UniBond League Division One South
The Hawthorns, Brigg
Saturday, 6th September 2008, 3.00pm
Rovers Win On Their Travels
There are some games when you need to dig in and win ugly with a slice of luck and this was one of those games.
On a surprisingly good surface after the torrential rain that had swept the country over the weekend Rovers managed to weather the storm to come back from The Hawthorns with all three points.
Rovers' manager Gary Norton brought Mickey Lyons back into the side after the midfielder had completed his holiday's that were booked long before he joined the club and included new signing Stewart Copnell on the bench.
The tables may show Brigg in rock bottom postion but the home side belied their lowly position opening strongly and threatening the Rovers' goal almost from the off.
Rovers' sloppy passing and the failure to hang on to the ball when it was in their position helped them.
Brigg's Tom Spall tested visiting keeper Nicky Scaife with a low shot that was saved at the foot of the post.
Minutes later with heavy rain falling Nathan Would's shot was dropped by Scaife but he reacted quickly to claim the ball at the second attempt.
On fifteen minutes Scaife once more was in the thick of things this time to deny Rick Day, who had ran though the Rovers' defence, pushing a great save past the far post.
Scaife again denied the Zebras when first he tipped a shot from Would over the bar and then managing to get back to his line to grab Dan Hope's cheeky lob off the line.
Nothing the home side could do would bring the goal their play deserved Matty Oswin and Day both going close before the break.
Rovers began the second period in a much more determined fashion and Jamie Barrett saw his glancing header, from Oliver Hancock's free kick, go marginally over the bar within minutes of the restart.
Leigh Herrick saved from David Blenkinsopp but could nothing to deny the striker a goal minutes later.
On 56 minutes Hancock swung over a corner that Blenkinsopp, with the faintest of touches, put beyond Herrick and into the net.
Herrick was beaten again just eight minutes later but this time it was of his own doing.
Another Hancock free kick came in from the right and Herrick failed to catch the ball and Nathan Morris was in the right place to head the ball back into the empty net.
Rovers were unlucky to concede moments later when defender Miles Chamberlain was harshly adjudged to have handled in the area with Day making no mistake from the spot sending Scaife the wrong way.
Brigg then gave the Rovers' defence the sternest of tests for the final 20 minutes or so and should have got themselves level with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Day found Craig Fletcher with a sublime pass only for the substitute to put his shot wide from just inside the box.
Man-of-the-match Scaife denied the homeside once more right at the end tipping Hope's header over the bar.
The drama hadn't finished as in time added on Rovers debutant Copnell was shown a straight red card for allegedly elbowing Martin Altoft.
Manager's View
"The games at the moment certainly keep us on our toes and having got ourselves into a commanding position two-nil up without particularly playing well if I'm honest.
"But I thought we started the second half a lot better than we did the first. We were two-nil up and I thought the penalty was a little harsh as the ball bounced up and hit his hand but the referee has given it and they put it in and all of a sudden a bit of panic started to set in. Our shape went a little bit, our discipline went a little bit but we managed to hang on for a good three points.
"Don't let league tables come into it at the moment because are a good side. They have some technical players, they pass the ball well and a fantastic surface and both sides were looking to get the ball down and play and I think they did it better than us in the first half.
"If I'm honest we gave the ball away so many times cheaply in the first half and we tried to change it in a positive manner in the second half and get Blenko (David Blenkinsopp) a bit more chuck up there bringing Stewart Copnall on and he did make a difference for the time he was on.
"Stewart's the sort of player who wears his heart on his sleeve and we know that he's got that in him. I think their guy made a meal of it because Stewart was holding the guy off the ball and he's put his elbow up there and their guy's played the game and he went down.
"Stewart, in my opinion, shouldn't put himself in that sort of position. Shield the ball, get his backside in and make him foul you pop it off get it in the box and get it in. I'm not going to slag Stewart off, he's apologised in the dressing room and I knew what we were getting when I brought him in but I thought it would be a few more games before he got into trouble with the officials.
The linesman admitted that he didn't see it but the referee made the call has he sees it and he sent Stewart off and we'll deal with that privately and move on. Fortunately it didn't cost us today.
"Nicky Scaife kept us in the game in the first half a point we made in the dressing room at halftime although his kicking was a little erratic today but he made some big saves. He held his angles well and made two or three good saves in the first half. We haven't been happy with him today because his kicking was a little erratic today.
"I think he's trying too had to take a bit off it and he's not striking it as cleanly as he has been. But he's a young lad, only 21, and we'll work on him at training because he's got everything with his kicks. They are like a driving range when he gets that kick going but he's got to get the distance right, the contact right and the direction right and he'll be setting goals up for fun. Yes he kept us in the game and we're very grateful to him for that.
"I think I've put in my programme notes for Tuesday about the last match of last season against Quorn. We'd finished the game early and had gone on holiday by the looks of it that day. So certainly in the back of my mind is the humiliation going away and being passed off the park and beaten four-nil.
"Quorn are a capable side and they move the ball around and they have some good players but we are grinding out results at the moment. That's four games on the bounce we've ground out results - Retford, Willenhall and Alvechurch last week and although the scoreline would suggest otherwise we ground out the result and we've ground it out today. That's four straight wins three in the league and we'll take some confidence into that game.
"Overall, you could see in the dressing room that the lads were disappointed in that performance by the way they were after the game.
"We are working with them and it's work in progress in terms of what we are trying to do with them and give then confidence to sit in and to keep our shape but one thing we can't excuse is when we have the ball as individuals giving it away as cheaply as we did. It's wet today but the pitch was superb and I didn't see Brigg players giving it away as cheap as we were. If we do that on Tuesday against Quorn or next Saturday against Chasetown we'll be in for long afternoons.
"Stewart (Copnall) will face a ban in two weeks and we were aware he had another one coming up from something that happened in pre-season so we'll have to see. He's a quality player and you could see in the second half what he brings to us.
"We'll sit down and see what the reports say and we'll deal with it then but he's a quality player and you want players like that in your side and in your squad but more importantly you want them to stay on the pitch."
