Bristol Rovers stretched their unbeaten run in Sky Bet League Two to four matches after beating Barrow 2-1 at The Memorial Stadium, with Rhys Carr pleased with the victory but still looking for more from his side.
The Gas impressed in the first half and controlled the fixture and the scoreline, with Josh McEachran netting with a cross-cum-shot from the left before Fabrizio Cavegn netted his first goal in the fourth tier from close range to double the Pirates' lead.
In a second half with chances few and far between, Connor Mahoney got one back for the Bluebirds and almost got a leveller soon after, but Luke Southwood made an excellent save to stop the substitute from getting his second.
Speaking after the victory, Carr reflected on the win, the first half performance, Cavegn's goal and Promise Omochere's contributions.
So, Rhys, a 2-1 victory here today at the Mem. How do you reflect on it?
"Yeah, I was really pleased with the first half," he said. "I think there are bits that we want to unpick from the second half to be fair. The discussion that we’ve had in there, we’re pleased to be winning football matches, that’s four on the spin now, and that’s what we want to do.
"It’s hard to win football matches, but we perhaps want to win them a little bit more convincingly than we did in the second half. A little bit higher pressure on the ball for sure, but look, at the end of the day, we’ve won four on the spin, so we’ll take it."
You mentioned that first half there, is that all you can ask for? Two goals and really stop Barrow from creating anything.
"Yeah, and the energy, the intensity being on the front foot. You know, without the ball, certainly the bits of quality to put the ball in the back of the net in the right moment, yeah, absolutely, but obviously, a game of football is 90 plus minutes, not 45. So, we’re always trying to be better, and I’m sure that’s a bit we’ll unpick when we come back in on Monday."
Looking at that starting team, Joel Senior comes in at right-back. Is it really good to have depth across the squad that you can trust anyone coming in or coming out?
"Of course it is, and I thought Joel did his job really well. He’s trained really well as well. He found himself unlucky to be out of the team with a questionable red card at Chesterfield a few weeks back, but he’s professional, and he’s applied himself, so he gives himself a good platform to be ready when he’s called upon."
Josh McEachran is known for his midfield ability. Do you think that goal was intended?
"I’ve known Josh for a few months now. He’s got a wand of a left foot. If he tells me that he meant it, he meant it, because he’s got quality in that left peg. He hasn’t told me that it was a cross, so we’ll have to take his word for it."
Fabrizio’s first league goal, but the assist from Promise really shows that going out wide, he wins duels, and he does really well...
"I think I saw the Club put something out the other day about Promise winning the most duels in the league so far. That might have changed today, I don’t know, but hopefully he’s still strong at the top end of that table, but he’s a handful, isn’t he? He’s a real handful. He’s got a physical presence, we’re getting him up to speed physically, as well, now, to see the 90 minutes that he’s completing and ticking off, and goals and assists are what forwards are there to do. So I’m pleased with that.
Fabrizio was there to score his first league goal. Obviously, he scored two in the Vertu trophy. I’m sure that’s going to give him plenty of confidence now.
"Of course it is. I think I said the last time I spoke to you, after the Vertu trophy game, that this is difficult for him. He’s a young fella and he’s come to a foreign country, but he applies himself. He’s working hard on the training pitch on his finishing, so when he gets those moments, he can take them. That’s what he did today."
You mentioned that second half as well. Now, is it about pushing on and putting teams out of sight? Not giving them the opportunity to get back into games?
"Particularly here. You know, at The Mem, we want to make this place a fortress. That has to come from us on the pitch first and foremost, but we know that the fans will get behind that as well. So, did I feel as if we, as a staff, felt perhaps a little bit stressed, come the last 45? Yes, we did, and I’m sure the players might have felt the energy as well.
"So, there are things that we will unpick and we’ll try and be better at from the second half, but like I say, we’ve won a game of football and they’re hard to do. They’re hard to do in any league, but particularly this league."
Some debuts for Freddie Issaka and Joel Cotterill as well. What do you think they’ll add to this Club?
"Depth and quality. They’ve come from teams in higher divisions than us. They’re lads that are trying to go on an upward trajectory in their careers; hopefully, we can help them do that. We can give them a platform to build their careers, but they can also contribute to us having a successful season, fingers crossed as well."
And finally, when you’re looking to get a first win, it feels much more difficult, but when you’re winning one, does it feel easier to get that first goal and to do well on the pitch?
"No. It doesn’t. Every game has its challenges. The gaffer has been quite clear. He talks about each game as a project, so obviously, we’re happy that we’ve won today, but very quickly, focus will be on the next game, Colchester.
"We’ll be looking at that straight away, we’ll be coming up with a plan for the next project, and that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got 46 projects in this league this year, and we’ll try to complete as many of them as we can."
