys off.
“I think they know that if it doesn’t go to ten, there’s a different outcome today. Football’s not what might have been, it is what is, and we let ourselves down, discipline-wise, and therefore we paid a price.”
