Rovers 2-0 Pirates

[Ian]

Good win for the lads this afternoon and a decent turnout made for a good day to be a Rovers supporter. We are now only 1 point off Scunthorpe in 6th place.

There's no room for error now, like Ronnie says, and I thought the lads worked hard today. The first half was tough. Bristol Rovers passed it about, but they had little effect up front.

Good work from the back four again, that's now three cleans sheets in a row and you can't ask for more than that! Edds, who's always been a decent right back filled in well for the suspended Shotton and Creswell continues to impress on the left. Goodison and Chorley were again solid and kept Bristol Rovers' chances down to a minimum.

Barnett had another good game as did Jennings and Kay in the centre. Sonko for all his bad points, did work hard today and caused a few problems. Really should have tucked it away in the second half when he had a glorious chance from a few yards out.

Should we have been awarded a penalty in the first half? I certainly think so. Their defender handballed in the penalty area only for it to be judged outside the box. The resulting free-kick ended up going in so there weren't many complaints.

Big game next week at Walsall. Need an Oldham-esque performance there as we could easily slip up, but I'm sure the SWA will be there in numbers to support the lads.

 

[Boz]

Bristol were one of the poorest sides, I've seen this season. We did ourselves no favours early on by playing the ball in the air, where their giants, untroubled by Bas gobbled it up. Eventually, we won the handball free-kick from the liner, who didn't signal for a penalty, but Cresswell got a debut goal from the set piece. 2nd half we started brighter, but were lucky to be rescued by an offside flag, after an over-casual Goodison was disposed leaving their man one on one with Danny Coyne. Moore junior got the 2nd, we had chances to bolster the lead and didn't take them. Late on the ref seemed to give them everything, but Tranmere held firm. Thought he was poor, the bookings for Bas dissent and their lad for diving when tackled by Goodi in the area were poor. MoM hard to pick, there were a lot of fairly good performances, but none outstanding. Probably Cresswell because of the goal, but Edds, Barnett, Jennings & Kay would be in contention.

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

A decent team performance from the lads who did what they needed to do. We can only win our remaining games and hope for the best. We won today and hope to win our 5 last. If we do that we give ourselves a chance, but even that might not be sufficient to make the play offs. We'll regret those games where we've dropped points when we shouldn't have and our atrocious away form if we don't make it.

Happy for Aaron Cresswell who I thought had a decent game at left back and scored the opener from the deflected free kick. He's certainly got a good left foot on him and definitely one for the future. And then a great run by Charlie Barnett to see up Mooro for the second.

As for a man of the match, I'd say it's a toss up between Barnett and Bas who I thought played well again. Would be nice to see more of the moonwalk but he worked hard and almost set up another couple of goals with good work down the flanks.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Bristol were one of the poorest sides I've seen this season....

Thought [the ref] was poor, the booking for Bas dissent and their lad for diving when tackled by Goodi in the area were poor.

I disagree a little - for me, Bristol were on of the most dissapointing sides we've faced, as I'd expected a lot more from them given their current vein of form, but even still I think we've played worse sides. In the first half they stopped us playing football and closed us down quite heavily, and I'm not so sure we really deserved our goal as we created very little - credit to them for that. Trollope quickly changed to 4-3-3 and, yes it backfired, but fair play to him for at least having a go.

Bas' yellow card was fully deserved as he kicked the ball away after the ref had given the decision. I fully agree with you re: Goodison though, from where I was sat it actually looked like a penalty?

I thought Barnett was dissapointing first half and, like the rest of the team, struggled to find space and time on the ball. Second half there were gaps and he did well to exploit them, particulaly in the excellent build up to Ian Moore's goal - a great counter attack. MotM for me was...probably Jenno. But credit to the full-backs Edds (congratulations on your first noteworthy performance of the season mate :roll and Cresswell.

 

[evo_trfc]

It's another great result its three more points in the bag. We can't do anything else now we've just got to keep winning and hopefully fluke our way in!

Barnett needs to be signed up asap he's going to earn us some serious money in a few years!

 

[Claire]

Bas' yellow card was fully deserved as he kicked the ball away after the ref had given the decision. I fully agree with you re: Goodison though, from where I was sat it actually looked like a penalty?

What I cant understand is :
If kicking a ball away justifies a yellow card, then how can a two footed tackle be the same or giving away a penalty:?

Agree Goodi was very lucky, but there you go!

 

[Ian]

It only daunted on me after that tackle that he was quite lucky. Imagine having to win the last few games without Goodison!

 

[SonkORLY?]

What I cant understand is :
If kicking a ball away justifies a yellow card, then how can a two footed tackle be the same or giving away a penalty:?

Agree Goodi was very lucky, but there you go!

It's all about context and balance. If kicking the ball away wasn't a yellow card offence then everyone would do it and we'd end up with about half an hour of extra time. It was petulant and Bas should know better. A two footed tackle, if deemed dangerous (though they inherantly are) is a red card offence. I personally think more penalties should be yellow card offences, largely because the penalty kick itself is punishment enough - such as the Brad Friedel one the other day, which got rescinded. Yes he was last man but, come on...

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

Agree with you Sonkorly, giving a penalty is punishment enough in some cases. A dangerous tackle wherever it be on the pitch should result in a red card. Yellows for kicking the ball away, yes may seem harsh but it's a stupid thing to do. There are cleverer ways of delaying a free kick if thats what you want to do without picking up a booking.

 

[Boz]

My initial impression of the Bas dissent booking was that he did kick the ball in the direction of the free-kick, allbeit too forcefully. For that reason it seemed harsh, though from what others have posted, my view may not have been the best. Red cards for denying goalscoring opportunities usually carry 1 match bans, whereas those for serious foul play carry 3. Maybe whether there is a ban should depend on if the penalty results in a goal! Finally on Sunday, Goodison was more of a liability than an asset. Personally would like to see him rested over Easter with Shotton going into the centre. Can't see it happening though.