Report: Town add three points to the tally after beating Bristol Rovers
Fleetwood Town made it two wins from two this evening as they managed to beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 at the Memorial Stadium.
It was another brilliant performance from the men in red as goals from Ronan Coughlan and Jayden Stockley, who both netted their second in as many matches, secured three more valuable points in the race for survival.
The hosts had the first half-chance of the game 10 minutes in as a free kick was dangerously whipped in from the left, towards the penalty spot, where James Wilson was waiting, but he couldn’t guide the ball goalward after a tangle with Brendan Wiredu.
Two minutes later, Wiredu was down at the other end of the pitch as he latched onto a floating loose ball in the box, taking it down and powering a volley towards Jed Ward’s goal, with only the crossbar stopping him from opening the scoring.
Chances started flowing then and, without a moment of brilliance from Jay Lynch between the Fleetwood sticks, Bristol would have found themselves a goal up as Chris Martin’s effort from a cross was somehow stopped by the number 13.
Not long after this, Town did manage to break the deadlock and it was Coughlan, who bagged his second goal in as many games, finishing off a brilliant move from inside the Rovers box by Jayden Stockley and Carl Johnston.
There was one last big chance before the half and it fell for the hosts as, on the half-hour mark, Evans played substitute Luke Thomas in – who came off the bench for the injured Jack Hunt – but Lynch rushed out and smothered the chance.
After the half-time break, Town started the quicker of the two sides and the early pressure paid off as Stockley nodded home his third goal in three games, with Gavin Kilkenny getting an assist on his full debut for the Cods from a corner.
Town seemed to be on top of the game at this point, even though Tristan Crama had a good chance 64 minutes in as his header from the centre of the box went just wide, so head coach Charlie Adam went to the bench to bring on reinforcements.
The Gas carried on pressing, trying to find a way back into the game and substitute John Marquis had a brilliant chance to do so with 10 minutes to go as he found himself one-on-one with Lynch, who pulled off another brilliant save.
Adam’s men managed to hold out, keeping their perfect February intact after two games, netting five and keeping two clean sheets in that time, with all eyes now on the Lincoln City fixture at the weekend.
Gas XI: Ward (GK), Wilson (Grant 60’) Aguilera, Martin, Vale, Evans (C), Conteh (Marquis 74’), Crama, Baggott, Hunt (Thomas 24’), Vaughan (Gordon 60’).
Unused subs: Hall (GK), Brown, Friend.
Town XI: Lynch (GK), Johnston, Wiredu (C), Lawal, Campbell, Kilkenny, Stockley (Patterson 67’), Broom (Holgate 89'), Heneghan, Omochere (Graydon 54’), Coughlan.
Unused subs: McMullan (GK), Samuels, Lonergan, Quitirna.
