The penultimate chapter of Bristol Rovers' season told a similar story to the preceding passages. The Gas dominated the stats in every category but one in their 2-1 defeat to Shrewsbury Town at the New Meadow on Tuesday: the score.
Joey Barton's side maintained control in the possession battle throughout the game and limited the Shrews to just a couple of shots on target throughout the 90 minutes, yet they both ended up in the back of the net as Rovers' defensive frailties cost them again.
Ultimately, this result will become increasingly insignificant in the days and weeks ahead with neither side able to climb out of the midtable mix before the end of the season, but this is a timely reminder before the conclusion of where Rovers need to improve. They do a lot right between the penalty areas, but in both boxes, there is significant scope for improvement.
An encapsulation
Barton said it himself; this game was a microcosm of the team Rovers have been across the season. Like they have done all year, at the New Meadow on Tuesday Rovers produced plenty of nice football, but they were undone by a lack of ruthlessness in both boxes.
Defensively, Rovers' problems are well known, conceding 70 goals in 45 games. The first one in Shropshire on Tuesday stemmed from an Elliott Bennett corner inside three minutes, with former Gas skipper Luke Leahy beating Grant Ward and Jarell Quansah to the header and powering it beyond Ellery Balcombe. Leahy's decision to celebrate in front of the away end was curious.
From that moment, Rovers gradually built their way back into a game that Barton knew would be a physical slog after the tetchy 1-1 draw at the Mem early in the campaign. They were the ascendant team by the interval, with three decent penalty shouts waved away, yet their momentum was lost eight minutes after the break when Quansah lost the battle with Ryan Bowman to make the first contact on a long punt and he was beaten to the second ball by Rob Street, who drove into the box and found the bottom corner with an accurate finish.
A set piece and an avoidable second had Shrewsbury two to the good in a game where Rovers had limited them to very little.
At the other end, by and large, Rovers have had fewer problems. They have many capable scorers in the squad, but the goals have dried up somewhat in the second half of the season compared to before the turn of the year when Rovers had one of the league's most potent attacks with Aaron Collins and Josh Coburn firing on all cylinders.
In this game, Rovers were not ruthless enough. They certainly did not get the rub of the green with marginal calls – like Coburn's penalty appeal when he was shoved over by Chey Dunkley was rewarded with a free-kick about an inch outside the box – and there were a couple of fortuitous blocs that went the hosts' way in the first half, but Rovers failed to make the most of the good situations they created.
After the break, it was much the same until they were 2-0 down and Barton responded with a quintuple change that injected fresh impetus to the attack. Coburn narrowed the deficit with 20 minutes to play.
Rovers' best chances of the game followed, but Coburn was denied by a superb Marko Marosi save, Luca Hoole missed the target with a free header and the game was gone.
The Gas got the job done on their return to the third tier and they did it with time to spare, but it is not hard to see where they need to improve going into next season. They cannot afford to be so porous defensively, particularly in big moments like in this defeat, or they need to be absolutely ruthless in attack, or, ideally, both.
To go on the road and boss possession, create more chances and produce five times as many expected goals as the opposition (0.41 vs 2.29) is pointless without executing the basics.
And Rovers have shown they can do that. Just three days previously, they shut out a free-scoring Peterborough United attack and looked confident doing it, highlighting the inherent inconsistency that comes with having a squad that is new to the level and a bit short on experience – all of which points to a crucial summer in the transfer market if Rovers are going to make the leap next season from a promising yet frustrating midtable team to a contender.
Back in the goals
Nineteen games and 115 days on from his last one, Coburn was back in the goals to nudge his tally for the season into double figures as the end of his loan stay edges ever closer.
The 20-year-old is used to waiting; he had to sit on the sidelines for more than a month after signing for the Gas before his debut finally arrived in October. That time spent recovering from a knee injury suffered playing for parent club Middlesbrough was certainly agonising, but the gap between goals nine and 10 must have been frustrating, too.
This was a poacher's finish, much like several of Coburn's Gas goals, positioning himself in the right place at the right time in the six-yard box to find the back of the net, and despite the result, the youngster will certainly feel a sense of relief that his tally is on the up again.
Dips in form and productivity are natural for young players, and this one seems to have been the product of a downturn in the performance of the team as a collective, which dragged on for several weeks from mid-January. Since then, Rovers have pieced together bursts of form, but Coburn has not been the same scoring force that made him the league's most clinical striker in terms of conversion percentage in the first half of the campaign.
Confidence is sure to be a factor for a young player getting his first sustained experience of having to turn up week in, week out, and that would not have been helped when good chances were not converted in defeats to Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth in March.
However, Tuesday's goal offers something of a high as his season and loan spell nears its conclusion. It has been an excellent experience for Coburn and Rovers have benefitted significantly from his time in BS7; everyone involved in the seal would have been satisfied with a 10-goal return when he signed on deadline day back in August.
Barton has indicated he would like to see Coburn return on loan again next term, something which may be more plausible if Middlesbrough earn promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs. Still, there is a good chance that Coburn has just one game left as a Rovers player and he has served the club very well.
45 down, one to go
And so after a long, gruelling season, the end is in sight for the Gas as their first year back in the third tier concludes. The primary target of consolidation has been achieved, but the scope for improvement over the summer is enormous, with Barton eager to get stuck into recruitment, planning and completing his UEFA Pro Licence in Northern Ireland over the summer.
But one assignment remains on the schedule: Bolton Wanderers at the Mem on Sunday. For both sides, there is not a great deal on the line in the 90 minutes.
The fifth-placed Trotters have cemented their place in the play-offs and all that is left to do in the regular season is jockey for position in the top six. Rovers, meanwhile, have been 15th in the table for several weeks, far clear of any relegation danger but feeling a tinge of envy for the teams above them that have things to play for on the final day.
After two seasons of drama at both ends of the table, this unremarkable yet respectable season was what the club needed in the wake of an eventful two years. Foundations have been established to kick on in the months ahead.
But there is still one more Mem sell-out to enjoy before a summer hiatus, and that should never be taken for granted.
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