James Belshaw is hoping Bristol Rovers can take at least one aspect of defending back into their own hands at Bolton Wanderers this evening as he grows increasingly concerned that he’s upset the footballing Gods.
Last Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Boreham Wood was a performance that the Gas would like to keep locked away and never spoken of again, but it did reveal two annoying trends with how they are conceding goals - one that can be resolved, the other that may require a slightly higher power.
The non-league side's first of the afternoon arrived as a low corner was drilled to the edge of the area before George Broadbent drilled a shot which clipped defender Will Evans and flew past Belshaw. The second was then from a deep cross after a throw-in, which Rovers failed to deal with, and then David Stephens nodded in.
Rovers have conceded nine from set-pieces in League One this season - joint highest in the division alongside Exeter City - which accounts for 27 per cent of their total goals let in. It’s a clear area that needs addressing but also one that, with just a few slight improvements, could lead to a considerable upturn in results.
Bolton shouldn’t, in theory, prove as much of a challenge in that department as Boreham Wood, given they have only scored three themselves from corners, free-kicks and throw-ins, but does represent perhaps the first step in the Gas getting better at the discipline.
For all the time spent on the training pitch and organising how and who they plan to mark, the only way it can be definitely actioned is out on the playing field.
“We’re very aware that we have conceded goals from set-pieces and their manager said in the build-up they’d been working on them and would look to exploit us. I’ve played against Luke Garrad sides in non-league and nothing changes there, they’re big lads and will stick their heads on anything, so we knew we had to be resolute and we weren’t. We got done from a corner and then the second phase from a throw-in.
“It’s hours on the training pitch, it’s looking how we counter specific threats and then, ultimately, it’s about the XI on the pitch taking accountability for their roles, sensing danger and doing whatever they can to block a shot or stay with their runner.
“If you start taking that number down, in terms of our goals conceded from a set-piece, and you start looking at a very different second half of the season.”
Another nagging trait reared its head again last Sunday as Belshaw fell victim to a deflected goal, with Broadbent’s shot cannoning off Evans and leaving the Gas No1 stranded. He estimates (slightly overzealously) he’s conceded double-figures goals when the original shot or header has struck another limb on either an opposing player or teammate.
It’s something that’s out of his control to an extent, certainly the change in trajectory of the shot anyway, and although he and his fellow goalkeepers work on shots that can rapidly alter direction, he retains some hope that as the season progresses, his luck will change.
“Don’t! I had one at Colchester, where Anssi sent me on for 23 minutes - and I’m still mad at him for that - and then another deflected goal on Sunday,” Belshaw added. “So, yeah, I don’t really know what I’ve done but that’s probably 10 or more goals that have been deflections.
“Hopefully, the second half of the season it will spin, and I'll be on the right side of a few of them. We do a lot in training on reflex reaction saves, but if a ball takes a nick five yards in front of you and becomes a five-yard shot rather than a 30-yard shot, you’re powerless to make any sort of effort to save it.”
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