Bristol Rovers all but confirmed safety with their win against Fleetwood Town. However, new goalkeeper Brad Young has been a big part of that.
Young joined the Gas on the 26th of June last year. He had little experience of first team football, playing on loans at Blyth Spartans, Notts County and Hartlepool Town.
The goalkeeper made 22 appearances in the National League between the three clubs and was eventually released at the Foxes.
Gashead’s saw him as a Matt Hall replacement on his arrival. They both came from a relegated Premier League clubs academy. It seemed Young was going to be second keeper behind young Jed Ward, before his loan to Yeovil Town.
Hall was a promising goalkeeper from the Southampton Academy before joining Gas on a free. He played only twice, both in the EFL Trophy, of which he conceded seven goals. It was clear Gasheads did not want a repeat of an unreliable Hall at the Memorial Stadium so Young was not seen as a great signing.
The expectation for Young would be second choice goalkeeper, as Hall had done before him. However with Northern Ireland international Luke Southwood signing soon after, it was clear Young would have to play in some games during the international break.
His first league game for the Gas was against struggling Newport County, as Southwood was away on international duty. Darrell Clarkes side stormed in front in the second half scoring three goals, with Young having little to do. However, late in the game Newport struck late twice, without Young able to do much about it.
His next league game was not much better for a goalkeeper, with Rovers started to peter. A late MK Dons surge pushed a game that should have had a goal in it, to a 4-0 thrashing.
With Southwood returning, Young dropped to the bench during Gas’s torrid run although played in the EFL Trophy games where he had relative success, keeping two clean sheets and saving one penalty in Southern Group B with Rovers finishing top.
After playing 90 minutes in Rovers loss to Accrington. Young had to wait from mid-November to the end of January to get picked over Southwood.
With Bristol Rovers on their worst run in their history. The owners called for experienced Steve Evans to take charge. It took seven mostly abject performances under Evans for Young to enter the XI again.
He won MOTM on FotMob with a rating of 8.3, even with Rovers falling to a 1-0 loss. His save vs Ryan Graydon’s shot kept the Gas in the game in the 22nd minute as Young started to show Rovers fans what they had been missing.
His next game was the same scoreline. A 1-0 loss away to MK Dons. Although Young had pulled out some good saves against the home side battling for automatic promotion. His best, came against Gethin Jones, when the defender went rushing one-on-one, Young was out quickly to make big stop.
Gasheads realised at this point that Young was not a Hall replacement but someone who could be their starting goalkeeper. Southwood had received criticism for some recent performances. Especially against Colchester United, as it seemed the stunner conceded looked very central. However Young had shown little weakness so far.
The next games was paramount for Rovers season, and Young rose to the challenge. Although he did not have much to do in either game against Newport County or Walsall. He kept a clean sheet in both games, Rovers first at home in the league for six months.
It’s clear that his tall stature and commanding voice, allowed the backline to settle more than they have done in front of Southwood. His ‘sweeper keeper’ also prevents many attacks before they begin which the Northern Irishman never seemed to do.
Young has since played every league game since Salford. His best games include Swindon Town, in the West-Country Derby, and Fleetwood Town, where he saved a penalty and denied Jordan Davies shot that should have been buried as well as making several high claims during Fleetwood’s dominant spells.
During Rovers past 16 games, FotMob gave Brad Young a green rating (over a 6.9) in all but three games. All three of which occupy the automatic promotion spots a the time of writing.
His strengths are clear, tall, good with crosses, shot stopping is often exceptional. However, Young needs to improve his distribution if Rovers are going to push on with him as number one.
During the Fleetwood Town game, his kicking was poor and more often than not ended up at the feet of a red shirt, which is something which happens often.
Next up for Young and Rovers is a long trip to Harrogate on Easter Monday, where Harrogate Town will be scrapping for their EFL lives with the Sulphurites sat bottom of the table although are joint points with Barrow above them and one point off safety.
