Full Match Reaction....

Last updated : 29 December 2005 By Editor
Speaking to the Mansfield CHAD after the game, Shirtliff said :"I thought we were excellent tonight and I can't believe Bristol Rovers have scored three goals against us,"
"The way we played and the way we defended I am at a loss to understand how they managed to score three goals with a minimal number of goal attempts.
"I don't know how we could do better with our performance levels.
"I was mystified by the penalty as was everyone in the ground as only one person has seen it.

"The referee told me to look at the video after the game and I told him I definitely would before I sent in my report.
"He said it was given for shirt-pulling in the box by Allan Russell but Allan denies it.
"A bad decision was made at the end which allowed them their equaliser. But over 90 minutes only one team deserved to win the match.
"We were cruising at 2-0 up but gave away a sloppy goal through laziness in midfield.

"We didn't have the luck at Northampton on Saturday and didn't get the luck tonight. But if we keep working hard I am sure that luck will turn for us somewhere down the line."

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full report and reaction available at www.mansfieldtoday.co.uk

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Speaking to the Official Bristol Rovers Website, striker Richard Walker said "We started terribly to be honest, we were giving the ball away, not getting a hold of the game, and struggling to string two passes together,"
"And that was especially disappointing because lately we've been starting matches really well."

"Fair play though because we showed great spirit about us to get it back from 2-0 to 2-2, and then we said at half-time we could really kick-on from here and win the match"
"The first goal we scored was a great move and a great finish by Hunty. It was a lovely ball in from Chris Carruthers, and the finish on it would have made any striker proud."

They got a goal in the second half, and in the end we threw on some subs and took a chance or two and it paid off. We caused them problems, and got the last gasp equaliser I felt we deserved.
"I saw the ball come in and Lewis go for it, so I made my way to the back post and just toe-poked it over the line. It was definitely my goal, although I don't blame Lewis for trying to take it off me!"

"We need to play a lot better against Wycombe than we did against Mansfield if we've got any aspirations of beating them,"
"We'll need a much superior performance, but on our day, we all know we can beat anyone.
We seem to be able to perform better against the teams higher up in the league, and hopefully we can do that again on Saturday and get the three points

"We've got four points from six so far this Christmas period, and there'll be a decent crowd there for Wycombe, so it's up to us to rise to the challenge and go out and get another three points."

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Meanwhile Pirates manager Paul Trollope said (also speaking to the official Rovers Website) "I think that's a point gained,"
"It was a good draw away from home, and on balance I don't think we deserved to win and I don't think they did either.
"We've got four points from six so far over Christmas, and that's not a bad return."

"The first 25 minutes today I was very disappointed with, because we got done on two set-pieces when we switched off. We then seemed to kick ourselves into life and in the period leading up to half-time when we got our two goals I thought we were the better side by far."

"The second half was a bit bitty and scrappy, and they had a spell on top when they scored their third goal. But we threw some substitutes on and it gave us the impact we were looking for."

"Even when time was nearly up I felt we were still in it, and obviously in that situation, you're grateful for the equaliser. We kept going right to the end, and in the dressing room after the match there were some very tired bodies."

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for more player reaction from Bristol Rovers, head to the official website:

http://www.bristolrovers.premiumtv.co.uk