sounds like we were poor away from home today........oh well just like wycombe, rotherham etc. i think only against cheltenham have we put in a 90min performance. rochdale was ok for an hour and then that went all tits up in the end. every week the club come out saying we have to be consistant yet today quite the opposite again.
i think gillingham could well get 5 down here again on tuesday, weve let in 3 against aldershot and bristol who are/were in the bottom few places, we cannot rely on howe every game. well done to him though today on equalling the record.
Bristol Rovers v Torquay United - 20/10/12
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Wisconsin_gull
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ML clearly not at all happy with what went on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19939543
Our half time guess at the hairdryer and heated rollers porbably accurate.
May be some chanegs as a result?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19939543
Our half time guess at the hairdryer and heated rollers porbably accurate.
May be some chanegs as a result?
At the kerb halt - look right - look left -look right again - if all clear quick march!
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SteveDeckchair
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Can someone who was there today tell me. Are we playing a different formation?
Surprised to see Easton, Mansell and Lathrope on the same team, with no Stevens or Thompson.
Seems far too narrow and no pace to attack with out wide.
Surprised to see Easton, Mansell and Lathrope on the same team, with no Stevens or Thompson.
Seems far too narrow and no pace to attack with out wide.
Mmmmmm, beeeeeeeer.
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ferrarilover
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4-1-4-1 today. Poke in net, the usual back 4, DL in front, a ball playing but narrow and pedestrian four of BB, LM, NC and CE with Rene up front alone.
Please note: this post was written as a helpful reply to Mr Deckchair, and while I am, of course, absolutely desperate to impress a bunch of internet forum users who I'll never meet and really don't care about, this post is NOT intended to demonstrate that.
Matt.
Please note: this post was written as a helpful reply to Mr Deckchair, and while I am, of course, absolutely desperate to impress a bunch of internet forum users who I'll never meet and really don't care about, this post is NOT intended to demonstrate that.
Matt.
J5 said, "ferrarilover is 100% correct"
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AustrianAndyGull
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Scott Brehaut wrote:If I find out Andy went
Haha!
At the time Rovers were going two up and Oastler was being dismissed i was with my daughter in the Doncaster Dome swimming lagoons spending my afternoon going down water slides and avoiding floating baby sick so..................................... :slap:
Strangely enough it was Pope Gregory the 9th inviting me for drinks aboard his steam yacht, the saucy sue currently wintering in montego bay with the England cricket team and the Balanese Goddess of plenty.
Bristol Rovers struck late to deny Torquay United what would have been a spirited point in another pulsating league two encounter at the Memorial Ground. Previous meetings between these two Westcountry rivals have been laced with goals and incident and today was no different as the visitors came back from 2-0 down despite playing most of the match with 10 men, before Tom Eaves settled it for the hosts.
United lined up in their customary 4-5-1 formation with Craig Easton adding extra protection in the midfield alongside Lee Mansell and Damon Lathrope, Danny Stevens dropped to the bench with his left wing berth being filled by Nathan Craig. Rene Howe came into the match bidding to equal Torquay's record of scoring in seven consecutive league matches.
Rovers' form has just started to pick up following a very slow start to the campaign, shaping up with 4-4-2 the hosts were quick to take the game to their Devon opponents and found joy freely down the left hand side exploiting clumsiness from Torquay full back Joe Oastler, who was given a torrid examination. A series of misdemeanours quickly saw Oastler cautioned and you could clearly see Rovers use this to their advantage with Paterson joining the attack at every opportunity to overlap and torment his yellow counterpart.
This sluggishness seemed to spread throughout the men in yellow and was demonstrated once more when Michael Poke unnecessarily handled outside his box when he had ample time to clear his lines. Poke was cautioned for this offence as Torquay failed to communicate clearly with each other, and struggled to create any sort of passing rhythm.
It was no surprise when Rovers took the lead in the 15th minute, and telling that it was through a combination of Torquay mistakes. First possession was squandered cheaply by Lee Mansell, then the resulting through ball saw Eaves evade Downes' marking all too easily before Michael Poke was caught in no man's land allowing the menacing Bolton loanee to lob the ball over the flat footed keeper and into the net.
Before The Gulls had a chance to regroup possession had been surrendered once more and Rovers were on the front foot, the attacker's progress towards goal was halted by a clumsy challenge resulting in a free-kick in a dangerous area. Lund stepped up to curl a sumptuous effort around the wall and out of reach of the diving Poke to double Rovers' lead, and deservedly so.
