Rovers U18s top goal scorer Jack Goodman felt his side put on an improved second half performance as they fought back to take a share of the spoils against Harrogate Town.
The talismanic striker scored his 15th and 16th goals of the 2022/23 season in the last 10 minutes of the game but it wouldn’t be enough to secure the win as the visitors capitalised at the other end of the pitch to snatch a point.
Despite finding the goals late on, Goodman admitted that his side lacked their attacking edge in the opening period of the game.
He said: “I thought the first half was a bit too laid back by our standards because we didn’t seem like we wanted to play forward and had a lot of the ball around the back.
“Eventually we did go forward and, once we did, we managed to break through.
“The second half was better, we were on the front foot for most of it and obviously got the goals to go 2-1 up but unfortunately we just couldn’t hold on at the end.”
Despite scoring both of Rovers’ goals to add to his already impressive tally for the season, Goodman paid credit to the involvement of his attacking colleagues.
He added: “Max Adamson did really well when he came off the bench to win us the penalty and I’ve sent the keeper the wrong way for my first goal.
“Then for the second one, Ethan Harrison did well to play the ball over and the defender tried to get a tackle in but it didn’t come off and I’ve been given a tap in.”
With Frank Sinclair’s side now tasked with the challenge of Mansfield Town at the Hoober Homes Elite Performance Centre on Saturday, January 28, Goodman insisted his side know what they have to do to get the three points next time out.
He added: “We’ve got to keep doing what Frank’s been saying because throughout his career he’s been there and done it and if we want to have success, we’ve got to take information like that onboard.
“We’ll carry on doing what we’ve been doing in training and give ourselves the best possible chance of getting a positive result against Mansfield.”