Tsonga Upsets The Odds To Overcome Federer

For the first time in his grand slam career Roger Federer has fallen from the lofty position of two sets up as Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fought back to set himself up for a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic, winning 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4.

As the match started it seemed as though Federer had already kicked himself into life, claiming the first game before breaking Tsonga's serve at the first attempt as his opponent found the net, handing the game over to Federer with what would be his only break point of the match. The contest continued on in the way that it would remain for a good time, the players exchanging wins on their own service games, the Swiss eventually claiming the first set 6-3, showing his sublime technique and stylish groundstrokes all along, while covering a significant amount of the court at the same time.

Both Tsonga and Federer refused to budge an inch in the second set, every game going with serve and neither player giving away any chances at break points, the pair were serving impeccably. After twelve games the deadlock was unbroken and thus the game moved into a tie break. The Frenchman served first and immediately gave the mini-break away, volleying long on Federer's service return, and a string of errors handed his more illustrious opponent a 5-0 lead before he eventually fell 7-3.

From there Federer should have pushed on and, initially at least, it looked as if that would happen as the 16 time grand slam champion held his serve in the opening game, taking it to love, but the third game was where the tables began to turn. A point up with an advantage Tsonga proceeded to hit a sweet forehand pass down the line which, under review at the behest of Federer, was shown to have just caught the outside of the line. Yet more service games were shared before Tsonga served out the set with Federer unable to return a sharp serve.

The fourth set took a similar path, Federer holding with a love game before being broken the next time he was up to serve, Tsonga having to wait until his third bite at the cherry to secure the break. With Federer the man who was now being pushed from pillar to post the match was starting to slip from his grasp and, despite the occasional flash of brilliance, he was beginning to be made to look rather ordinary, two consecutive aces seeing Tsonga once again take the set on his own serve.

In the final set the break of Federer's serve came swiftly, the Swiss finding the net to hand the opening game to Tsonga, and, in all honesty, it never once looked as though the third seed would earn that break back. It took only one attempt for the Frenchman to take the match, in the tenth and final game of the fifth set four errors from Federer gave the match to Tsonga, handing him his first ever place in the final four at SW19. It was a sad end to Federer's bid for a record equalling seventh Wimbledon title as the power in the armory the 19th ranked player coupled with an unusual number of inaccuracies off of his own racket secured his defeat.

Tsonga will now go on to face Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, the Serbian dispatching 18 year old Bernard Tomic in four sets. The record between Tsonga and Djokovic currently stands at five wins out of seven for the French star, including their last meeting, a five set victory in the 2010 Australian Open, a venue that also saw the two play in Tsonga's only grand slam final, Djokovic coming out on top in 2008. The upcoming match will also be their first away from the hard courts.

If Tsonga can continue from where he left off you would be foolish to put a wad of money up against him. Djookovic may have been in spectacular form this year but Tsonga is on a great run of his own having also reached the final of the Queen's Club tournament just a couple of weeks ago while he will also, no doubt, have the centre court crowd on his side.

Robson Ruffles Wimbledon Feathers

In recent years the phrase 'plucky Brit' has been one of the cliches synonymous with Wimbleon and it may seem slightly insulting to seventeen year old Laura Robson after she threw off her world ranking of 254 to give Maria Sharapova one hell of a ride.

The match finished in straight sets, 7-6 6-3, in the favour of the Russian but the real show was the home player carving out a memory that will inspire her as she continues her career.

For a player who has spent a fair part of the year out with injury and split from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou just prior to the tournament you could forgive the youngster for being slightly out of touch, even after beating Angelique Kerber in the first round, not to mention the fact that she was facing up to the world number 6, but her first set performance was outstanding and pushed her more illustrious opponent to the brink.

After one marathon game first up Robson took Sharapova's opening service game on her third break point, though two consecutive double faults did hand the game over on a platter. She then extended her lead to 3-0 and then 4-1 but Sharapova began to grow into the match, pulling back to 4-2 despite failing to land a legal first serve in one entire game. Two further games later, one of which was a break back, it was 4-4 but London based Robson held her nerve to take the set to a tie break and, despite leading 4-2 at one point, it was Sharapova who won five points out of five to take it 7-4.

As the second set started and Sharapova went 2-0 up Robson's form could have easily dropped off but she kept plugging away and even though she was broken three times by the ever more imposing Sharapova, who at one point broke and held consecutive games to love, there were two breaks going her own way and at the end of the match, after a shaking of hands, there was none of the potential embarrassment that may have been nagging at the back of the mind as Robson tried to get to sleep the night before.

