Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher admits Bristol Rovers did cause his side some early problems as nerves began to tell inside Home Park but Antony Evans’ red card helped the Pilgrims gain a foothold in the game from which they never relinquished.
Rovers were beaten 2-0 by the league leaders on Tuesday night on a frustrating evening where they had matched Schumacher’s side for the first portion of the match and looked to have successfully ridden out the fervent atmosphere inside the stadium.
However, Evans’ two yellow cards in the space of just 13 first-half minutes left the Gas playing 64 minutes with 10 men, a disadvantage that only added to the already formidable challenge they face.
It did, though, take a moment of individual magic from Niall Ennis to open the scoring and break Rovers’ resistance, with an excellent overhead kick, before Macaulay Gillesphey claimed a second in what eventually proved a comfortable victory to leave Plymouth just one more win from promotion into the Championship.
But some dangerous early crosses, Rovers overall use of the ball and aggression and Aaron Collins making some threatening forays into the box had Schumacher concerned, as the anxiety around the occasion threatened to build.
"I felt for the first 25 minutes it was a good game. The two teams looked really sharp. Bristol Rovers caused us one or two little problems,” Schumacher told Plymouth Live.
"We were causing them a few problems as well, enough to make Antony Evans make a couple of tackles that get him yellow cards, and then from that moment on it was going to be difficult for them.
"We continued to try and pass the ball. We created loads of chances in the first half, we just didn't manage to stick one of them away, or make the right pass.
"At half-time we said 'Let's try to keep the game flowing, don't let it stop too much if we can, don't make too many fouls and then when we get an opportunity can someone show a bit of quality to take it.' It's a brilliant bit of skill, an overhead kick, and it caught the 'keeper unawares and goes right in the corner. It was a brilliant goal and got everyone going.
"It gave us the goal that we needed. The longer that game goes without scoring it becomes more difficult, and then I'm pleased with the lads that we kept going. We didn't sit off and just rely on one goal. We kept the pressure on and we scored from another set play, which was hugely important as well.”
Evans’ sending off led to Josh Coburn’s withdrawal and the introduction of Sam Finley as Rovers tried to match Plymouth in midfield in a 4-4-1 formation, while after the break they further retreated into a 5-3-1 shape as James Gibbons had replaced Aaron Collins with John Marquis as the lone striker.
It allowed Rovers to match Plymouth man-for-man in key areas of the pitch, at least in a defensive sense, but invariably dramatically reduced their own threat in attack.
“They changed shape at half-time as well so we had to figure that out for a couple of minutes and see what they were going to do,” Schumacher added. “I just kept believing and said to them 'Come on, we played really well, we are on the front foot, if we keep going at that energy and play at that tempo it's going to be hard for them to stay with us'.
“I'm really pleased the goals came early because the longer it goes on without scoring then I think everybody does get nervous. After that we controlled the game and I'm proud of the professionalism we showed. We didn't make hardly any fouls, just one I think in our own half and we managed to see the game out.”
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