I’m just so proud of our football club, says Joey
ROCHDALE BRISTOL ROV
JOEY Barton spoke with huge pride after his Bristol Rovers side conjured a remarkable comeback to beat Rochdale.
Aaron Collins’ second-half hattrick snared the three points and clinched Rovers’ place in the League Two play-offs – and they are level on points with Northampton for the final automatic promotion place with one game to play, although fellow hopefuls Port Vale and Mansfield both play today.
Rovers endured a nightmare start, falling two goals behind inside 17 minutes with Luke Charman netting a brace. Rovers had several players off their games, but Sam Finley’s smart finish soon after half-time boosted hopes of a comeback.
Corey O’Keefe restored Dale’s twogoal advantage after beating James Belshaw at the second attempt, and with results elsewhere not going their way with half an hour to play, Rovers were on course to lose their place in the top seven, which would have ceded control over their destiny in their promotion race.
But Collins hit back in the 66th minute and went on to equalise in the final minute of normal time. A point would have kept Rovers in the top seven ahead of next Saturday’s game against Scunthorpe, but Barton’s players continued to pile forward in hope of keeping their dreams of a top-three place alive.
And scenes of pandemonium ensued when Collins was in the right place at the right time to snatch the points in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The drama was not over, though, with Paul Coutts shown a straight red card in the dying moments, but Rovers held on for the most memorable of victories.
“We kept going, it wasn’t our best day and we can certainly do things a lot better,” Barton said. “We just stayed in it. I spoke to them at halftime about the supporters and said ‘You’ve got to do it for these fans’. They’ve travelled in numbers again.
“At half-time, that was what we were talking about, making the fans proud and giving a great account of ourselves. We felt our fanbase would recognise that, but to win 4-3 in the manner we’ve done sends those Gasheads home saying ‘I was there’.
“So proud of the players, Amazing character. I’m just so proud of our football club. To travel in those numbers is special.”
Barton took the blame for Rovers’ torrid start, admitting he had recalled Josh Grant to the starting XI too soon after injury, but his all-out attack substitutions were vindicated in the end.
“At half-time I said ‘We have to get the next goal, who knows what can happen with our fans’. We got the next goal and then we managed to give them another goal. Most normal teams possibly give up, and again it just flips over to our lads’ character. They never gave up. It was strange, but we just went for it. We wanted to win the game and we got rewarded.”
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Rochdale: Eastwood, Keohane, O’Connell, Taylor, O’Keeffe, Brierley, Dooley, Clark (White 74), Done (Cashman 74), Grant, Charman (Andrews 90). Not Used: Newby, Odoh, Bradley Kelly, Scanlon.
Booked: Keohane, Taylor, O’Keeffe, Charman.
Goals: Charman 11, 17, O’Keeffe 60.
Rovers: Belshaw, Hoole (Nicholson 78), Taylor (Loft 74), Connolly, Grant (Thomas 35), Coutts, H Anderson, Evans, Finley, E Anderson, Collins. Not Used: Anderton, Whelan, Jaakkola, Rodman.
Sent Off: Coutts (90).
Booked: H Anderson.
Goals: Finley 54, Collins 66, 89, 90.
Attendance: 4,628.
Referee: Ross Joyce (Cleveland).