Soccer
Steve Evans says Bristol Rovers will not be getting carried away after going top
Bristol Rovers manager Steve Evans insisted no-one in his camp would be carried away after the Gas moved to the top of the League Two table thanks to a 2-0 win over Colchester at the Memorial Stadium.
A first-half strike from Tom James and substitute Ellis Harrison’s late goal proved the difference between the sides as Rovers chalked up their third win on the spin and condemned Colchester to their first defeat of the campaign.
“It was a dominant performance and it could have been five or six and I’m happy with the overall team display because we were comfortable winners,” Evans said.
“When you look at a league table you’d rather be top than second or third or even bottom.
“We’re too experienced to get carried away after just four games and we know we’ve got a tough, tough encounter coming up against my old club Rotherham this Saturday.
“And we know that we can’t be complacent and there’s no chance of that happening on my watch – everyone’s feet will remain firmly on the floor.
“At our level where you’ve got lots of one and two-year contracts, I think it takes four or five windows before you can say that’s as good as I can make this team.
“But we’ve got carte blanche from the owner to develop our own squad here and I’d like to think that the best is yet to come from my players and if we fail it will be down to me.”
Welsh right-back James, who opened the scoring in last weekend’s 2-0 win at Crawley, put Evans’ side on course for a third league win on the bounce after 27 minutes.
He volleyed in from just outside the penalty area with a shot that left unsighted goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala standing after his defence failed to clear its lines.
After the break, the Essex side went close through half-time substitute Moses Sesay who saw a shot from distance veer just wide before goalkeeper Brad Young blocked a goal-bound piledriver from the Southampton loanee.
Colchester kept pushing for an equaliser but were caught on the break as Rovers sub Harrison sealed victory in the third minute of stoppage time when he slotted in Tommy Leigh’s low cross to send Gasheads wild.
Colchester manager Danny Cowley said: “It was a great game between two good teams. I’ve got a lot of respect for Bristol Rovers and if you finish above them you’ll have had a very good season.
“We enjoyed the game but just a bit disappointed with how we played in the first half and we need to look at ourselves in the mirror over our performance in the opening 45 minutes.
“We didn’t quite play to the levels we are capable of but I really liked us after the break because we played with courage and belief and we showed a lot of personality so there’s lots to be encouraged about.”
