Matt Taylor's assessment of Bristol Rovers' 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s being a "strange game" is pretty accurate. From an entertainment perspective, spectators can hardly compain when there's been six goals but it wasn't, and never was going to be, a clash that many in attendance would have been overly fussed about the final outcome. What it did do though is teach us more about a number of players, particularly new faces.
Rovers started brightly and were good value for their lead as Isaac Hutchinson scored his first Gas goal after eight minutes with a lovely, low finish. However, the contest started to go stale from 20 minutes onward as Tottenham's youngsters grew in confidence, at times knocking the ball around better than any League One visitors will this season. A cracking goal from Will Lankshear to equalise was deserved but the remaining 19 minutes of the first half saw very little of note.
The second half seemed to spark the match into life though as Spurs took the lead twice with the Gas knocking them back with two responses via goals from Kofi Shaw and Luke McCormick. There were elements of a basketball match as both teams were able to get up and down each end before the contest was then to be concluded with a penalty shootout for the bragging rights of an extra point.
Jake Garrett was the unlucky individual to see his spot kick saved as the shootout went to sudden death as Tottenham took the secondary point but very few, if any, fans would have felt aggrieved.
The EFL Trophy is, and will remain in its current format, an extremely controversial competition which made the attendance of around 1,500 still a slight surprise given the number of supporters who expressed their stance against it online pre-match. However, what the game did do is hand opportunities to players on the fringes of the first-team or from the club's youth set up that Gasheads haven't been able to see much of in the flesh.
Kofi Shaw was undoubtedly the star of those players on the fringes (more on him later) while opportunities were handed to the likes of Micah Anthony, Matt Hall and Lino Sousa for his debut. Although going into the contest it felt a bit like a game the Gas didn't need, despite their desires to progress in the competition, come the full-time whistle it actually proved to be a fairly useful exercise.
Will it define Rovers' season? Of course not. Will it go down in the memory books? Not really. Yet, there were still lessons learned and talking points to take...
A game you go into blind
How do you prepare for a game against an Under-21s side? It's such a peculiar situation, especially when the game is competitive. Within Tottenham's squad they had individuals who have only known academy football while the likes of teenage sensation Mikey Moore have had first-team experience with the 17-year-old winger a substitute in their final two Premier League matches of last season against Manchester City and Sheffield United.
Spurs were always going to be able to knock the ball around well as a result of their Premier League education. However, it was always going to be about whether or not they could deal with the physicality that comes when playing a League One first-team. Admittedly, Rovers had some youngsters of their own with little senior experience.
Three days after a robust, scrap of a game against Rotherham United, there's seemingly very little genuine preparation you can do, particularly considering that Saturday's trip to Stockport County will have undoubtedly been a priority.
"You try and predict a little bit of a formation," Matt Taylor revealed when asked about preparing his side. "There's a few personnel who have played at a higher level and when they play at a higher level you generally get to see a bit more of their game. You get a bit of a feel for it. But you're going into it a little bit blind, to be honest with you which is fine because sometimes you can't always give the players everything and then they've got to figure it out for themselves.
"The biggest one tonight, and I know the numbers here tonight in terms of attendances were less, but it just went flat in that first half. That's not going to be us this season. We don't want it to be us this season. If we feel ourselves going towards that we've got to snap or slap or prod or poke ourselves back into life and not just wait for half-time or an intervention to do that. Sometimes it's got to come from within from the pitch first.
"I'm quite positive with the way the second half went because that's what I wanted our game to look like from start to finish."
Kofi puts himself in contention for County
For one final time, it is worth mentioning the display of 17-year-old academy product Kofi Shaw who was Rovers' best player out on the right-hand side. The teenager's stock has risen rather rapidly on the back of getting his first-team debut from the bench on the final day at Wigan Athletic in April to being a stand out performer in pre-season for the Gas and then getting chances in the League Cup and EFL Trophy against Cardiff and Tottenham Under-21s respectively.
This was always going to be seen as a perfect game to bring the teenager into but, having not made the matchday squad for the opening two league games, there were question marks surrounding how close the prodigy was to inserting himself into the League One picture, especially with the depth currently available in midfield. However, any queries were responded to on Tuesday night as Shaw sparkled on the pitch.
