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Rovers v Sandgrounders

Sparky

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Well a chance to cement our status in the play off positions comes in the form of a derby against a Southport side we haven't played at home for 40 years.

The Sandgrounders had a poor start to the season resulting in the sacking of GBs former assistant when at Southport, Paul Carden. Ex player Dino Maamria came in before Xmas has come in and got some very good results and they have climbed the table. This was at the expense of Cole Stockton who found himself warming the bench and is now doing the same for us. Notable players include ex rovers centre half Josh Thompson and danger man Louis Almond who has 9 league goals this season (and is the type of player we should be going for IMO).

This will be a tough one. Conditions may be difficult like last Saturday and our opponents will raise their game but you would think our momentum and better quality will see us through. It will be interesting if Jeff Hughes and Matt Hill are fit and whether GB will want to change a winning side. Personally I would keep Ridehalgh in who did ok against Torquay but drop GTF for Hughes, despite GTFs wonder strike last week. Much will depend on whether Mekki is fit and also McNulty. I expect GB will keep the same 11.

Prediction. Another slim win for rovers which I'll happily accept.
 
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A game which I expect will be much more difficult than last Saturday's encounter. Southport's unbeaten run came to an end ten day ago against Forest Green, but only courtesy of a single goal in the 90th minute. They have conceded very few goals in recent weeks, particularly away from home, and Maamria's teams are always organised and in-your-face. This is just the kind of fixture we have slipped up in all season at PP so it will be interesting to see how we cope. With Braintree winning again in midweek and some very tough games on the horizon, three points are a must for Rovers.

I agree with Sparky that Ridehalgh should keep his place but Hughes should replace GTF if fit. Hopefully Big Mac will be available, as I think he has made a big contribution to our improved distribution from the back, aside form his defensive qualities. I agree with Sparky about Almond, who was their best player in the reverse fixture and can also play wide I think.

Southport fans are predicting a following of 3-500, so I would expect a gate of about 5,500 and hopefully yet another Rovers victory.
 

Ian

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We'll get complacent and lose this one 1-2 as any decent side will exploit our weaknesses. Will be nice to see over 5k in the stadium.
 

Boz

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I'd agree that this will be a difficult game against our Merseyside neighbours. In the reverse fixture we went 2-0 down, clawed our way back to 2-2 only to end the game hanging on, despite the hosts having been reduced to ten men midway through the second half. Since then, the Sandgrounders have had a change of manager and fortunes. Some talk of Stevenage being interested in Maamria, have to hope this might produce an element of uncertainty amongst the visitors.

Although our historic home form against Southport is decent, think we lost the last meeting at PP in the League Cup, as Sparky mentions some 40 years ago.

Very little news on the injury doubts. My guess is that if GTF is 'fit', Brabin will pick him to start. Agree with RLC about the style of our opponents and this is a game where we need a team of battlers and hopefully McNulty is fit given his composure in passing out from the back.

This was to be my only Rovers game of the month, until it was moved forward to Saturday. My loss is likely to be more than offset by the increased attendance from playing on a Saturday. It would be disappointing if the visitors don't bring close to 500 and my guess would be a crowd of about 5.8k. Not confident about this one, a draw at best.
 
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All Rovers games are difficult to call at the moment. Nearly all the matches are very close. In fact, only six league games so far this season have been decided by more than one goal and most of those were early on. So, we'll win if we can score a few goals (unlikely) or nick one and hang on (quite likely). Hopefully the crowd will be more sympathetic than a few weeks ago and be patient if we are not winning at half-time. I predict a close, exciting game, but for once I don't want to guess the score.
 

Brightonian

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Coming up for this one as couldn't resist the local derby against a team that will rekindle memories of old. I will be positive and predict we will build confidence from recent improved form and win by two goals.

Like others I hope Big Mac is fit as I saw the Bromley game and could see a really sound partnership developing with Ihiekwe who will take some displacing from centre back. Understand the logic of having Hughes in the team as appreciate he does bring more balance to the lineup. However whilst he does have his good moments thought his performance from what I saw was a mixed bag and would start with GTF as he has the quality to turn any game. Really would like to have for the home game a more positive lineup with GTF playing off Norwood in the number 10 role with a wide left midfield. However I don't think we have the quality for a 2 man midfield. Jenno has been a lot better of late probably due to having more support for the leg work.

