Football The lads showed enormous character, says delighted boss Barton
JOEY Barton savoured what he felt was one of Bristol Rovers’ best performances of the season as they came from behind to beat Bradford City 2-1.
The Gas were dominant at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday, racking up 31 shots and controlling territory, with long periods of the game played in the Bantams’ half. However, Rovers were wasteful, with none of their 15 first-half attempts testing goalkeeper Alex Bass and it allowed Bradford to snatch the lead just seconds after the interval - Dion Pereira making the most of a rare defensive lapse from the Gas.
Frustration was growing with Rovers failing to convert their control into goals, but midfielder Sam Finley led the way with a superb all-round performance and a sublime 57th-minute equaliser from long range. Rovers’ dominance only intensified and the winner came 15 minutes from time, with Connor Taylor stabbing home Paul Coutts’ cross.
Rovers climbed one place in the table to fifth, level on points with Port Vale in the final automatic promotion place, and Barton believes his players got the result they deserved. “At this stage it’s about winning games, so taking maximum points for us is the key,” the Rovers manager said. “I felt our performance today deserved that. We had a dominant first period, probably the most control we’ve had in my time here.
“We were lacking that final third and maybe a few box entries. We sometimes went for more aggressive passing routes. Something we worked on during the week, we were taking a more aggressive version of that.
“I’m never going to pull the lads back in from that, but I felt if we used it a little more wisely by maybe passing out to the wide men, instead of looking for that through ball all the time, we could have created more waves.
“I gave the lads lots of praise at half-time, then sod’s law (Bradford took the lead). I shouldn’t really do that because it can sometimes lead to a little bit of complacency. Then we find ourselves one down which went against everything. But again the lads showed enormous character and credit to them for that.”
Barton believes Rovers made Mark Hughes’ team “look poor”, such was the dominance they enjoyed, adding it would have been a “travesty” had the Gas failed to
We had a dominant first period, probably the most control we’ve had in my time here
win. “Everyone knows what a good side we are now,” he said. “Everyone who comes to the stadium and pays the entrance fee, they know that these lads are just going to keep going and going. The first half, I thought, was the best we’d pressed the ball in my time here.
“Bradford’s league position isn’t a testament to the players they’ve got in the group.
“With the manager they’ve got as well, they’ll have a right chance to be a force in the division, but I thought our collective pressure, the way we hustled and harried them, we made them look really poor. They were certainly second best going into half-time. They somehow find themselves one up. They probably couldn’t believe it themselves.
“But then normal services resumed. A great goal from Sam Finley to settle us down and give us enough time on the clock to go and get the winner. Nice for the big man (Taylor) to go and get that goal.
“I thought our lads were more than good enough to win that game today. Anything else would have been a travesty.”