Bristol Rovers kicked off their home season with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of premiership side West Bromwich Albion.
Paul Trollope named three of his summer signings in the starting line up, which is likely to be close to the team that will start the campaign against Peterborough on August 7th. One match day mystery was the non-appearance of ‘keeper Luke Daniels in the Rovers team. Despite being named on the team sheet pre-game he was left out of the squad, meaning second choice Mike Green was the man with the gloves.
Rovers had the first opportunity of the match, but Chris Lines saw his curling free kick hit the post and ricochet behind the goal. It was a positive first ten minutes for the gas who showed neat touches and good movement as they pressed for the opening goal. As the first half progressed, however West Brom began to take control and held possession well while pressing Rovers deeper into their own half. The first save of the match came from Scott Carson in the Albion goal as Joe Kuffour struck a volley, though it had little venom behind it and looped kindly into the goalkeepers arms.
Praise must go to the Rovers defence though as they held their line and kept Albion from getting any clear shots away on goal until 10 minutes from half time a ball into the box from full back Gabby Zuiverloon was flicked on to Graham Dorrans who forced Mike Green into a quick reaction save.
At half time it was plain to see that Rovers have been working on a new system as they played the first period in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with players in the attacking roles continually switching position and not allowing the opposing defenders to get used to who they were up against.
The second half started brightly with Rovers making an initial burst down the left, only to waste the ball when in good space. This mistake was soon punished as Steven Reid played a long cross-field pass into Jerome Thomas who, after a bursting run, dinked the ball across the box for Graham Dorrans to nod home, five minutes into the second half. The Rovers defence only have themselves to blame as three defenders stopped to appeal for offside, only for the linesman to ignore their protests.
Albion continued to pass the ball about with great confidence and had further chances, though nothing came from them thanks to some last ditch defending from flying Rovers players. With twenty minutes of the match left Rovers finally began to get back into their stride with a good spell of pressure. Scott Carson had a scary moment in the West Brom goal as he fluffed a punch to the edge of his area but, luckily for him, nothing became of it.
With a change needed to potentially turn the game Rovers brought on Lamar Powell for his first team debut and he received a rapturous round of applause along with his fellow sub Eliot Richards. Powell’s first involvement in the match was to be on the wrong end of an offside decision from the linesman, before he had his first shot in the quarters, forcing the Baggies custodian into a spectacular full stretch save.
Two of the best chances the home side had in the second half came from corners as first a Stuart Capbell corner was knocked down by Danny Coles, only for Charlie Reece to have his shot cleared off the line by Abdoulaye Meite. Moments later it was Chris Lines who had the final chance of the match, but he put his bullet header straight into the waiting arms of Carson from seven yards out.
Though it ended in defeat it was a good test for the Gas against a decent premier league opposition. The new style is still being developed and it’s clear to see there is much work to do, but if things continue to move along as they are then Rovers should be in for an exciting season.
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