Matt Taylor 'disappointed' after Bristol Rovers fail to record shot on target in Blackpool loss

Matt Taylor has confessed he was "so disappointed" with his Bristol Rovers team's second half performance in particular in a drab 2-0 home defeat to Blackpool.

The Gas left their home pitch with zero shots on target over almost 100 minutes of football having created few clear cut opportunities of note.

Rovers did actually start the game brightly but having offered limited threat, the game's momentum started to shift in the visitors' favour as Josh Griffiths denied Dom Ballard before Bryant Bilongo was deemed to have headed a free-kick into his own net with clarity still yet to be provided at the time of writing.

Once again, the hosts started the second period satisfactorily but a penalty given for a James Wilson handball was converted by Lee Evans which completely sapped any remaining belief from the Gas.

Reflecting on the game post-match, Taylor said: "Some bright moments in the first half, but not enough, and certainly some of those moments didn't turn into any substance of chances or sustained pressure. Yeah, we conceded the best chance of the first half and then obviously the goal makes us feel worse than what we needed to at half-time.

"Second half, I was so, so disappointed. We actually started the second half relatively brightly and then one ricochet in the middle of the pitch and all of a sudden we're defending a battle, trying to keep out a penalty. And then from that point we went for the next 15, 20 minutes. We just had no control of the game whatsoever.

"Wrestled it back towards the end, but without creating anything and they got bodies behind the ball really well. It felt like the pitch was a little bit too big for us tonight. It looked a little bit like we were half a yard short all over the pitch and then we could never really get close to the game.

"Goals always rock you, especially at home, especially with this group," the Gas manager added. "But in terms of chance creation, there weren't clear chances. There weren't chances of quality. I just said to them, I have to always be honest, I remember one pass all night which I thought was a good pass."

The biggest frustration was the fact that Rovers had played well and recorded an impressive 1-0 win away at Mansfield Town three days prior with the same team bar Bilongo for Clinton Mola as the team's strive for consistency continues.

Next up is a trip to Barnsley in the FA Cup second round on Saturday with the Gas' next League One outing being a trip to Leyton Orient next Tuesday night.