Torquay's miserable start to the match was compounded just minutes later when the hapless Oastler tried to atone for giving the ball away by bringing the left winger down, Referee Mathieson showed no hesitation in reaching for a second yellow and then the dreaded Red, not so much for that foul in isolation, but a totting up of several before it too. Torquay would be forced to play the remaining 65 minutes a man down.
From then until half time it was a matter of how many Bristol could score, as Torquay offered little threat in the attacking third. Wave upon wave of 'Gas' attack were repelled by a mix of poor finishing, fine goalkeeping and desperate defending as United would count themselves lucky to go into the break with only a 2 goal deficit.
Into the second half and Danny Leadbitter was sent on to fill the vacant right-back role. Lee Mansell did a fine job filling in during the aftermath of Oastler's dismissal and his experience was vital in stemming the tides of attack down the Bristol left, however his leadership skills and boundless energy would be better served in the centre of midfield so it was the luckless Lathrope who made way.
With some choice words from the manager ringing in their ears Torquay set about trying to unearth a way back into what looked a lost cause, but Rovers always looked dangerous against a retreating United defence, using the spare man to terrific effect. Anyinsah was afforded too much space in the box on one such occasion and arrowed his shot at goal which brought out an instinctive, and somewhat fortuitous, save from Poke who managed to not only blocked the shot, but fall on the loose ball in one motion. Had that gone in I felt sure the home team could wrack up a cricket score.
It was hard to see where a goal was going to come from for the away team but Nathan Craig rejuvenated the yellow army with a fizzing 25 yard half volley which had the keeper beaten, but just went over the bar. This opportunist effort galvanised the men in yellow and the belief returned that Rovers defence could be penetrated with a bit of adventurous attacking attempt.
Indeed just minutes later Rene Howe found himself with a bit of space inside the penalty area for the first time in the match, sensing a sniff of a chance Howe manoeuvred the ball onto his trusty right foot before curling an emphatic drive around the keeper and into the corner of the net. The Torquay top scorer's tenth goal of the season had not only equalled a long-standing club record but sent waves of panic through 'The Pirates' team as Torquay looked to capitalise on their ascendancy born from Howe's genius.
With Rovers rattled United threw caution to the wind and attacked in numbers, the midfield triumvirate of Mansell, Craig and Easton covering some serious distance and Leadbitter and Nicholson offering support with numerous lung busting runs. A nice bit of link up play between Bodin and Howe was interrupted by a robust challenge earning Torquay a free kick 35 yards out and the first opportunity of the afternoon to send defensive duo Downes and Saah up to join the attack. Nicholson's trusty left peg did not let him down and he delivered a trademark inch perfect free-kick onto the head of Downes who directed his effort into the bottom corner of the net to offer parity to the match.
3 weeks ago Torquay overturned a 3-0 deficit against Aldershot to eventually win 4-3, with the memories of that improbable performance fresh in Gulls' minds the men in Yellow had every confidence they could pull off a similar miracle from a grave situation. With Rovers unable to contain their revitalised rivals Torquay carved open the home defence once more only for Nicholson's centre across the penalty area to be only a few agonising feet in front of the onrushing Bodin.
Keen to maintain their dominance United sent on Tuesday's 2 goal hero Ryan Jarvis for the final 20 minutes as Torquay looked to adopt a more direct route to goal, especially important as the overworked midfield were starting to markedly tire.
However it was Rovers who would score the games final goal and based on the way they took the game to Torquay in the first half an hour you would have to say on balance it was a win that Rovers just about deserved. Having missed several gilt edged chances in front of the Blackthorn End, and having been frustrated by countless instances of intrepid defending Rovers finally converted a chance with 15 minutes left.
A speculative strike from distance was saved acrobatically by Poke, however his parry did not see the ball away from the danger zone, Wayne Brown was the first person in the penalty area to react to the loose ball and his cut back was bundled into the net from close range by Eaves to secure a victory that the statistics will show was justified.
Torquay's lethargic first half display proved to be their undoing, with Oastler in particular having a day to forget. However many positives can be taken from the second half display where United outplayed their opponents despite playing with a man less. At half time United looked dead and buried and doom and gloom merchants were forecasting the worst, however a courageous and wholehearted display in the second half should remind the Yellow Army that Torquay will never give up and with eleven men on the pitch are a match for anyone in the league,
United lined up in their customary 4-5-1 formation with Craig Easton adding extra protection in the midfield alongside Lee Mansell and Damon Lathrope, Danny Stevens dropped to the bench with his left wing berth being filled by Nathan Craig. Rene Howe came into the match bidding to equal Torquay's record of scoring in seven consecutive league matches.
