At 3 up and cruising against very limited opposition, Town still managed to create tension among the supporters in a 10 minute spell where they tried their very best to hand lifelines to a woeful Bristol Rovers outfit.
It may seem churlish to begin with criticism after an eventually comfortable win, but the dip in performance contained endemic weaknesses which Duff and his team need to address.
Before tackling the issues between his players’ ears on relatively simple game management, Duff may also reflect on his own very slow reaction to his opposite number who, having nothing to lose, threw on fresh legs with the intent of turning up the gas.
Town were rattled by the sudden switch from moribund lambs to the slaughter to a team finally prepared to commit and were unable to match the new level of energy which was almost immediately evident.
Mysteriously, and contrary to his usual use of substitutes, the manager didn’t react in any way for 15 minutes and once he did, the threat receded entirely.
The majority of teams in this division are better equipped offensively than The Gas, and will deal out the punishment the hesitancy and errors of those 10 minutes deserved.
As it was, Town conceded a goal, could have easily given a penalty away when Chapman tried to make amends for a poor punch and had to desperately scramble to recover from the otherwise impressive Miller being dispossessed facing his own goal showing the hesitancy suddenly ingrained in to the team.
It had taken the hosts some time to get in to the game and a dreary opening quarter of an hour lacked any creative spark against opponents carrying virtually no threat, but a Miller effort which deflected over the bar via 2 Rovers players signalled the start of a dominant spell which rather settled the destination of the 3 points.
Wiles, whose influence grew after a quiet opening, delivered two excellent corners to the back post in quick succession. The first saw Lees looping header cleared off the line while the second was volleyed home by Pearson as the ball dropped towards him after an aerial duel.
Prior to the opener, Wiles played a great ball into the box which a defender managed to reach before Radulovic and the striker also totally misread a situation after Marshall had a good effort comfortably saved. The ball fell to him but he got everything wrong and screwed the ball harmlessly wide.
5 minutes after the opener, a penetrating pass by Lonwijk in to the path of a possibly offside Marshall was excellently finished by the Irish youngster, for a two nil lead which didn’t flatter Town who had overwhelmed the visitors after that tentative opening.
On the hour, the Dutchman played an even better, positively sumptuous ball with the outside of his foot in to the path of Miller who turned the ball across for a tap in by Radulovic. The celebration which followed was a little startling in the context of him being in the right place, directly in front of goal and unmarked, to profit from excellent work elsewhere, but maybe the relief of finally scoring overwhelmed him.
All those months slumming it in Huddersfield finally paid off.
With the game ostensibly over, Rovers’ manager woke up and made the substitutions which threatened to upend Town’s procession while Duff’s belated subs calmed things down and Town collected a relatively easy 3 points.
Excellent in parts, worrying in that brief spell of complacency and peppered with good performances, the result was a little more satisfying than the game itself and more difficult challenges lay immediately ahead.
It should be mentioned that after so little football for so long, Turton was excellent throughout until rightly substituted when fatigued, all the back 3 had good games and Wiles showed his talents more expansively than usual. The midfield trio, with Kasumu providing masses of energy and Kane the creativity looks far more cohesive than Duff’s previous iterations.
On to Wales.
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