It wasn't the dominance that was seen in the pre-seasons opening fixture, against a side who had finished 10th in their first year back in the conference last term it was never going to be, but on a pitch more conducive to playing neat, technical passing football fans were sent away with their hopes once again raised after goals in each half from Joe Anyinsah and Wayne Brown gave the Gas a comfortable 2-0 victory over their Conference Premier opposition.
Summer signings Anyinsah, Scott Bevan and Mustapha Carayol got their chances to make an impression on fans as they made their first appearances in Rovers shirts, each of them performing admirably. Admittedly Bevan wasn't fully fit, Lee Brown was handed the goalkick duties while much of the 6'6" goalkeeper's distribution was done from his hands. He did, however, find the composure to make a fine double save as Rovers were slow out of the traps in the first half, getting down twice in quick succession, but the more game time Bevan gets to marshal the selection of defenders in front of him the better, the first half especially saw a back four that many see as the first choice unit for the coming season.
Anyinsah was arguably the player who made the best impact of anyone on the pitch, the ex-Bristol City man getting on the score sheet after rounding his defender before neatly slipping the ball in off the far post with the outside of his right boot. He continued to run and run, as per Paul Buckle's instructions in a system that seems far away from the rigid, defensive formations that were seen under Messrs Trollope, Penney and Campbell, not that it didn't leave Gasheads just as bemused.
When tongues were wagging and rumours were flying about Paul Buckle's purported interest in the Rovers job fans and potential suitors were watching eagerly as his side lined up to face Shrewsbury in their play-off semi-final first leg and they saw a quirky pre-match line up handed in. The announced team included four strikers, namely Chris Zebroski, Gavin Tomlin, Billy Kee and Jake Robinson, as Torquay's attacking force put the Shrews to the sword and tonight in Bath it seemed that the birth of a similarly attacking system was taking place.
In the first half at Twerton Park the unit of four came in the shape of Anyinsah, Zebroski, Scott McGleish and Ben Swallow and each of them performed a variety of roles across the front line in a seemingly free-form formation. Anyinsah began the game partnering McGleish up top with Zebroski on the right, a position from which he got the opening goal, but as the half drew on Anyinsah began to drift out to the left, thus allowing Ben Swallow to play just off Scott McGleish in the centre. That wasn't the end of it though.
The quadruplet continued to chop and change amongst themselves, an act that must have been confusing for the Bath defence, but it wasn't just about their positioning, it was the runs they were making as well. When the ball was coming across the halfway line there were generally two runners looking to put themselves in behind the home back four while one remained short centrally and the other gave a deeper option in a wider position, attempting to pull about the Red Shirts about. It wasn't perfect, this was only the second match of the pre-season so legs were still rusty and the team are yet to gel meaning this system is still in its infancy, but it nonetheless makes for interesting viewing and if everything goes to plan then Rovers will no doubt be one of the teams to watch in League 2.
In the second half the two central midfielders were Stuart Campbell and youth team player Darren Jeffries. With the aging Campbell having been deployed as a battling defensive midfielder in seasons of late and Jeffries inexperienced much of the feeding of the front four slowed down, though their deployment also became rather more static. Mustapha Carayol came onto the left wing at half time and with fifteen minutes to go trialist Andrew Yiadom stepped into the fray on the right, both proving to give great pace as they continually looked to take their full backs on the outside as opposed to cutting inside, a great option to have in the squad should the need for direct attack persist.
Another of the nights top performers was Wayne Brown who played on the right before moving into the centre after the addition of Yiadom, a position from which he was able to pull strings, once again looking dangerous and giving Paul Buckle a conundrum to deal with as he also has a number of other options in both the centre of midfield and out wide. Indeed, one of the keys to Rovers success could lie with the use of the diminutive midfielder who impressed at the back end of last season as well as the start of this.
This game gave fans a look into the other side of Paul Buckle, he has talked the talk with the signings he has made and the interviews he has given but against a team that proved a stern test for Rovers he gave an indication that he may too be able to walk the walk.
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