This was only the second appearance of the year for the Brit on the WTA tour, her third match in a grand slam and a first occasion on a show court and the pressure of facing a former Wimbledon champion, ranked a full 248 places higher in the world standings, was positively soaked up and regurgitated into strong stroke play on both sides while her sliced, left-handed serving had Sharapova's backhand in a great deal of trouble early on, something that the 24 year old alluded to when she spoke after the match.

"Laura started off so well, going for her shots and serving well. I couldn't get too many looks on the first serve but I hung on in there and started to play better. It's understandable the crowd is on her side, she's young and moving up the rankings so they should be behind her."

But Robson is still just seventeen and playing on the ITF challenger circuit, as she continues to develop as a player and move into WTA events her tactical mind and match fitness will continue to grow and, even with the in form Heather Watson currently ahead of her in the rankings, she has proved that she may still be the most exciting female Britain out on court for the foreseeable future.

As for Sharapova, the bookies favourite for this years championship, it was a stern test of her metal. Robson's quick start clearly got into her head as she began to slow down the time taken between points, trying to get back into the mental battle that was being played out. After picking out her opponents serve in the second set there shouldn't have been a great deal of trouble for the fifth seed but for her poor serving which lacked the verve required to test the worlds top players that she will no doubt go on to meet as the tournament progresses.

In the fourth round Sharapova will face off against Klara Zakopalova, the world number 35, who knocked out the 31st seed Lucie Safarova in an all Czech encounter. The pair have only met once before, way back in 2003, when it was Zakopalova who came out on top at the Australian open, though that match was far from where they are now, both players ranked well outside the top 100 at that point.

The only other British woman left in the tournament also fell at the second round, Ukrainian born Elena Baltacha losing out to China's Shuai Peng 4-6 6-2 7-5.

Unstretched Murray Progresses At Wimbledon

There were no dramas on Wimbledon's No. 1 court as Andy Murray never broke sweat in a comfortable 6-3 6-3 7-5 victory over Germany's Tobias Kamke.

There were occasional flashes of talent from the spirited German but he never really pushed the fourth seed beyond his means, failing to take the only chance he had at a break point. Murray never broke sweat in the first set as he took the game straight to his opponent, breaking Kamke in both the first and last games. The second was much tighter in it's early stages, Murray saving a break point at 3-3 before winning three straight games to once again take the set with a 6-3 scoreline.

In what would turn out to be the final set of the match both players held firm in their service games before the breakthrough finally went the way of the Scot, taking the eleventh game off Kamke's serve before holding his own to stroll into the third round.

Though Murray's first serve percentage dropped to a measly 54 he was invariably dominant and when he got it right at the first time of asking he took 84% of the points as Kamke never imposed himself on Murray's serve, something the Scot was well aware of when he spoke to the BBC afterwards.

"I served well, but the rest of my game needs some work. He was hitting the ball flat so it was hard to get into a rhythm. I need to use my legs better, get in the right positions for the ball."

Indeed, though Murray's final victory was comfortable he failed to get himself out of second gear, not that he particularly needed to. There was no free flowing, extravagant stroke play, little flair and no impression was made as to why the Rolland Garros semi-finalist should be a true challenger for the SW19 title. He will, no doubt, have to step up his game when he takes on his next opponent, the 6'4" Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, winner today in straight sets against Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The pair have met six times previously with the current record standing at three wins apiece, Ljubicic taking the last victory 6-3 6-2 on the hard courts in Beijing last year. Five of the six meetings, in fact, have been on hard courts, the other being on carpet, meaning that this will be their first face off on grass as well as their first in grand slam tennis.

One of the most notable things about Murray's appearance was the fact that his match was scheduled on Court 1, no favouritism being shown to Britain's only remaining male by the tournament schedulers, and if it weren't for the rain holding itself back as the afternoon progressed it could have been that Murray may have had to make a return to action tomorrow as opposed to playing under the Centre Court roof until the curtailment of his game today.

The change of territory was taken in Murray's stride, however, though he did note the slight difference from his usual surroundings.

"It's a little bit different on Court One", said the Queens Club champion, "It's very open, so the sun is more of a factor."

The Scot's relegation to the 11,500 seater second court came as even more of a surprise when the order of play was released, the main event on centre being the clash between eighth seed Andy Roddick and Romanian Victor Hanescu, ranked back at 63 in the ATP standings.

