Almost four months ago, Bristol Rovers were outplayed on their own patch by former manager Ben Garner’s new club Swindon Town. The Gas were booed off the pitch after the defeat on October 2 which left them with 10 points from a possible 30 labouring near the depths of League Two, with things certainly looking bleak for the blue half of Bristol.
Sixteen weeks and 13 league games later, the Gas are developing into a much different side. So much so that Joey Barton and Rovers were understandably disappointed to not leave the County Ground with all three points, having controlled the Robins for large parts of Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
Tyreece Simpson netted the opener for Swindon after a slight error from January loan signing James Connolly, but that goal was cancelled out 10 minutes before half time courtesy of a Sam Finley cross that evaded everyone before nestling in the far corner, although Connor Taylor and Aaron Collins both tried to claim the goal.
