Bristol Rovers don't do 0-0 draws, but a stalemate with promotion-chasing Ipswich Town was the ideal tonic for Joey Barton and his players after a four-game losing run.
After successive defeats to Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, MK Dons and Lincoln City – who were all below Rovers in the table at the time they faced them – a clash with big-spending Ipswich appeared a daunting task for the Gas.
But Barton's blues boxed cleverly in a well-organised defensive block and threats on the counter-attack to secure a deserved point, with several players delivering their best performances in a Rovers shirt. In fact, it was Rovers who came closest to scoring when Scott Sinclair hit the angle of post and crossbar when latched onto Christian Walton's spillage, only to see the ball agonisingly cleared off the line.
A victory would have been memorable – one of the best of Barton's tenure – but the most important thing was not losing and after being stuck on 37 for more than a month, Rovers' points tally finally grew by one.
The most welcome 0-0
The Gas have been League One's entertainers this season with an average of 2.8 goals in each of their games, but there was something so delightful about a structured and disciplined display that earned a first clean sheet for more than two months and the first 0-0 of a chaotic season.
No fan would typically wish for a goalless draw, but it was precisely what the Gas needed after the run they have been on. With their explosive frontline not firing on all cylinders in recent weeks, they have needed to grind out performances and results, and it may just be a point added to the tally, but it will mean a lot more to a Rovers' team that has seen its form threaten to spiral out of control in 2023.
Barton deserved credit for the way he set his team up with 10 men in the defeat at Lincoln, blunting the Imps' attack and giving his players half a chance of getting a result. Ultimately, that went unrewarded, but the foundations of that display were on show here. Rovers had a structure not seen for months, with January signing Grant Ward acting as the linchpin in midfield.
Against his former club, the 28-year-old was the fulcrum of a setup that frustrated Kieran McKenna's side. Barton chose to clog up the central areas, leaving dynamic wide men Leif Davis and Wes Burns time and space out wide, but that calculated risk paid off with centre-backs James Connolly and Jarell Quansah defending the box very well.
The full-backs, James Gibbons and Lewis Gordon, had arguably their best games for the club since signing last summer, and in front of them, Antony Evans and Lamare Bogarde covered so much ground and snapped into challenges to disrupt Ipswich's build-up play.
And wingers Scott Sinclair and Harry Anderson put in exactly the selfless performance that was required, summed up the former tracking back to nip the ball off the toes of Kyle Edwards when he was poised to score deep into the second half from eight yards out. Up top, Aaron Collins wore the captain's armband with distinction as he plugged away alone up top and managed to put significant pressure on the Ipswich defence with limited opportunities to get on the ball.
Clearly, this was a game where the defensive structure was at the heart of the game plan to a greater extent than usual, and the challenge for Rovers will be to show the same kind of stability while being more adventurous in attack when they host Burton Albion at the Mem on Saturday.
But after 30 games when the Gas have longed for this kind of solidity, they proved on Tuesday how capable they are. Sure, Ipswich were able to build pressure, but Rovers showed they can absorb it and that will be a significant fillip for the games ahead.
Bogarde looks the part
Barton has managed the 19-year-old Aston Villa loanee carefully since he signed on deadline day until the end of the season, handing him a pair of cameos in midfield off the bench against MK Dons and Lincoln. There were enough signs in those brief moments on the pitch to be encouraged not just about his potential for the future but his potential to play a big part for the rest of his stay with the Gas.
The Netherlands youth international, of course, is technically gifted, but so many players from elite academy setups are not quite ready for the challenge of the rough and tumble of the lower leagues, but this lad can certainly handle himself.
One crunching challenge in the first half made a satisfying thud on the ball and awoke the crowd, and he was tenacious in pursuit of loose balls, often nipping in ahead of his opponent to shut down moments of danger and get his teammates on the ball.
Most encouraging, though, was his first-half duels with veteran winger Sone Aluko, who may have fancied his chances in the times he duelled with Bogarde, but the Dutchman outsmarted him by winning clever free-kicks to alleviate moments of pressure.