At the end of the day the British number 1 will be delighted to progress into the next round having once again had the chance to test himself on the grass courts while not having a great deal of wind taken out of his sails.

Rovers Are Bursting At The Seams

It’s been a long time coming, this thing called positivity, since Rovers FA Cup quarter final run way back in 2008 it has been sincerely lacking from anywhere and everywhere. The quality of the football had dropped off quite significantly, big money was being spent on relatively small time performers and a club that should have been developing into potential play-off contenders in League 1, the pirates of the Football League, were sinking without a trace. And then it hit the seabed.

By the time relegation arrived it came without any form of surprise, by the time Dave Penney’s disastrous reign had ended the drop had seemingly become an inevitability, Stuart Campbell provided a modicum of hope but it was all too late, the damage had already been done. The post relegation blues weren’t to last long, however, as rumours abounded as to the identity of the new man to take charge of the Gas and, little over a month later, the announcement came, Paul Buckle was the new gaffer, and what a turnaround has occurred.

Paul Trollope’s method of identifying new players was a long, laborious and generally fruitless process, incongruous sums of money were being spent on the likes of Dominic Blizzard, Darryl Duffy and Mark Wright while three year contracts were handed out like free candy. This put players in a comfort zone, their futures were secure no matter how badly they performed on the pitch, but Buckle has come in and changed the mentality of the entire club. The contracts are shorter and the wages are more sensible. We’re yet to see the quality of the signings he has made, though he has had first-hand experience of managing the vast majority of them.

The squad now seems to be more balanced, if not slightly short on numbers, though that will no doubt change in due course. For the first time in years Gasheads will be able to watch a flying winger with seasons of Football League experience behind him and a proper targetman, the first since Rickie Lambert. Forget your Jon Akinde’s, Matt Harrold is a proven threat. The goalkeeper? A monster that was part of Buckle’s Torquay side that marched into the play off final. We have two new central midfielders, both with some verve and fight, as shown when they quite literally went head to head in the 2007 Conference play-off final.

We have also seen the arrival of Adam Virgo, a brute of a central defender that has commanded a fee of £1.5million from Celtic, there has to be something about him, in fact we saw that twice last season as he took charge of the Yeovil back line while also scoring at the Mem and hitting the frame of Conrad Logan’s goal at Huish Park. We can also welcome a new left back to the club who, though inexperienced in the professional game, has had successful spells at Conference Premier clubs, a gap in quality that is gradually decreasing.

With any ins invariably some outs have to occur too and there were some big names finding themselves thrown to the wayside. The biggest of the players to have left Rovers is no doubt last season’s top scorer Will Hoskins, it had been coming. There was no chance that a player of Hoskins clear calibre would be held onto by a club who have found themselves just relegated to the fourth level of English football and his fee, a six figure sum that is likely to be in excess of £500,000, will go some way to aiding Buckle’s revolution. Danny Coles also found himself sold, going to Exeter City while another man who was no doubt a high earner, namely Jeff Hughes, found himself released. This shows further signs that the rot has stopped and that agents will no longer be taking the Gas to the cleaners.

But that’s not the only good news to be making its way out of the corridors of the Memorial Stadium as months of seeming inactivity on the stadium front were blown away by the revealing of the UWE Stadium, a partnership with Bristol’s second university that will provide teaching and other facilities to the educational institution while also giving Rovers a brand new place to call home. No dilapidated higgledy-piggledy stands from which to get wet but 20,000 seats for the modern football fan, facilities that will be enviable to every club in League 2 and the vast majority in the League 1, a real platform for the club to build on. Let’s not jinx it, though, the planning documents haven’t even been handed over yet.

But back to Paul Buckle.

Under Trollope and Campbell the football was noticeably similar, it was defensive, had no width and allowed little flair for the players involved in it. Dave Penney on the other hand seemed intent on filling his team with mercenaries, instilling an abhorrent long ball style that satisfied neither the players or fans, Buckle seems different though, he has a fresh attitude on the pitch as well as in the transfer market. The rumours were already flying before his team started their play-off campaign meaning that Gasheads were watching eagle-eyed as Torquay faced Shrewsbury in the semi final first leg, and they weren’t left disappointed.

Buckle started with four strikers on the pitch and his team took a 2-0 lead into the half time break, dominating a side that were just a point away from automatic promotion and the second half was no different. Though they lost in the final they put up a heck of a fight, hitting the crossbar late on as they unluckily lost out to Stevenage, but the signs were there, the Rovers fans had seen their new chief, now all they needed was his signature, and that came swiftly enough.

