“You can never say never” was John Marquis’ wry response when presented with the notion that as far as opportunities to score your first goal for a new club go, his in the 34th minute against Oxford United was as pleasing as they come.
With goalkeeper Simon Eastwood committed to a challenging Aaron Collins in the penalty area, Marquis had the relatively straightforward, at least for a player of his ability, task of getting a solid connection to the ball, guiding it into the empty net from six yards out.
But irrespective of how “easy” it was to score and how important it was on a personal level, with Marquis now off the mark for the Gas, it further revealed a wider aspect of Rovers’ play which the 30-year-old was keen to reference in discussing the moment.
“It was right place at the right time but it was a well-worked free-kick,” Marquis said. “Azza’s done really well to get there before the keeper and it’s one of them where you just want to get a solid contact and hopefully it’s enough to get over the line.”
The goal was Rovers’ third from a set-piece already this campaign and clear focus is being placed on that side of the game. They scored 19 from corners and free-kicks last term - third highest overall in the division - and in the more elevated confines of League One, where the increase in standard means games will be decided on increasingly smaller margins, every detail counts.
It’s not just that the Gas have been effective in that side of the game so far, it’s the way they’re creating opportunities. As Marquis noted, with Antony Evans standing over a free-kick 40 yards outside and just inside the touchline the temptation would be to simply launch it long.
But instead the midfielder slid a low pass infield to Sam Finley who took a touch before flipping a first-time ball into Collins on the run, catching the Oxford defence a little stagnant and flat-footed to then set-up Marquis for the finish.
It was an obvious training ground routine, or a variation of, and one of many that have honed at The Quarters over pre-season and will continue to be refined as the campaign progresses because the beauty of mixing up your routines means a sense of creativity naturally develops, so that the process can constantly evolve and no two set-pieces are ever the same.
James Connolly’s goal at Burton Albion arrived after Evans, Collins and Harry Anderson exchanged passes from a corner, and it’s been evident that Rovers are electing to go short, rather than allowing Evans to always hoist the ball into the area, opening up different angles and possibilities and keeping the opposition guessing.
As Marquis admits it’s in-part determined by the lack of multiple physical aerial threats, with Evans, at 6ft 1ins, the tallest among the outfielders in the regular starting XI and only Marquis, new arrival Lewis Gibson, Josh Grant and Paul Coutts listed as above six foot, plus the obvious threat of Ryan Loft off the bench. But also because it makes the most of the attributes the Gas do possess throughout their squad.
“Without giving too much away, it depends on who we’re playing against and where we feel we can hurt teams,” Marquis added. “We’re not a team that’s blessed with a lot of six foot two, big strong physical players who can really attack the ball from wide free-kicks and corners, but we do have a lot of technical players so we can be a little bit more clever and work better angles and try and get ourselves into better opportunities.
“Obviously, at the same time, we have Evo’s delivery which nine times out of 10 is on the money so we’ve got a bit of both, we can do both.
"Set-pieces are very important in this league, sometimes games look like a 0-0 game and then a set-piece or a mistake does it. So if we can come out on the right end of set-pieces this season and make sure we’re scoring when we’re can, and not conceding too many, then that will definitely help us climb the table.”
Barton has placed considerable trust and responsibility on Marquis to score the goals befitting of his reputation having taken the No9 jersey and taken his place in the middle of the Rovers attack. On the eve of the new season, Barton declared he can become the best striker in the division.
Marquis is a bona fide League One-ready player who’s been expected to hit the ground running and that carries its own sense of pressure.
Not that the striker wanted to use that particular word but having talked up his penalty box prowess in pre-season, the nature of that goal against Oxford was the first piece of evidence of what he wants to consistently bring in a blue and white shirt. At the same time, he insists he doesn’t want to be defined just by the number of goals he scores.
“I wouldn’t call it pressure,” Marquis added. “A bit apprehensive (maybe); obviously, you want it to come in the first minute of the first game but it’s not always that way. For me, my performance is always what I look at first and what I can bring to the team, how I’ve helped the team and I feel in the first three games that I’ve done a lot of good things.
“I’ve been very happy with my performances and the only thing I have been missing has been the goal - I hit the bar at Burton which I would have liked to have done better with - and now I’ve managed to shake it off and get the first goal and hopefully it can be the first of many in a Bristol Rovers shirt.”
SIGN UP: To receive our free Rovers newsletter, bringing you the latest from the Mem
READ NEXT:
