Never In Doubt

The writing was on the wall from the off, well, 50 seconds from the off.

It was a disasterous start for Bristol Rovers and it got little better throughout the first half, the second half was much more positive, though.

The starting XI for Rovers is pretty much what I expected, Cian Bolger making his home debut at the back and JP Kalala playing his first game since joining from Yeovil, partnering Stuart Campbell in the centre of midfield. The frontline was more of a surprise, Hoskins starting up front with Rene Howe, as Jo Kuffour has played well in more recent games partnering Will Hoskins. I was disappointed at the non-appearance of Wayne Brown in the matchday squad. When he signed from Fulham there were lots of fans excited about him, he has the ability which has been seen in his short cameos but seems to have failed to catch Dave Penney's eye.

Rovers managed to give the ball away from the off, Gary Sawyer attempting to play a ball into the channel, and it was Sawyer who fouled Lewis Guy to give the Dons the free kick that resulted in the goal. The entire team looked around bemusingly at each other but the damage was done and Rovers were behind. Slack marking was once again the problem and the goalscorer O'Hanlon was allowed to get in front of his man far too easily. A tight offside decision meant a disallowed goal for Jeff Hughes as they created very little in the remainder of the half. Gavin Williams made his Memorial Stadium bow as he replaced David McCracken who injured a hamstring when overstretching for the ball. Williams slotted into the right hand side of midfield, Anthony took up a central defensive position and Scott Davies dropped to right back.

Prior to the start of the second half Stuart Campbell was replaced by Carl Regan, Dave Penney admitting in his post match interview that this was yet another hamstring problem. Regan took up the right back spot while Davies moved into the centre of midfield. 16 minutes into the second half the Dons doubled their lead, Jabo Ibehre releasing Daniel Powell who slotted cooly past Luke Daniels in the Gas goal.

Five minutes later MK Dons allowed Rovers a potential road back into the game when goalscorer O'Hanlon tugged on Will Hoskins shirt and received a second yellow card for his troubles, although a straight red could not have been argued with. The resulting free kick from two yards outside the box saw Davies unleash a stinging low drive on goal, only to see David Martin cling onto the ball for the Dons.

The Buckinghamshire side should have wrapped up the game only for on loan QPR striker Rowan Vine to poke wide of an open goal from only two yards out and placed directly between the sticks. Jo Kuffour came on for Gary Sawyer and nearly dragged his side to within a goal of the away side, instinctively turning and volleying across Martin, only to see his shot rebound off of the left hand post and away from goal.

With just eight minutes left Rovers were awarded a penalty for a handball by Mathias Doumbe despite arguments from the Dons players. Jeff Hughes stepped up to score his ninth goal of the season and could have made it into double figures with just moments left on the clock, though his shot was saved by Martin.

Rovers fought hard after O'Hanlon's red card but the Dons defence shut up shot and held firm, fighting off a late Rovers onslaught but on the night they made the more clear cut chances, showed good movement and defended solidly to deny the Gas a point.

The major positives to come out of the game for Rovers were the performances of Cian Bolger and JP Kalala. On his first professional start Bolger looked comfortable defensively throughout, although his distribution could do with some work and the pace of the game did get to him a couple of times when he was in possession. Debutant Kalala gave Rovers what they have been missing for a long time, some fight. Don't get me wrong Stuart Campbell has been a great servant to the club and always works hard in the centre, picking up the loose ends, but the time has come for someone to come in and play with a mean streak in them. Kalala provides that biting edge that has been lacking and will also provide the strength and mobility that an aging Campbell was increasingly unable to. I don't mean get rid of Campbell, he's a great professional and will be key should Kalala's disciplinary record catch up with him this season, and with another year on his contract I feel we perhaps owe him a start to his coaching career next season.

Rene Howe ran himself ragged and provided some physicality to the Rovers front line and Jeff Hughes put in an assured performance and worked hard, often switching between the left and right wings. The problem seems to lie in the full back areas.

Anthony has the abiility to play there and started the game well but when McCracken went off he was needed in the centre, Scott Davies moving to right back and putting in a reasonable performance, though he was clearly uncomfortable. Carl Regan came on at half time and showed why Dave Penney had dropped him from the side, constantly being beaten for pace and showing an inability to play a simple pass. Gary Sawyer has been much maligned this season and was even more unpopular after giving away the free kick that lead to the Dons first goal, that aside though, he had a good game defensively. The problem, as with Regan, is his distribution. Sawyer always lookes as if he is uncormfortable in possession and looks to get rid of the ball as soon as possible, far too often resulting in a poorly weighted ball into the left hand channel. The problem remains who could replace him at left back, Jeff Hughes being the natural choice, although he has improved over the last three games and Rovers could do without losing his experience from midfield.

Next up for Rovers is a tough home game against league leaders Brighton. The Gulls are a strong side and will provide the sort of challenge Rovers could do without on the back of two losses.

One things for sure, it's not going to get any easier from here.

Goodnight Irene.