At some point, Barton had to be brave and accept the pitfalls of throwing the youngster into a losing team, but it paid off on Tuesday and Bogarde should have a place cemented in the team on Saturday against Burton when he should have more opportunities to get on the ball and impress with the creative side of his game.
Balcombe backs it up
Ellery Balcombe had to endure a tough start to his Rovers career, with fans questioning Barton's decision to displace James Belshaw from the off, but Tuesday's display between the posts was another strong showing from the Brentford loanee.
Despite being on the losing side, Balcombe was solid in the defeat at Sincil Bank and he backed that up with the best outing of his time with the Gas so far.
Rovers were only able to execute their game plan because Balcombe kept them on level terms in the opening minutes, with a superb double save to deny Cameron Humphreys and Cameron Burgess proving to be pivotal in the direction of the night. Had Ipswich been able to find an early breakthrough, it would have been very difficult for the Gas to respond, but they were able to stay in the game and prey on any anxieties in an Ipswich squad that has been cut adrift in the race for the top two in decent weeks.
Still, they probed in the second half and Balcombe stood firm to get his body behind a pair of rasping strikes from substitute Nathan Broadhead, albeit from tight angles.
This was a deserved clean sheet for the keeper, who was chosen as the starting goalkeeper ahead of Belshaw after playing out a three-game clause in his loan deal.
Barton was blunt in his assessment of the situation on Tuesday evening, with the reigning player of the season not included in the squad due to his reaction to the decision, but solely from Balcombe's perspective, he enhanced his credentials as Rovers' first-choice keeper on Tuesday.
Quansah's quality
Quansah's wait for his first Rovers win goes on, but Tuesday was welcome respite from a chastening start to his senior career. Not that his performances have been poor as an individual, but there has been chaos around him that was compounded by the concession of a penalty against MK earlier this month.
But that is the only significant moment of struggle for the Liverpool prospect since joining last month, which is some going for a teenager who has been dropped into a team which had suddenly lost its form and identity without any senior experience behind him.
With Barton happy to funnel Ipswich's players out wide by setting up in a narrow block, it was essential that Quansah and his defensive partner Connolly defended the box well and cleared their lines with authority and the pair did just that throughout the contest.
The England youth international's quality in possession was not seen so much in this game with Ipswich in control of the possession battle, but there was plenty to like in his defensive contributions. Freddie Ladapo is a physically imposing forward but Quansah was not cowed and he was aggressive in his clashes with the former Rotherham man, doing a lot to disrupt Ipswich's build-up play when they arrived in the final third.
Quansah also came up with a decisive block to keep out Broadhead's goal-bound shot in the closing stages in one of the rare moments Ipwisch had broken through the first line of Rovers' defences, which went a long way to securing a point.
Next on the agenda for the 19-year-old is a first win of his senior career, but looking to the long term he has all the tangible tools required to play the position with physicality and technical ability in equal measure. He may be young, but he is not raw in the typical sense; this is a composed and accomplished player who has a big future but also can be hugely valuable to Rovers in the present.
The rot has been stopped but work left to do
It would be an exaggeration to say Rovers' recent form has left them looking over their shoulder, but in recent weeks what seemed a formality of securing League One status for next season after such a strong run before Christmas has been anything but.
It would take a total capitulation for Rovers to be dragged into any kind of relegation scrap, but there were red flags, particularly in the Morecambe and MK Dons games that signalled a difficult final third of the season was in prospect.
But Tuesday showed the resilience of a group that had been short of confidence and fortune and they grafted to earn a deserved draw. It is a result that will feel all the sweeter if the Gas get back in the win column against 19th-placed Burton on Saturday.
It will be a very different game with the onus on Rovers to make the running in possession, but they will face the Brewers with renewed confidence after Tuesday's efforts.
With 15 games to go, Rovers are 10 points clear of the bottom four – a position every Gashead surely would have taken at the outset of the campaign – but Barton and his players need to finish the job by getting beyond the 50-point barrier, and they owe it to themselves to do it in some style, too. They may be 14th in the table but they have shown they can be a lot better than that.
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