Late score is poetic justice for Keates
DEAN KEATES insisted his Walsall side’s stoppage-time winner was justice at the end of a game that could have gone either way.
While Rovers might have nicked it when sub Sam Matthews’ late free-kick was tipped onto a post by goalkeeper Liam Roberts, it was Walsall replacement Kieron Morris, who grabbed the glory with a low rightfooted drive from 12 yards in the dying seconds.
Manager Keates believed his side should have been ahead long before and was especially incensed that a seventhminute header from Luke Leahy was ruled out.
“The referee told me the goal had been disallowed for handball,” said Keates. “But I have seen it again and the ball clearly goes in off Luke’s shoulder.
“We were also denied a clear penalty when Jon Guthrie had his shirt pulled. A few things have gone against us recently and as the game drew to a close I thought it wasn’t going to be our day.
“When I sent on Kieron Morris I told him it was an opportunity and to go out and stake his claim again. He has been patient, applied himself in training, and he got his reward. He was brave enough to take on the shot, having got in the right area.”
Rovers boss Darrell Clarke was in no mood to offer excuses, having seen his team drop into the relegation zone.
“The table doesn’t lie after 25 per cent of the season and as things stand we are facing a relegation fight,” he said. “It was disappointing to lose the game so late on, but I am even more disappointed by our forward play.
“My so-called match-winners are coming nowhere near to what is required. Our goalkeeper has played well and my back-four have defended umpteen balls into the box, but my creators didn’t turn up.” A draw would have been a fair result to a game of few clear chances, most of the saves by both goalkeepers coming from long-range shots.
Bonham made the best stops, doing well to keep out second-half efforts from substitute Josh Gordon and striker Andy Cook.
The most testing moment for Walsall’s Roberts came just before Morris’s goal when he got a finger to a Matthews free-kick, which then struck a post.