Agree about sticking with Ridehalgh as he has a bit more pace than Matt, support the offensive play and get in some quality balls to the box. Hope GB is prepared to make some timely tactical changes if required. Stockton may come off the bench and be motivated to make a point to Southport that his early form with them was not a flash in the pan. Also surely Jake Kirby should be brought on if things are not going too well and given a chance to make his mark again.

Yes hoping (or dreaming?) of a convincing win to really push on with our play off aspirations!
 

Sparky

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A game similar to Torquay last Saturday in a way with our opponents creating very little and rovers deserved winners, despite not being at our best.

1st half we probably edged it in a fairly dull 45 minutes. Jeff Hughes wasting a clear chance with a weak finish after clever build up play. 2nd half came and after another good Hughes chance was missed and soon after Norwood was booked for diving in the box, a blatant push I think on GTF gave Norwood the chance to score. Despite some time wasting from their keeper James kept his nerve and sent the keeper the wrong way.

We saw the game out similar to Torquay really with Davies having very little to do but again it was a bit nervy as only 1-0. At times I felt our only option was hoofing it to Norwood and once again, think we need more creativity and sharpness in the final third.

I could have copied and pasted my comments from that game as a win is a win. Defence looked fairly solid and another clean sheet. Midfield worked hard in particular Harris. Jeff Hughes was frustrating at times and missed 2 very good chances. GTF offered very little I felt although put a shift in. Can we rely on him every week to come up with some magic? Norwood worked hard as usual. Mackreth did little in his cameo appearance.

Mom: no one stood out really in my opinion. Norwood kept his nerve for the goal but for work rate I'd just about give it to Jay Harris.
 
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Another deserved victory for Rovers. After a patchy first period, where Southport were on top for quite long spells without really threatening our goal, we battered them in the second half and fully deserved the win. The only concern again was the lack of goals, which resulted in a fairly nervous final ten minutes as Sparky mentions.

I actually thought Hughes was our best player in the first half, as he was involved in most of our best moves. Although we were not convincing in the first period, some of our football was very good and we certainly had the better chances, one for Maynard early on, another for Hughes just before half time. Credit must be given to the players for upping the tempo in the second half as we really ran them ragged for thirty minutes, the best chance in open play again falling to Hughes after a good move, with their keeper making a great save with his legs.

I thought there were some outstanding displays after half time. Harris was excellent and I thought GTF was hugely influential, linking up well with Norwood on a number of occasions. I know he is not the best physical specimen, but he has a football brain which few players have at this level. McNulty was very good at the back, playing with real confidence and even having a couple of ole ! moments where he skinned the onrushing striker. However, my man of the match would again be Lee Vaughan, who bombed down the right hand side all afternoon and caused Southport a lot of problems.

Our second half domination really deserved further goals, and I am still concerned with the way we set up at home. While nobody wants to rock the boat while we keep winning, I think our failure to put teams away could still come back to bite us, certainly if anything happens to Norwood.

A slightly disappointing crowd, but the SWA gave the players good vocal backing throughout and the mood has clearly lifted since my last home game against Macclesfield. Up to fourth and above Eastleigh now, and the play-offs seem a real possibility.
 
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Boz

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Thanks for the reports. The win's the main thing, though I'd agree with RLC about an inability to finish opponents off.
Note Mekki didn't feature at all. He will be a loss if out for a significant period.
 
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Note Mekki didn't feature at all. He will be a loss if out for a significant period.

He was just ill, should be fine. I personally would have started with Mackreth to keep the balance of the side, but GTF actually had a very good and influential second half.
 

Ian

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Well again another win by a goal but hey, a wins a win and we are currently on a roll, the best we've had all season. Up to 4th as mentioned above and long may it continue.

Big concern is the isolation of Norwood up front and lack of goals. We had great chances to win that by a couple of goals and really should have buried them. Southport were quite poor as are a lot of teams we've played this season. If we can start scoring a few more a game, I'll be very happy.

Officials were a disgrace as per usual.
 

Cowshed Kid

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Agree with RLC that Vaughan was MOM, Harris a close second. Love Danny H to bits but Vaughan's value in opponents half is giving us an extra outlet.
Port were compact and organised and whilst in the last 20 mins I waited for what has been the customary away "smash and grab", it didn't happen. At the whistle the reality was it was very comfortable.
I laugh now at Michael I telling GB he's a right back (anything to get a shirt!). He's been excellent alongside Sumo.
I think Nors relishes the lone striker role. His work rate is phenomenal and I'm sure he loves being the martyr to the cause. Feared that after the keepers keep ball theatrics Nors would miss. No chance!
His tweets suggest he's more than happy at SWA at moment.
Apparently 400 or so sandgrounders. Didn't look that many and really expected more.
 

