Matt Taylor has hailed his Bristol Rovers side's performance, particularly in the first half, against Cambridge United as the Gas made it two wins in four days with a 1-0 victory over the U's at the Mem on Tuesday night.
A great move saw Luke Thomas released into space to square for Chris Martin to convert the decisive goal after 87 minutes but Rovers shouldn't have had to wait that long to find the breakthrough with a handful of decent opportunities falling to them in the first half with the most notable a saved penalty from Martin.
After Antony Evans saw a weak penalty saved at Cheltenham Town on the weekend, the spot-kick duties were handed to the striker who hadn't scored in eight matches but his effort was also tame and ended up in the grasp of Cambridge goalkeeper Will Mannion.
However, despite coming up against a more resolute U's side in the second half, the Gas managed to find the breakthrough to everyone's relief with the victory Rovers' first at home in almost two months.
"It’s been a while, at the Mem especially," Taylor exclaimed when asked for his verdict on the match. "A clean sheet and a very good goal to win the game to boot. I was really pleased with our first half performance. I think we deserved to be ahead in the game. Another missed penalty and enough opportunities to be in a more comfortable position than we were.
"As the second half went on, certainly the way the opposition set up, it became more and more frustrating for us and we couldn’t quite force their centre-halves or their goalkeeper to work really. But then you only need one moment as long as you’ve got that clean sheet behind you and a solid basis you only need one moment of quality and thankfully it’s come in the form of a late goal.
"There was a defence there all night," the Rovers manager added regarding the way in which Garry Monk's side set up. "Usually in half a pitch and usually all 10 outfield players plus the goalkeeper behind the ball so very difficult and you can obviously get drawn into forcing it too much as opposed to working the ball and working the space. I still want us to threaten a little bit more behind and beyond than we did in that second half and to get more crosses in the box and be a more effective set-piece team. But I’ll certainly take where we are right now compared to where we’ve been recently."
There has been a much-needed lift in the mood at the football club over the past couple of days after a 3-1 victory at Cheltenham last Saturday put an end to a seven-match run without a goal that became a club-record and now the Gas have picked up maximum points in back-to-back games. Admittedly, there's little to play for now regarding the league table but with two matches left in the calendar, Rovers are looking to finish as strongly as possibly going into a crucial summer.
However, they were made to work for the three points while also putting themselves in a situation that didn't need to be as strenuous as they made it for themselves. Evans dragged an effort narrowly wide within the first couple of minutes before the opportunity that presented itself from the spot after good pressing from Thomas saw Scott Sinclair snatch the ball before being taken down in the penalty area.
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Going into half-time goalless, there was a sense that Rovers could well be made to pay for not finishing their chances with Cambridge demonstrating potential threat from set-pieces. The U's set up particularly resolutely, similar to their strategy that saw them run out 2-0 victors in the reverse fixture back in August, in the second half but were eventually worn down three minutes from time.
On the visitors setting up defensively for the second period, Taylor stated: "It felt like that. The first half performance deserved more. Bar a penalty or a save or a couple of misses, we’ve got to do better in those moments because that play warranted to be ahead and then that does affect the opposition because it was 0-0 they could sit a little bit deeper, hit us on the counter attack, wait for set-piece moments.
"So it was a real test of the metal of our minds in terms of how to win a game of football. Even if it had been 0-0, I know I would have been criticised but I wouldn’t have been overly frustrated with the group because their intent stayed right throughout and their recovery runs and their will to win the ball back when we did give it away or we did force it too much was excellent.
"So to get the goal in the manner we did and as late as we did was a great moment for that group because I think they’ve come through another hurdle tonight."
