Joey Barton voices pride as 10-man Bristol Rovers snatch late win over Walsall

Posted Sunday, January 30, 2022 by PA

Bristol Rovers boss Joey Barton expressed growing pride in his team and club after an against-the-odds 1-0 victory over Walsall with 10 men.

Aaron Collins won the game in the 90th minute, heading home from close range after Walsall goalkeeper Chris Rushworth had collided with Rovers substitute Harvey Saunders.

Barton was particularly pleased with how his players coped after going a man down in the 38th minute when right-back Luca Hoole was shown a second yellow card for a foul, having already been booked for dissent.

The manager said: “I’d have taken nil-nil. The scenes at the end were unbelievable and the way our fans kept behind us played a huge part in the win.

“It was a strange decision to book Luca for asking for a yellow card for one of their lads, who absolutely wiped one of our players out.

“Then a few minutes later the referee shows him another yellow when it wasn’t a bad tackle. Luca is only 19 and sometimes officials need to show a bit of discretion.

“I am so proud of my players and the way the club is developing. The owner has taken some tough decisions to remove certain people from positions of authority and we now have a young CEO, a young manager and a committed staff.

“You can’t have a good football team without a good football club and things are coming together for us on and off the pitch.

“On Monday I will see if I can add a bit of quality to the squad.”

Walsall took until the 65th minute to register a shot on target and failed miserably to make their man advantage tell.

Manager Matt Taylor said: “In our last game we got a performance but not a result. We didn’t get either today.

“When you have a man advantage you need to apply periods of heavy pressure and we were unable to do that.

“We made poor decisions and didn’t take enough risks on the ball. At half-time we talked about what a terrific opportunity we had to go on and win the game.

“For whatever reason, we couldn’t do it. I understand that confidence is a bit low at the moment but I expected more.

“Again we had tremendous support and I am sorry we couldn’t reward those who travelled.

“We should have carried more threat. Then to lose to a counter-attack so late in the game was even more frustrating.

“The only place to put things right is on the training ground and it is up to me and my staff to instil the consistency that has been missing from our season.”