What has been most noticeable for a man whose most notable achievement in four years as a manager is a play-off final is Buckle’s ability to sell the club to potential players. He has clearly set his stall out as promotion, and his views on the way he wants his team to get there is making an impression on the new signings, Gill claiming interest from League 1, Mustapha Carayol rumoured to be in talks with Stevenage.

What is clear is that Rovers now have a man who is not only capable to manage a team into the higher reaches of League 2 but is also passionate about the game and confident in his own methods and abilities.

The fans are bursting at the seams with excitement, and one thing’s for sure, it’s time to Buckle up for one hell of a ride.

Double Capture For The Gas

Bristol Rovers secured the signatures of two more players on Friday as part of Paul Buckle's promotion revolution.

The first man to put pen to paper was former Queens Park Rangers full back Lee Brown, the six foot defender setting himself up for two years at the Memorial Stadium. The second announcement came close to five o'clock, pacy winger Mustapha Carayol the name to sign, once again for two seasons, that despite reported interest from newly promoted Stevenage.

Full back Brown started his youth career with QPR and held a permanent contract with the club until his release this summer. He had previously spent loan spells out at Conference Premier club Salisbury City before another year in non-leagues top flight with Hayes & Yeading even though Leyton Orient had made an offer for his services on transfer deadline day in January. Brown made just a single Football League appearance for QPR, back in 2010 when he came on as a substitute against Barnsley.

The youngster spoke at great length with his new manager Paul Buckle yesterday and is comfortable with the coming seasons aims.

"I had a couple of clubs call me over the last couple of weeks, but had a long conversation with Paul Buckle who persuaded me to come here, play some games and push on with my career.

"Rovers is a massive club and I have had friends here over the years, so as soon as the manager came knocking I was sure to take it.

"Promotion has to be the aim, you can feel it as soon as you come in, everyone has the same aim."
 
Carayol's move from Lincoln is subject to a small fee that will remain undisclosed. Born in Gambia the 21 year old started out as a youth team player at Swindon Town before joining up with Paul Ince, firstly at Macclesfield Town before the pair were on the move again, this time to MK Dons where he was handed his first team debut in a League Cup tie against Sheffield United. He also spent time out on loan to Crawley but his next move would be to Torquay where Paul Buckle became his new manager where, during two seasons with the Gulls, he notched up 54 first team appearances, scoring six goals in the process.
 
A move to Lincoln followed after Carayol turned down a new contract from Torquay, a £35,000 fee eventually set between both clubs. Even though he scored three goals in 33 League games for Lincoln last term he was unable to save the Imps from relegation and ended up on the transfer list before teaming up once again with Paul Buckle, the manager later sharing his pleasure at his latest signing.
 
"I am really delighted to be working with Mustapha again. I rather reluctantly sold him to Lincoln when I was at Torquay, but it will be fantastic to link up with him again.

"He has a lot of pace and trickery and is a very exciting player. He is still young, and I am sure the Rovers fans will love watching him."
 
Both signings will be confirmed upon the successful completion of a medical. The pair become the sixth and seventh signings of Buckle's reign following Matt Gill, Scott Bevan, Craig Stanley, Adam Virgo and Matt Harrold into the Memorial Stadium.

Wimbledon Are First Up For Rovers

9.00 AM Friday morning came the release of the Football League's fixtures for the 2011/12 season, fans around the country were waiting on edge, Gasheads included.

And so the time came, the website was updated and phones were bleeping, AFC Wimbledon away, a fascinating start to the new season.

It will be the Wombles first ever game in League football following their penalty shoot-out promotion from the Conference last season and, as such, fans will no doubt be packed into Kingsmeadow like proverbial sardines as supporters look to take in a slice of history.

Rovers will also end their campaign in the capital, Dagenham & Redbridge away pencilled in for May 5th in what could prove to be a promotion catfight between two of the teams relegated from League 1 last term.

The first home league game of the season for the Pirates will be a tasty affair in itself as Torquay travel to the Memorial Stadium for a clash with former manager Paul Buckle, hoping to prove that they were more than just a one man show.

Prior to that will be a cup tie at home against Watford, the Gas hoping to take revenge for a 1-0 Carling Cup defeat back in 2008, Rovers taking a first look at goalscorer Will Hoskins who would go on to become a fans favourite last term.

