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New Bristol Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke looks on(Image: James Baylis – AMA\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nThe Gas were dominant throughout the first half<\/p>\n
19:23, 04 Oct 2025Updated 19:29, 04 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
New Bristol Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke looks on(Image: James Baylis – AMA\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Darrell Clarke has expressed his disappointment at Bristol Rover’s failure to hold onto their first half lead after their 2-1 defeat to Walsall on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Gas were dominant throughout the first half at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium against the League Two league leaders<\/a>. Fabrizio Cavegn’s sixth strike<\/a> of the season put Clarke’s men ahead, the Swiss striker swivelling before impressively slotting the ball into the bottom left corner inside the box.<\/p>\n With the commencement of the second period, the Saddlers began to grow into the game. A spell of pressure culminated with Aaron Pressley thumping a header home to draw the hosts level. Nine minutes later, the striker doubled his tally for the afternoon, putting his side ahead by slipping the ball past Luke Southwood with a low shot from close range.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol Rovers player ratings vs Walsall: Cavegn scores again as Gas lose unbeaten run<\/a>READ MORE: Walsall 2-1 Bristol Rovers recap: Gas unbeaten run ends despite Cavegn strike<\/a><\/p>\n Opting to go long, Rovers<\/a> tried to create an opportunity to equal the scoreboard with a whopping 10 minutes of additional play tagged on at the end of the 90. However, the Pirates failed to make anything stick and suffered their first defeat in almost two months.<\/p>\n Manager Clarke expressed<\/a> his dismay at his team’s change in behaviours in the second half.<\/p>\n “Not good enough,” the 47-year-old bluntly put it.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m pretty honest with my players; for me, nowhere near good enough. We didn\u2019t ride the little bit of a storm, if it was that, bad goals we\u2019ve conceded and never got control in the second half. The difference between the two halves was unbelievable, if I\u2019m honest with you and I warned them at half time that we wanted a 90 minute performance and we came out flat in the second half.<\/p>\n “[Walsall] are going to get a bit of momentum, they are one nil down at home. They are a side that are good at what they do. But, I expect more from my players in that second half, to control, to make sure that we\u2019re working on the build, that we work, that we look to get a foothold in the game. And it never came.”<\/p>\n