Bristol Rovers assumed control of their own destiny again with a perfect Bank Holiday weekend. Two huge ties, two huge results and The Gas area dreaming once again.
It was a massive four days for the Gas. The Bank Holiday weekend was billed as one could define our season, with two ties against fellow promotion contenders. Two wins could put the unthinkable back in reach, but any loss could spell the end for our automatic promotion hopes. The stakes are so high at this time of the season and this is where we really learn about our team when playing under such immense pressure.
Another sell-out crowd packed The Mem in glorious April sunshine. There are few better backdrops for a football game than stunning weather and 10,000 Gasheads singing “Goodnight Irene” from first to last. What an atmosphere too.
I’ve run out of different ways to say how good Elliot Anderson is, such is his consistency with high-quality performances. Another belter of a finish makes it five goals and three assists on Friday (six and three come Monday) since joining in January. That’s a goal or assist less than every 2 games; a great return for a midfielder at just 19 years of age.
Luke Thomas deserves full credit in setting that goal up too. The lengthy embrace between the Barnsley loanee and his manager tells you what that means to them both after what Thomas has been through. He found pockets of space to trouble Salford, was lively in attack and busy in defence too. A much-deserved assist for the winner will please him no end and that also shows the rest of the squad that everyone has a chance to make a difference in the run-in.
The return of Antony Evans is welcome and timely. The reception he got from the terraces shows you how much Gasheads love their Scouse midfielder. Like Elliot Anderson, he is capable of the spectacular and was only denied a comeback goal by the crossbar. His delivery brings another side to our game and it will be a weapon in the closing stages of this season.
The result meant we’d secured three points when playing against a team that’s hard to break down. Doing so is one of the hardest tasks in football and we’ve managed to achieve this several times now. That is a mark of the individual and collective quality we have in our team.
Results elsewhere went our way for the most part. Forest Green getting hammered away at Barrow caught everyone by surprise, Sutton did us a huge favour at Mansfield and Crawley managed to beat Newport on their travels too. If we take care of our business, other results will likely do us a favour too. As Barton will say, we can only control what we can control and focus on ourselves.
On to Port Vale and a mouth-watering away day for thousands of Gasheads. Bank Holiday Monday, a huge crowd in both ends and the chance to rob our rivals of thfdd points. A fixture against Gas legend Darrell Clarke is always a stand-out in Rovers’ diary, but with the added spice of promotion on the line, this one could not be bigger.
It goes without saying that the thoughts of everyone at the club will remain firmly with Darrell and his family as he continues his return to work in such a difficult time. It was wonderful to see aligned thinking between both fans on social media in the run-up, wanting to join together in wishing him well.
What an away day it would turn out to be. A following 2,222 away fans in League Two is absolutely incredible and shows our fanbase is deserving of higher echelons in the footballing pyramid. As Joey Barton said after the game – “that was Premier League support.”
Those 2,000+ fans wouldn’t have enjoyed the start they saw, with Jamie Proctor stealing home inside 100 seconds. That goal turned out to be offside from the replays, but you’d be hard pushed to find a Gashead in that stadium who cared come the end of the 90 minutes.
Just as I was about to say Rovers needed to get Elliot Anderson into the game, he scores. What an incredible run he’s on right now. As soon as he received the ball you just knew he was going to score. What a wand of a left foot the teenage sensation has. With every goal or assist, the more likely he is to end up in first-team contention at Newcastle.
The goal was only possible because of a sublime assist from Paul Coutts. He did well to win the ball back and immediately had his head up to spot Anderson’s run. But he did even better to re-adjust his body and put the perfect weight on that through ball, splitting the defence with laser-like precision. That was his first assist of the season in the league and what a time to get it.
Coutts a key part in stabilising Rovers’ wobbly start. He hunted the ball down and recycled it quickly to beat the Port Vale press and give The Gas some much needed time on the ball. His awareness in pressurised situations is so good; always knowing where both teammates and opposition players are and thinking two steps ahead of the latter, flicking the ball to a teammate without hesitation. He finds space well when Finley and Evans are on the ball and is always available for a pass if required.
Short corners are a theme of Rovers’ play of late and I am not the biggest fan of them. As Coutts and Elliot Anderson jogged towards the corner spot for Rovers’ second corner of the afternoon, I was about to raise my eyes when I noticed Antony Evans was missing from the picture. All made sense soon after as it became clear we were implementing a classic training ground routine to bring our second goal. Short corners are clearly the way forward!
After Coutts’ first assist, it was time for another Rovers first with James Connolly notching his maiden goal in senior football. His position was aggressive and pre-planned as Evans’ pinpoint ball found him in the right place to bundle the ball home. I could not be happier for him and that is just reward for a fantastic run of form since joining.
This Rovers side are a smart bunch of cookies and they showed experience beyond their years in managing the game after the break. Barton said after the game that he challenged the players not to just see out a 2-1 victory, and the performance thereon was evidence of them executing that game plan perfectly. It was an intense physical battle, with a big home crowd on their backs and good, experienced players up against them. Yet they still contained Port Vale whilst getting forward and threatening a third for much of the half.
Not for a long time have I celebrated a goal like Ryan Loft’s. As he raced forward to dink over the keeper, 90 minutes of nervous energy was released instantly as thousands of Gasheads went absolutely wild in the away end. Limbs were flying everywhere, Rovers had wrapped it up and killed the game off at the death.
What a moment for Ryan, but what a finish too. To be out of the team and out of form and produce a beautiful chip whilst under pressure from keeper and defender shows his quality. The outpouring of happiness from his teammates on social media afterwards shows just what he means to the group too.
Even whilst finishing this piece on Tuesday morning, I still haven’t calmed down from Monday’s result. The performance, the 94th-minute clincher, putting one over on our rivals and resuming control of our own destiny all make me grin like a Cheshire cat. I could easily have skipped work today to watch Loft’s goal and the resulting scenes on repeat.
Bring on Forest Green. Bristol Rovers fear nobody and the dressing room is overflowing with confidence. The terraces are filled with belief, the players are on top form and the automatics are within touching distance. It’s easy to focus on the positives and negatives of playing Saturday’s opponents, but the reality is that Rovers only need to focus on playing their own game to get a result. There is not a side in the league that will want to play Rovers right now.
The anticipation for Saturday is killing me. I can’t wait to get back into the Mem for another sold-out tie – the place will be absolutely bouncing. The Rovers train is well and truly steaming towards the top of the league, and I can’t wait to see its final destination.
SIGN UP: For our newsletter to receive more exclusive Bristol Rovers content