Every time Taylor has been asked about the teenager, he's made the point that people must remember that he has to be managed carefully because of his age but you always get the sense that he's well aware that this is an asset in the making.
Scoring Rovers' second goal with a clinical finish following a scramble as a result of a corner, Shaw was a livewire down the right and used trickery and tenacity up and down his flank. Although the Gas have some outstanding players on their day, there aren't many who can truly get bums off seats but that's exactly what the 17-year-old did. Now, he's played himself into contention for the weekend's trip to Stockport.
"I thought he was our best player," Taylor admitted. "I thought he was the shining light from start to finish. Everyone improved through the second half but he really showed what we want from a Bristol Rovers player and the reason I took him off was because he's put himself in contention for the weekend.
"We are in a position now where we're looking at different dynamics in different positions and I just thought his performance really stood for something tonight. Out of everyone on that pitch, and I know people improved at different stages, from start to finish I thought he was our best player so I'm pleased that he's had a good night.
"We are still conscious that he is still only 17 so you do have to manage him a little bit and he's running as hard as he possibly can. Now we want to keep him in and around the first team and see if we can get him some game time and then see how he plays in a Rotherham or Stockport away or something like that.
"You probably want your league debut to be in a more comfortable surrounding or environment but the way he played tonight, we're not scared of throwing him in."
Players not playing themselves into plans
While Shaw shone, other players looking to break into Taylor's plans for the league probably didn't quite do enough to really give him something to think about. Currently, Connor Taylor is probably the player who can feel most hard done by that he's not currently starting in League One but that is amid the outstanding starts of Taylor Moore, James Wilson and Clinton Mola as a unit. The 22-year-old is knocking on the door but is certainly capable of playing significantly better than he did on Tuesday night.
That's not to say he was poor, nowhere near. But the centre-back didn't quite dominate at the back as he has done in recent matches, suggesting that there may still be a few weeks until he breaks back into the league side.
McCormick got himself a goal and was lively but you would imagine is still seen as an impact substitute while Anthony is still in the development category so isn't expected to be seen until Rovers' next cup clash.
You've also got Sousa who made his debut at left-back who grew into the game but Bryant Bilongo has impressed so far and deserves to keep his place.
Up front, Chris Martin played the first half as he continues to build up his fitness while Ruel Sotiriou played the second. The latter had a couple of chances to net his first Rovers goal and, you would suggest, is the more likely to start of the two with Promise Omochere having started against Rotherham last weekend.
Goalkeeper plans as Hall makes long-awaited debut
Having signed in July 2023, Matt Hall finally got his first competitive outing for Rovers as he experienced a mixed debut. Distribution-wise, the 21-year-old was solid and looked comfortable with his feet. He also made some decent saves in the second half, demonstrating a strong palm. However, unfortunately all of the positive aspects to his game will be overshadowed by two poor moments that led to Spurs' second half goals.
Every goalkeeper gets beaten at their near-post every now and then but that won't mean the youngster will be frustrated with the way in which he conceded Moore's strike but playing a free-kick straight to Damola Ajayi to then score was particularly poor.
With respect, even with a worldie display, the former Southampton youth 'keeper was never going to do enough to dislodge Josh Griffiths' place as number one but it did possibly highlight the fact that bringing in another goalkeeper would be ideal this transfer window, especially when 17-year-old academy shot stopper Mattijis Korswagen, who was an unknown going into Tuesday night, was included on the bench.
However, Taylor admitted post-match that the teenager merely came in to ensure Griffiths got a full night off while also revealing that adding another goalkeeper is a target for the remainder of the transfer window.
"No," the Rovers manager said when asked if Korswagen is being looked at to be a third-choice. "Josh was physically at a bit of a low after Saturday. His workload has been extremely high so we wanted to give him the night off. He could've sat on the bench and been a part of it but when you're doing your boots back up and putting your kit on and doing your warm up - yeah, we just wanted him to be deloaded a bit tonight.
"We are looking for another goalkeeper in our ranks. Watch this space to see how that unfolds really.
"In a perfect and ideal world," Taylor added on whether that would be a more experienced profile, "but I don't think that's obtainable with what we've got left."