Rovers' form has just started to pick up following a very slow start to the campaign, shaping up with 4-4-2 the hosts were quick to take the game to their Devon opponents and found joy freely down the left hand side exploiting clumsiness from Torquay full back Joe Oastler, who was given a torrid examination. A series of misdemeanours quickly saw Oastler cautioned and you could clearly see Rovers use this to their advantage with Paterson joining the attack at every opportunity to overlap and torment his yellow counterpart.
This sluggishness seemed to spread throughout the men in yellow and was demonstrated once more when Michael Poke unnecessarily handled outside his box when he had ample time to clear his lines. Poke was cautioned for this offence as Torquay failed to communicate clearly with each other, and struggled to create any sort of passing rhythm.
It was no surprise when Rovers took the lead in the 15th minute, and telling that it was through a combination of Torquay mistakes. First possession was squandered cheaply by Lee Mansell, then the resulting through ball saw Eaves evade Downes' marking all too easily before Michael Poke was caught in no man's land allowing the menacing Bolton loanee to lob the ball over the flat footed keeper and into the net.
Before The Gulls had a chance to regroup possession had been surrendered once more and Rovers were on the front foot, the attacker's progress towards goal was halted by a clumsy challenge resulting in a free-kick in a dangerous area. Lund stepped up to curl a sumptuous effort around the wall and out of reach of the diving Poke to double Rovers' lead, and deservedly so.
Torquay's miserable start to the match was compounded just minutes later when the hapless Oastler tried to atone for giving the ball away by bringing the left winger down, Referee Mathieson showed no hesitation in reaching for a second yellow and then the dreaded Red, not so much for that foul in isolation, but a totting up of several before it too. Torquay would be forced to play the remaining 65 minutes a man down.
From then until half time it was a matter of how many Bristol could score, as Torquay offered little threat in the attacking third. Wave upon wave of 'Gas' attack were repelled by a mix of poor finishing, fine goalkeeping and desperate defending as United would count themselves lucky to go into the break with only a 2 goal deficit.
Into the second half and Danny Leadbitter was sent on to fill the vacant right-back role. Lee Mansell did a fine job filling in during the aftermath of Oastler's dismissal and his experience was vital in stemming the tides of attack down the Bristol left, however his leadership skills and boundless energy would be better served in the centre of midfield so it was the luckless Lathrope who made way.
With some choice words from the manager ringing in their ears Torquay set about trying to unearth a way back into what looked a lost cause, but Rovers always looked dangerous against a retreating United defence, using the spare man to terrific effect. Anyinsah was afforded too much space in the box on one such occasion and arrowed his shot at goal which brought out an instinctive, and somewhat fortuitous, save from Poke who managed to not only blocked the shot, but fall on the loose ball in one motion. Had that gone in I felt sure the home team could wrack up a cricket score.
It was hard to see where a goal was going to come from for the away team but Nathan Craig rejuvenated the yellow army with a fizzing 25 yard half volley which had the keeper beaten, but just went over the bar. This opportunist effort galvanised the men in yellow and the belief returned that Rovers defence could be penetrated with a bit of adventurous attacking attempt.
Indeed just minutes later Rene Howe found himself with a bit of space inside the penalty area for the first time in the match, sensing a sniff of a chance Howe manoeuvred the ball onto his trusty right foot before curling an emphatic drive around the keeper and into the corner of the net. The Torquay top scorer's tenth goal of the season had not only equalled a long-standing club record but sent waves of panic through 'The Pirates' team as Torquay looked to capitalise on their ascendancy born from Howe's genius.
With Rovers rattled United threw caution to the wind and attacked in numbers, the midfield triumvirate of Mansell, Craig and Easton covering some serious distance and Leadbitter and Nicholson offering support with numerous lung busting runs. A nice bit of link up play between Bodin and Howe was interrupted by a robust challenge earning Torquay a free kick 35 yards out and the first opportunity of the afternoon to send defensive duo Downes and Saah up to join the attack. Nicholson's trusty left peg did not let him down and he delivered a trademark inch perfect free-kick onto the head of Downes who directed his effort into the bottom corner of the net to offer parity to the match.
3 weeks ago Torquay overturned a 3-0 deficit against Aldershot to eventually win 4-3, with the memories of that improbable performance fresh in Gulls' minds the men in Yellow had every confidence they could pull off a similar miracle from a grave situation. With Rovers unable to contain their revitalised rivals Torquay carved open the home defence once more only for Nicholson's centre across the penalty area to be only a few agonising feet in front of the onrushing Bodin.