Cowshed Kid

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Agree with RLC that Vaughan was MOM, Harris a close second. Love Danny H to bits but Vaughan's value in opponents half is giving us an extra outlet.
Port were compact and organised and whilst in the last 20 mins I waited for what has been the customary away "smash and grab", it didn't happen. At the whistle the reality was it was very comfortable.
I laugh now at Michael I telling GB he's a right back (anything to get a shirt!). He's been excellent alongside Sumo.
I think Nors relishes the lone striker role. His work rate is phenomenal and I'm sure he loves being the martyr to the cause. Feared that after the keepers keep ball theatrics Nors would miss. No chance!
His tweets suggest he's more than happy at SWA at moment.
Apparently 400 or so sandgrounders. Didn't look that many and really expected more.
 

Cowshed Kid

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Sorry...messed up on that one.
Wanted to add that every match we think that the officials can't get worse.
But they do!
At least the linesman along the main stand had a bit of banter with Kop when he got something right!
 
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Apparently 400 or so sandgrounders. Didn't look that many and really expected more.

They only get 6-700 for some home games, so that was a decent turnout to be honest. I thought they looked a decent side in the first half, better than in the reverse fixture, but less so in the second where we were streets ahead of them in all honesty
 
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I'm really pleased just to get a win. I suppose most sides fear us and don't want to let us play, so if we keep winning 1-0, that's fine with me. It makes a nice change from continually losing by the odd goal, which seemed to happen in most games last season. It's a remarkable turnaround since Christmas and today's results helped with Wrexham and Eastleigh dropping points. Although others have games in hand, it's now in our control to stay in the play-off zone. At last we have a settled team with reserves to fill in if necessary - except up front - and that still worries me.

I last went to see Rovers at Aldershot about 25 years ago in the old Fourth Division, but can't go next week as I'll be away. The ground looked non-league even then. They have a loyal following who have seen the club through thick and thin, but I hope we can keep the winning run going.
 

Brightonian

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Whilst not a vintage performance I came away really happy with the tremendous effort put in by the boys, so well done to all!
Yes we could easily have won by several goals but another sound workmanlike performance that ensured a further step forward which makes the weekend so much brighter.
Really liked that our midfield got a grip of the match in the second half dominating the opposition and would have Jay Harris just shading it as my MOM as he was a little terrier and played some really telling passes that should have lead to scores. Certainly Vaughan was again excellent and I agree with RLC that GTF had a generally very good game and his touch and football brain added a lot.
The visit to Prenton Park was a much more enjoyable experience than the other two times this season not only because we won but also the vocal support was much more evident again and refreshingly positive.
 

bigmart

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Another win without hitting top form but we were rarely troubled by a poor Southport team. For me the best 3 players for us were McNulty Harris & Jennings in that order.

When we stepped up the tempo early in the 2nd half we looked a good side but we didn't play that way for long enough really, although we created 4 really good chances without taking any of them, anyway onwards and upwards
 

Boz

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A few things arising from the various posts;

Jeff Hughes had hardly trained prior to the game, so maybe a tad rusty when it came to taking chances. Brabin really must not rate Kirby when he doesn't get a chance in such circumstances.

Jennings picks up a 2-game ban for his 10th yellow card of the season. Hughes can play in the middle and there are enough options to replace him wide left, but haven't seen enough of Hughes to judge how he'd cope in central midfield, has he the strength of tackle and positional sense for example.

No criticism from me about away numbers, as RLC points out close to half their regulars at the game. If Rovers had the same numbers of fans as the Torquay game, the crowd would have been closer to 5.4k. The weather and the moving of the game from Tuesday may have been responsible for some absentees -like myself- but would have expected more able to go on Saturday and from that angle a slightly disappointing turnout.

We only get the same few refs at home in this league, Mr Evans also did the Guiseley game where he gave us a last minute penalty. I can't recall that many games where I'd say the officials were good, but equally, excepting Mr Holmes who allowed the Dover handball goal to stand, there haven't been any that have been match-changingly awful.
 
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I've just seen the goal on the OS. Some appalling gamesmanship from Port to waste time and put James off, which resulted in some well deserved bookings. Compare that with GTF who didn't fall like a stone when pushed in the back. Full marks to the ref for spotting and awarding the spot-kick. How many incidents like that get missed?
 
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