Matt Taylor rues missed chances as Pirates left hanging on for Crawley point

Bristol Rovers manager Matt Taylor rued missed early opportunities after seeing his side left hanging on for a point at the end against Crawley.

The Pirates were unable to capitalise on a good first-half showing and make it three wins in four at home in League One, despite hitting the woodwork twice in the opening 10 minutes at the Memorial Stadium.

Isaac Hutchinson crashed a shot against the crossbar from close range in the first few minutes before Luke McCormick’s header was tipped onto the bar by Crawley goalkeeper Connal Trueman shortly after.

Rovers also had other great chances to take the lead in the first half before Crawley regrouped after the break and penned the home side in for the final 10 minutes, albeit without finding a way past the Pirates rearguard as the match finished goalless.

“It was frustrating in two senses: first half, in relation to not putting the ball in the back of the net. And second half, we didn’t lose control of the game totally but we just seemed to be second best in terms of space and second-ball moments,” Taylor said.

“We looked the more leggy team as the game went on.”

Taylor defended his team’s finishing and said the chances fell to the right players in his side, one of which saw veteran forward Scott Sinclair, a second-half substitute, balloon a shot over the bar when clean through.

“Credit to Crawley for getting back in the game but the irony is that we still had the best chance of the second half. We stood strong defending our box and have now kept five clean sheets in 15 games,” he added.

Crawley remain in the bottom four after the draw but boss Rob Elliot voiced his hopes for his team following the game after seeing them show good resilience.

After a difficult first 45 minutes, the Red Devils ended the match as the stronger side and forced Rovers goalkeeper Josh Griffiths into several late saves as well as spurning other openings.

“It was frustrating to not come away with three points, because we should have done, but I think that performance showed me that we’re going to pick up more than three points [on the road],” said Elliot.

“Only one team was going to win it at the end.

“OK, they had a couple of breakaways, which is normal, especially when you’re such a heavy possession-based team and you’re throwing bodies forward. You have to be positive and have intent.

“The frustration will be if we don’t keep building on what we’ve done. We’ll keep doing the hard yards and get better and better.

“The work-rate from the lads was incredible. There’s work-rate as a professional footballer and there’s running beyond that, and the lads ran beyond that today.”