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EFL Trophy Pizza Cup Semi-final Oxford v Rovers

Sparky

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Chris Greenacre
I will say one thing fair play to the brilliant management of Mr. Hill and his staff brilliant
Spot on AM. I knew we’d done well since hill came but didn’t realise we have the most points in all the division since he came
 
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Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
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I thought we started with the better attitude and deserved to win the game. We were energetic and proactive in the first half, whereas Oxford were passive and complacent. Yes, we rode our luck with the chances they missed, as the Sky 'experts' kept reminding us, but we had a constant attacking threat too and played a lot of good football throughout.

It is really an incredible performance from Hill to get us to a final using largely second string players, and emphasises the depth in the squad. The substitutes closed the game out for us tonight, with Spearing and Feeney both keeping the ball really well.

I thought everybody played well, but Woolery and Lloyd were excellent and Kieron Morris had his best game for a long time. George Ray had another solid game at the back and O'Connor is turning into a really good utility player. Kirby again showed that he can be effective against footballing sides, even though he struggles against the cloggers.

Well played to Keith and all of the squad.
 

Boz

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Iain Hume
Stellar performance from Rovers, well on top first half and then Morris, who had a decent game aside from giving away the missed penalty, buries the second to steady our nerves. Good showing across the park and well chuffed tonight.
 

Sparky

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aldo
13 wins in 20 games not bad going fair play to Keith, MP needs to give him a longer deal doing grand
 
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A mixed bag of results in League Two tonight which see us drop to sixth, but still only three points off the automatic places.
 

Ian

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That was excellent from Rovers. Real solid performance. We never panicked, passed it around well, were clinical with the goals and although Oxford had chances in the second half, we were never outplayed or under the cosh. Davies had very little to do over the 90 minutes. Individual performances were excellent. I thought Kirby played well with the ball, Woolery fantastic first half and caused numerous problems, Ray looked solid in defence. Really proud of the lads and just shows you what we can do with this team against higher opposition. Huge kudos to KH as well, he has the boys playing and it's great to see. Another trip to Wembley for the lads. Brilliant stuff.

And just think, I couldn't give two hoots about this competition when it started! :speechless:
 
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aldo
Just a darn shame we can't be there to see them, hope the club do virtual passes as Marine and Chorley did with all money going to the club, I was there when we beat Bristol Rovers with the amazing Muir and Steel what a day out what a team, can hill use this to focus minds on the LG with places up for grabs, also loved his post-interview so happy tonight and yes the beer is flowing
 
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aldo
also not forgetting the £50k we get for winning not sure what money wise we get from sky TV, if we get beat we get another £50k £100k if we win so it is helping the club amazingly
 

bigmart

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This will be the first time rovers have played at Wembley and I will not be at the match dating back to the football league centenary tournament back i think in 1988.
 

Higgy

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Well I hold my hand up as I never expected that against such an inform Oxford side. Brilliant effort from the team and management.

We rode our luck a bit with the penalty and them hitting the post but deserved it overall and I thought our name might be on the cup when they missed the penalty. Good subs from Keith too at the right time when we needed them. Lots of MOM choices from Woolery, Morris and Ray but OConnor for me edged it playing well in midfield first half and RB later in the game.

Just a shame we won’t be at Wembley but an amazing achievement. Need to take it on to Saturday now but it does give Keith a real headache as the recent squad players really impressed tonight.
Same here Sparky. I thought this could have been a bad loss. Credit to the manager for achieving this whilst readying key players. MoM for Woolery just ahead of O'Connor. I take a bit of pride in O'Connor stepping up admirably to the CM position, having nominated him as an option when concerns were raised at not signing cover for Spearing.
As RLC says he's a genuine utility player now.
 
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aldo
the other good thing about last night is that the Oldham scouts who would have been there will not know what team is coming at the weekend, think we will go back to the full team, good having Nugent ready now we need to start seeing him, how did Kirby play, will he get starting place soon
 
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This will be the first time rovers have played at Wembley and I will not be at the match dating back to the football league centenary tournament back i think in 1988.
I don't really understand why there is such a rush to stage the final. Why could not it be postponed until late summer or later, when fans should be able to attend ? Last year's final was delayed by twelve months.

A final against Sunderland with fans in attendance would have been quite an occasion and would rekindle memories of 1988.
 
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Alan King, Barry Dyson
I don't really understand why there is such a rush to stage the final. Why could not it be postponed until late summer or later, when fans should be able to attend ? Last year's final was delayed by twelve months.

A final against Sunderland with fans in attendance would have been quite an occasion and would rekindle memories of 1988.
I couldn't agree more. It would have made a great curtain raiser to next season. Maybe the EFL has panicked and they want to make sure it gets played in case football gets shut down completely. As mentioned earlier, I hope the club does a Marine and sells virtual tickets or finds some similar money-making scheme.
 
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ian goodison
what pleased me was in the past in this competition when we have rested 1st team players it seemed the score/performance didn,t matter where as now whoever comes in really steps up to the plate great to see
 

Sparky

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Chris Greenacre
I don't really understand why there is such a rush to stage the final. Why could not it be postponed until late summer or later, when fans should be able to attend ? Last year's final was delayed by twelve months.

A final against Sunderland with fans in attendance would have been quite an occasion and would rekindle memories of 1988.
Yes I agree. You do wonder if Palios has said the same to the EFL but it’s probably too late to change anything now. They could easily let in say 5,000 fans from each team and sit them at a distance but I guess it’s all the entering and leaving the stadium that is the issue. Like u say RLC I’m sure they could find a weekend later towards the spring and summer
 

Sparky

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Chris Greenacre
the other good thing about last night is that the Oldham scouts who would have been there will not know what team is coming at the weekend, think we will go back to the full team, good having Nugent ready now we need to start seeing him, how did Kirby play, will he get starting place soon
Kirby did quite well and as RLC alluded to, he may be one of those players more cut out to play at a higher level where it’s more technique based compared with league 2 which can be rough and tumble
 

Sparky

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Chris Greenacre
the other good thing about last night is that the Oldham scouts who would have been there will not know what team is coming at the weekend, think we will go back to the full team, good having Nugent ready now we need to start seeing him, how did Kirby play, will he get starting place soon

Hill is going to have a real headache. After the posh game where several impressed you can understand Keith’s selections. However such a win away at an inform Oxford will surely have the likes of Ray, OConnor and Morris knocking at his door especially after the Stevenage game. My guess for Saturday is the normal team will be played apart from OConnor if Otis Cafu isn’t fit. However if it doesn’t go to plan then Keith has options.
 
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what pleased me was in the past in this competition when we have rested 1st team players it seemed the score/performance didn,t matter where as now whoever comes in really steps up to the plate great to see
Yes, I completely agree. Hill has obviously made it clear to the players that they have to perform in these matches if they want to be considered for first team selection.

It is the first time we have taken this competition seriously and performed in it since Kingy was in charge really.
 
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