OK, with seven games left beyond it this match wasn’t quite must-win. But as terrible as the rest of League One’s bottom six are, they can’t possibly keep fucking up forever, so this was a real opportunity to attack a match and put ourselves a frankly implausible one point from safety.
Unfortunately, no-one seemed to have conveyed this to the players. So rather than have a go at a club that inexplicably celebrates cod in a town built on hake, Rovers offered ninety minutes of ill-thought through decisions and poor execution where no-one seemed to want the ball and looked genuinely perplexed as to what to do with it if it ended up at their feet.
Overall Rovers managed a couple of lame efforts on target from 18 yards plus, and a header over the bar from Ro-Shaun Williams; Fleetwood flashed a trio of efforts just off-target. Just as we found a hint of second half momentum some knobhead threw a flare on the field, and the excitement was extinguished quicker than the red haze. This was a terrible match between two teams who played it like they’d never seen a football match before and had only ever read about the game in a book.
In injury time Rovers forced a corner. A chance for a Hail Mary play, to flood the box for a last throw of the dice. Dan Gardner asked for it short and promptly lost possession. The footballing intelligence of this current side encapsulated in three seconds.
by Glen Wilson
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