Inigo upset as Gas gift points to the Stags

By Gregor MacGregor

BRISTOL ROVERS 1

Sawyers 26

BRISTOL ROVERS: Ward 6, Swinkels 8, Taylor 6, Wilson 7, Senior 6 (Hunt 70, 7), Ward 6 (Hutchinson 70, 6), Sawyers 8 (Butcher 70, 6), Shaw 6, Sotiriou 6, O’Donkor 6 (Dewsbury 86, 6), Forde 7 (Sinclair 70, 7). Subs not used: Hall, Moore.

MANSFIELD T 2

Vickers 1, Dwyer 59

MANSFIELD: Pym 7, McLaughlin 8, Cargill 7, Oshilaja 7, Hewitt 7 (Bowery 71, 6), Reed 7 (Kilgour 82), Vickers 7 (Dwyer 46, 7), Baccus 7, Boateng 6 (Lewis 21, 7), Akins 6, Evans 7 (Flint 82, 6). Subs not used: Flinders, Rhodes.

Att: 9,067 Rating: ★★★★★ Ref: Scott Tallis 7/10

BRISTOL Rovers head coach Inigo Calderon was left feeling downcast after his team’s errors handed Mansfield victory on a plate at the Memorial Stadium.

But his rival boss Nigel Clough was more keen to praise his side’s fighting spirit as the main foundation for a crucial win in this relegation battle.

The Gas gifted Town both of their goals. First Rovers goalkeeper Jed Ward misplaced a pass, allowing on-loan forward Caylan Vickers to capitalise, before Stags sub Dom Dwyer took advantage of Connor Taylor’s poor back pass to grab the winner.

Calderon’s team is now just one place above the relegation zone, and he said: “We made our life difficult. It’s the worst thing to start with an error in the first minute.”

“But we thought it was not enough and made our life even more difficult in the second-half.

“These kind of goals can kill you when you’re down there. They are big mistakes. We have to be stronger mentally and don’t disappear in games,” he added.

The Nottinghamshire side were in front in the first minute. A poor pass from goalkeeper Jed Ward was intercepted by forward Will Evans, with his low cross enabling Caylan Vickers to prod into the open goal, even though he fumbled his first attempted shot.

The lead lasted 25 minutes as Pirates midfielder Romaine Sawyers swept a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the area, set up by Shaq Forde, for his first goal for the Gas.

But another error, this time a short back pass from Rovers defender Connor Taylor, was pounced on by midfielder Keanu Baccus who poked the ball on to substitute Dwyer to put into the open net, with Ward drawn from goal.

Ward was also called on to make two good stops to deny Evans scoring on the turn, and a Dwyer close-range header, as the visitors carved out good chances after the break.

The closest Rovers came to an equaliser was when Christy Pym saved a well-hit Isaac Hutchinson volley.

Town boss Nigel Clough said his football intuition had led him to make a vital switch at half-time, when he replaced goalscorer Vickers with US forward Dwyer. He said: “Apart from the goal I didn’t think that Caylan contributed too much. It was a difficult game for him.

“So we moved Will Evans out on the left and I just fancied Dom to get us a goal.”