Keen to maintain their dominance United sent on Tuesday's 2 goal hero Ryan Jarvis for the final 20 minutes as Torquay looked to adopt a more direct route to goal, especially important as the overworked midfield were starting to markedly tire.
However it was Rovers who would score the games final goal and based on the way they took the game to Torquay in the first half an hour you would have to say on balance it was a win that Rovers just about deserved. Having missed several gilt edged chances in front of the Blackthorn End, and having been frustrated by countless instances of intrepid defending Rovers finally converted a chance with 15 minutes left.
A speculative strike from distance was saved acrobatically by Poke, however his parry did not see the ball away from the danger zone, Wayne Brown was the first person in the penalty area to react to the loose ball and his cut back was bundled into the net from close range by Eaves to secure a victory that the statistics will show was justified.
Torquay's lethargic first half display proved to be their undoing, with Oastler in particular having a day to forget. However many positives can be taken from the second half display where United outplayed their opponents despite playing with a man less. At half time United looked dead and buried and doom and gloom merchants were forecasting the worst, however a courageous and wholehearted display in the second half should remind the Yellow Army that Torquay will never give up and with eleven men on the pitch are a match for anyone in the league,
All in all a tale of two halves. Worst i have seen in a long LONG time in the first half, excellent and pride restoring in the second. Joey had a bit of a nightmare today and was only a matter of time before he got sent off unfortunately, however he was unlucky that the fullback and winger doubled up on him constantly. However I hope this is only a blip in what has so far been a consistent season.
Poke is still a concern and seems to send waves of chaos throughout the defence whenever the ball is flung into the penalty area, perhaps we are too priveleged to have watched a championship standard ply his trade all through last season but our current incumbent really needs to dominate his area, unfortunately this is not something you can practice.
Not sure how we managed to get into the break at just 2-0 down and better teams than Rovers would have put us to the sword for sure, but second half we were exceptional. Could not ask for more from any of the ten men and perhaps we just ran out of steam towards the end. Leadbitter (who impressed me against Yeovil) continued his good progress with a steady performance, I have no worries with him starting on Tuesday. Rene Howe is the best striker in the league by a mile and his goal was a beauty, had a cracking view of it.
Think the final goal was avoidable but after riding our luck for so long it was deserved. Play how we did with ten men for the remaining 33 matches with eleven men and we will finish in the top 7 again. Frustrating to lose to a poorish team, and unforgivable to endure that catatonic start, however the second half performance and stirring comeback was heartening and will be the part of the game i will be focusing on when i look back on it in the future
Poke is still a concern and seems to send waves of chaos throughout the defence whenever the ball is flung into the penalty area, perhaps we are too priveleged to have watched a championship standard ply his trade all through last season but our current incumbent really needs to dominate his area, unfortunately this is not something you can practice.
Not sure how we managed to get into the break at just 2-0 down and better teams than Rovers would have put us to the sword for sure, but second half we were exceptional. Could not ask for more from any of the ten men and perhaps we just ran out of steam towards the end. Leadbitter (who impressed me against Yeovil) continued his good progress with a steady performance, I have no worries with him starting on Tuesday. Rene Howe is the best striker in the league by a mile and his goal was a beauty, had a cracking view of it.
Think the final goal was avoidable but after riding our luck for so long it was deserved. Play how we did with ten men for the remaining 33 matches with eleven men and we will finish in the top 7 again. Frustrating to lose to a poorish team, and unforgivable to endure that catatonic start, however the second half performance and stirring comeback was heartening and will be the part of the game i will be focusing on when i look back on it in the future
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AustrianAndyGull
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Cheers for that Ben, it is interesting that you say we began sluggishly as apart from the first 10 minutes at Chesterfield, that has been par for the course away this season and it is a huge problem. Another huge problem is that we can't keep clean sheets at the minute and bearing in mind that's the first time we,ve scored more than once away from home so far this season, the persistance in deploying negative, limited counter attacking tactics is becoming pointless. I wasn,t there today but it sounded like the team responded to the challenge of having only 10 men and we scored twice and could have got a point on another day. Why oh why can't we take that section of the game and transfer it to other games away instead of the same old dross? We are more than capable of it so why don't we do it? Beginning games in this lethargic manner only makes it even more difficult when we inevitably go a goal behind. Like Ben says, our first half display ( the usual ) was unacceptable AGAIN and we shouldn't be kicking games off in this mindset, it's psychologically damaging to the team. I recall the Chesterfield game again when for the first ten minutes we started like a house on fire really going for it and they couldn't handle it, then we started to settle in to our rhythm and became more defensive and we couldn't alter that mindset once that mentality had set in again. It took one chance all game for RENE to grab us an equaliser on that day. Really pleased with the fightback but it's another case of too little too late. Two home games on the spin now and it's a good job because our away form is costing us at the minute.