The Christmas and new year period will see Rovers play Plymouth Argyle at home on Boxing Day, Crewe Alexandra on new years eve and Barnet away on January 2nd. Gillingham will be visiting Bristol on April 7th before an away trip to Crewe on Easter Monday, two days later on the 9th.

Local rivals Swindon will be the opposition on December 10th (home) and March 31st (away) while there will also be trips to west country rivals Cheltenham on January 21st, Torquay on March 10th and Plymouth ten days later on the 20th, a Tuesday night jaunt. Relatively short trips to Oxford United and Hereford will occur on October 8th and January 7th respectively.

Accrington Stanley, defeated in last season play-off semi finals, will be the last home opposition for Rovers on April 28th.

As well as AFC Wimbledon Rovers will play Conference champions Crawley, Morecambe and Burton Albion for the first time, while also making their debut at Shrewsbury's Greenhous Meadow.

Manager Paull Buckle was interviewed following the announcement of the fixtures and spoke about the excitement that the new season would produce:

"That first game will be extra special, as it will be a carnival atmosphere for AFC Wimbledon and a fantastic way to kick off the season.

"That first game is going to be a big game, and interesting for many reasons. Combined with the Carling Cup game against Watford it will be a good way to start the season.

"I do not want to look too far ahead, as we need to concentrate on making a good start.

"However, it will be good for the fans to have the two festive fixtures at home, as they are always popular games."

Fixture release day whets the appetite for the new season and fans will be already scheduling those all important journeys for the year to come.

The full fixture list can be found here.

HJBSports Awards - 2010/11

With the season gone and some time taken to examine what has gone before us it comes the time to hand out the HJBSports gongs to those who delivered, or in some cases failed to do so, throughout the past year at Bristol Rovers. Despite the doom and gloom of relegation there were players who put their all into the fight to beat the drop and they deserve some form of commendation, so here goes.

Best team performance - Bristol Rovers 3-1 Swindon Town
In a season of turmoil there isn't really much to say in regards to all round performances but the one that stands out is the home victory over Swindon, a first league victory in thirteen and the first of Dave Penney's reign. From the moment Will Hoskins coolly lifted the ball over Swindon keeper Phil Smith the game never looked in doubt for the Bristol side, even more so when Jo Kuffour doubled the lead after dodging Smith, rolling the ball into an unguarded net. Jon-Paul McGovern's consolation goal turned out to be nothing more than a minor blip as Jeff Hughes headed home a third to send the home fans happy for the first time in a long while, even though it proved to be inconsequential come seasons end.

Worst player - John Akinde (But only just)
This was probably the most contested category this season, many candidates putting their name into the ring with dire performances throughout the year. Chris Lines was below par, especially when you compare him with some of last seasons spectacular performances, but at least he did have the odd half decent game. Jerel Ifil made three appearances, looking totally off the pace before being dealt a straight red card in the relegation dogfight with Dagenham & Redbridge, a game Rovers again went on to lose, but for consistent underachievement the award has to go to 'big' John Akinde.

For all the world the Gravesend born striker's 6'2" frame looked that of a ruthlessly powerful targetman, an asset Rovers had lacked since selling Rickie Lambert, but, alas, that wasn't to be. Akinde proved to be no better in the air than the minuscule Jo Kuffour, constantly being bundled off the ball by central defenders, his inability to get more than two inches off the ground only hindering his lack of prowess in aerial challenges. Low on confidence his finishing was affected as such, but even working with a partner as intelligent as Will Hoskins didn't help the on-loan forward, nicknamed 'Agent Akinde' by Bristol City fans, get on the scoresheet. Needless to say his loan was not extended after nineteen goalless games in a blue and white shirt that yielded only one noteworthy performance, that coming against an understrength Wycombe side in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Goal f the season - Will Hoskins V Huddersfield
There were few goals to cheer about for Gasheads this year, even less of them being superlative strikes but there were at least a few corkers to mention. Ben Swallow's first senior goal, aforementioned above, was a spectacular hit, bending and dipping into the top corner while there is debate as to whether Will Hoskins meant his second goal away at Sheffield Wednesday, volleying high from the corner of the penalty area. For me, though, the finest goal seen comes from the expected source, Hoskins effort at the Galpharm against Huddersfield.

The Gas had been under the cosh all game but held on for what looked like a brave point, only for Hoskins to pop up on the left, throw in a couple of stepovers on his way inside the Terriers defence before unleashing a fine curling effort around Alex Smithies and into the onion bag, sending the away fans home happy with all three points for the long journey back to Bristol.

