Familiar tale for Gasheads as mistakes prove costly again
HULL CITY VS BRISTOL ROVERS, LEAGUE ONE Talking points from Bristol Rovers’ defeat to Hull at the KCOM Stadium, by Sam Frost
THE customer helpline for the EFL’s iFollow service could well have been busy on Saturday. Bristol Rovers fans were well within their rights to complain.
Because the 2-0 defeat at Hull City felt like a tired old repeat that Gasheads have been forced to watch over and over again this season. Surely it couldn’t happen again? But it did.
Joey Barton has inherited a side that continues to undermine itself and destroy a promising performance through moments of madness. Hull moved to the top of the table with victory over the Gas, but the truth is Grant McCann’s side did not have to play anywhere near their peak to get the three points. Rovers served them up on a plate, as a worrying trend of self-sabotage continues. Wigan Athletic, Burton Albion and many others have been handed points their performances really didn’t deserve by this team who are left fighting for their lives in the third tier.
ROVERS’ FLAWS ARE OBVIOUS
AND RECURRING LOSING away to title-chasing Hull typically would not leave the bitter taste of a damaging defeat, but results against immediate rivals at the other end of the table have left Rovers in desperate need of points, wherever they can get them.
Barton’s side started brightly in the cool air of Humberside before the Tigers were awoken and threatened to show their teeth.
Still, there was relatively little to worry Joe Day in the Rovers goal until Luke Leahy, riding a decent run of form, made a dreadful decision in his own area. Mallik Wilks’ errant touch just did not have enough roll on it to trickle out of play, and Leahy’s attempt to shepherd it behind was punished, as
Hull’s top scorer snapped back to rake the ball from between the defender’s legs. His cross left Gavin Whyte with plenty to do but, with Josh Grant off the pitch receiving treatment, he did have space on the edge of the box. Without taking a touch, the midfielder’s snapshot volley bounced into the net via the post, beyond the dive of Joe Day.
Rovers never seemed to recover from that moment, but they still had a hope of snaring a result when they were just one goal down, only for Cian Harries and Alfie Kilgour to go silent on each other as they both leapt for the same header, leaving a gaping hole in the back three and affording George Honeyman a staggering amount of space to bear down on goal and cross for Whyte’s second.
They were Hull’s only two shots on target, with Day’s goal rarely in danger of being breached otherwise, emphasising the price Rovers paid for their mistakes. This was a drab game destined for a 0-0 draw had the Gas got the basics right.
At the start of the season this fixture would have been placed by many in the free-hit category, but Rovers’ inability to defeat the sides they are fighting against at the bottom of the table has dramatically raised the stakes.
The ominous feeling that gripped the fanbase as afternoon turned to evening on Saturday was not the product of Saturday’s defeat and the errors that caused it, but weeks and months of dropped points against teams neighbouring Rovers in the standings.
The losses to Burton and Wigan were particularly galling. Ill-discipline and a set-play shambles saw Rovers throw away games they were more than capable of winning.