Taylor Moore was ‘deflated’ after Bristol Rovers lost 2-1 to Birmingham City at The Memorial Stadium in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas were looking to end their three-game losing streak in the third tier with a positive result against the league leaders but fell behind within just three minutes when Keshi Anderson expertly curled his strike beyond the reach of Jed Ward.
Gatlin O’Donkor levelled for the hosts with a close-range finish following a set-piece routine. However, despite Rovers creating plenty of chances to turn the score around and get a much-needed win in the fight against relegation, Blues came up with the decisive moment, with Jay Stansfield scoring from the penalty spot.
Reflecting on the fixture, Moore felt his side deserved more out of the match but emphasised the importance of looking ahead.
“It’s a tough one to take,” he said. “I feel a bit deflated, and I think the whole dressing room probably feels the same, feels like we deserved more out of the game tonight. At least a point. Just to concede the goals in the manner that we did as well is frustrating. The first one so early on in the game again takes the sting out of the game a little bit, but we did so well to come back, and we put in a real battling performance tonight.
“It’s frustrating. Especially to concede the second goal in the manner that we did. It’s just very frustrating, but there’s no time to really feel sorry for ourselves. You can have a little sulk and a little moan for a couple of hours, but as of tomorrow morning, we go again and prepare for Bolton.”
Despite conceding early on, Rovers stood up to the challenge Birmingham brought and switched the momentum in their favour when Ruel Sotiriou danced past numerous defenders before slotting through Shaq Forde, who placed his shot beyond Ryan Allsop before the flag went up for offside.
After O’Donkor netted, the Pirates had several opportunities to go ahead, with the striker hitting the bar with a header before Sotiriou hit the post with a saved effort and lifted a great chance over the bar. It gave Blues a chance to win, and the league leaders made no mistake, with Stansfield scoring just five minutes before the end.
Taylor believes his team must take their chances and admitted he would have changed the complexion of the contest.
“We’ve obviously spoken in there between ourselves,” said the defender. “Not only have we got to do better at conceding the goals, but we’ve also got to do better at scoring them. We’ve got to take our chances, especially the position that we’re in at the moment. Those moments count, and I think the game completely changes there if we go and score a second or even a third. It would be a completely different interview that we’d be doing right now. A lot of positives to take, and I just feel that if we can match that type of performance for the remaining game of the season, we’ll be fine.”
Heading into the final moments, the referee pointed to the spot for Birmingham after Taylor handed Stansfield's cross inside the box, with the League One record signing cooly converting for his 22nd goal of the season.
After such a tremendous effort from the Gas, Taylor labelled the critical moment a ‘dagger to the heart.’
“It was a dagger to the heart, a penalty like that, a handball,” he said. “Whether it’s soft or not, I haven’t watched it back, but it just felt that there was a referee and an assistant there that were waiting to give something, and unfortunately, we gave them the opportunity to do that. But it was a real dagger to the heart.”
Rovers have not got long until their next fixture, with the Pirates travelling to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday looking to emulate their enthralling 3-2 victory of the Trotters at The Memorial Stadium less than a month ago. It will also give the Gas an opportunity to end their difficult spell on the road, with Iñigo Calderón’s men winless in their previous eight away fixtures in all competitions.
Taylor confessed the away form has not been good enough and stated that there must be ‘togetherness.’
“We rode our luck against them at times when they came down here, and we managed to come away with a win late on,” said Taylor. “So, we know what they are about. We’ve played them recently. Our full focus was on Birmingham and trying to get a result out of the game tonight, and we’ve battled, we’ve battled, we’ve battled, and unfortunately came away with nothing. But we’ll be ready to go again come Saturday.
“Our away form has been ridiculously poor, so we’re looking to change that, and we’ve not got a lot of time from now until the end of the season. So, a bit of togetherness. Really bulk our ideas up in many ways and just try and crack on and get these wins under our belt as quickly as possible.”