Young player of the year - Harry Pell
With the under-performance of the entire first team squad this was a tight award to decide between the three candidates that featured enough to throw their names into the fire, Charlie Reece, Ben Swallow and my eventual choice, Harry Pell.

For Charlie Reece this should have been the season where he finally started to break into the starting line up, following up his sixteen appearances in the previous season, it wasn't to be, however. Many of the matches he played were under the stewardship of Paul Trollope and Darren Patterson's brief stint in charge, fourteen in total, while he played just 25 minutes for Dave Penney and was only given two matches under Stuart Campbell. No goals were scored by the former Aston Villa trainee and, in all honesty, he very rarely threatened.

After forcing his way into the squad last term Ben Swallow was another who should have developed from a peripheral squad member. He did play 21 times and could possibly have made more of an impact had it not been for an injury that prevented him from making more than two appearances past February 19th. Early on in the season he played fairly well, getting on the scoresheet for the first time with a fine curling strike against Wycombe, a goal of the season contender, and Dave Penney had begun handing him the odd start, but that injury halted his progress, making next season the biggest of his career as he looks to force his way into managerial minds.

The winner for this category is the man who played the fewest times of the three, Harry Pell. Sent on loan to Hereford by Dave Penney the youngster was making good progress with the Bulls and was recalled the same day Campbell took over as boss, coming on as a sub in his first game in charge, preceding a run in the team that saw him play a further eight times. Pell slotted into the starting eleven comfortably, finding himself playing either on the left, the right or through the centre where he was able to make a fine start to his life in professional football. Not afraid to tackle the Essex boy got stuck in and showed an ability to pick intelligent passes, as well as trying his luck with some fine efforts on goal. With Campbell's legs aging, Lines looking as though he may be sold and Gavin Williams and JP Kalala being released Pell has a real chance of breaking into the team next season, and if he he continues in the same vein he will undoubtedly get there.

Player of the season - Will Hoskins
Though there is an honorable mention for Stuart Campbell for this category there was only one player that was going to take this award. Will Hoskins flair and raw ability on the field set him far apart from any other member of the squad this season. His twenty goals were not enough to save Rovers from relegation and he has now been sold to Brighton for a six-figure fee but he will certainly live long in Gashead memories. There were all sorts of goals in his spell at the Mem, cheeky headers, thunderbolts from range and deft poachers finishes, Hoskins is a natural goalscorer whose ability to thrive in a team fighting relegation will serve him well for the future, making him even more determined to drive any future employers onto success.

The fact that Rovers won only once in the four times Hoskins scored a brace is a mark of how bad the Pirates were throughout the season. His goals away to Sheffield Wednesday and at home against Brighton were just two of a clutch of classy strikes, while he also chipped in with numerous assists and could have ended the year with many more goals to his name if it weren't for niggling injuries. There is no doubt that Hoskins was yet another supreme frontline talent to come off the Bristol Rovers conveyor belt, having just as much a chance of carving out a successful career as many of his predecessors have done before him.

Best manager - Stuart Campbell
Well, we did have four of them and, lets be honest, none of them were up to the task.

The less that is said about Dave Penney the better, he and his band of mercenaries sapping what was left of the spirit out of a squad that looked for all the world as if they had given up the fight. Hoofball was the name of the game and with only the distinctly League 2 Rene Howe to aim those high balls at Rovers were going down without so much as a whimper. But after just thirteen games and two wins in charge Penney was sent packing by the board who then turned to one last bastion of hope, Stuart Campbell.

'Cams' has spent seven years at the Memorial Stadium, captaining the club for over five, and has become a bit of a legend for his tireless work in the centre of midfield, battling hard, that despite his age beginning to catch up to him. Campbell's leadership qualities and experience in the game have earned him the respect of his fellow professionals and made him a father figure for the younger players within the club and there was no man that the squad, bereft of any confidence, would have given their all for. He began bringing back the players Penney had thrown away, his faith unwavering, and the results began to turn around. A first away win for five months was quickly followed by two more as the team looked to finally have some air in its lungs, but the luck ran out, the sudden surge of energy Campbell's appointment gave his charges had seeped away. Six winless games later it was all over, Rovers were down.

Don't let that fool you into thinking Campbell's status amongst the Rovers fans has changed. He might not have been able to save us, very few could have, but he restored a sense of pride to our flagging ship and given us a modicum hope that had long since blown away.