Strangely enough it was Pope Gregory the 9th inviting me for drinks aboard his steam yacht, the saucy sue currently wintering in montego bay with the England cricket team and the Balanese Goddess of plenty.
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friendlygas
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Bengull, A good report on the game but think you are goin g over the top a bit when you say you "outplayed" us in the second half.Apart from a ten minute spell when you scored your two goals (the first of which was a definite handball by Howe) we dominated the entire game and this would be totally confirmed by the number of chances created during the game and also the number of saves which Poke made. To say we were a "poorish" side totally belies the standard of football we produced during the majority of the game. We actually created more opportunities than we did against Burton last season when we won 7-1 but if you had said our finishing was poorish then I would agree with you. We actually have five players woodards,Gill,Bolger,Hunter and Riordon out injured who would all have played today if fit and to be honest i was very surprised at how poor a team you actually were compared to last season. I still think you will make the Play offs and if we can play regularly as we have played recently then we will be not far behind you.
Hi friendlygas, my point was mainly that any other side would have destroyed us today, approach play brilliant-although against some pedestrian TUFC performances it must be said- but finishing, awful. I lost count of the chances that you squandered. Maybe outplayed was a bit of an exageration but for the fifteen minutes we were on top you had few answers. And when the equaliser went in you could see the confidence drain out of every bristol player-albeit momentarily. I really thought we would go on and win it such was the momentum shift, which against a man more was some ask. Noticed on your forum someone said 'they hadn't celebrated a goal like they did for the third for years' I think that speaks volumes.
I did quantify in my report by saying that you deserved the win, and you did, first half an hour you were on fire, need to be more clinical infront of goal and more resolute in the face of the slightest attack (Rene scored the goal out of nothing) to change from 20th (poor) to midtable (better) I have nothing against your club whatsoever and wish you well for the rest of the season, think Mcghee will come good.
I did quantify in my report by saying that you deserved the win, and you did, first half an hour you were on fire, need to be more clinical infront of goal and more resolute in the face of the slightest attack (Rene scored the goal out of nothing) to change from 20th (poor) to midtable (better) I have nothing against your club whatsoever and wish you well for the rest of the season, think Mcghee will come good.
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AustrianAndyGull
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Cheers for the input friendlygas, the fact that you are surprised how poor we were kind of vindicates my opinions on our away form this season and makes me think i'm not going crazy, we REALLY are poor. I have come out of Fleetwood, Rotherham and Chesterfield grounds this season having to listen to home fans around me making their way home muttering that we are the worst side they have faced this season and how we only had a couple of real chances. At Vale Park i was verbally attacked upon leaving the ground by a neanderthal Vale fan spitting in my face saying we got out of jail to get a 1-1. He was a right tosser but he was right. How we came away from Vale Park with a point i'll never know. Your views give an opponents perspective on things and sadly it's all too familiar. We still have a decent squad well capable of the play offs but we still have a mental issue away from home which encourages the opposition to score.
Strangely enough it was Pope Gregory the 9th inviting me for drinks aboard his steam yacht, the saucy sue currently wintering in montego bay with the England cricket team and the Balanese Goddess of plenty.
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Gullscorer
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I've just noticed that Rovers fans on their forum are praising Pokey for his brilliance and wishing McGhee had kept him at the Mem. Fact is that he's a fine goalie who makes an occasional error, but a number of our other players have also not played at their best. But we do have a squad of excellent players, and when they finally get it together to perform as a united team for 90 minutes, the rest of the league had better watch out..
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AustrianAndyGull
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I'll have some of that cider that you've been on GS.Gullscorer wrote:I've just noticed that Rovers fans on their forum are praising Pokey for his brilliance and wishing McGhee had kept him at the Mem. Fact is that he's a fine goalie who makes an occasional error, but a number of our other players have also not played at their best. But we do have a squad of excellent players, and when they finally get it together to perform as a united team for 90 minutes, the rest of the league had better watch out..
Strangely enough it was Pope Gregory the 9th inviting me for drinks aboard his steam yacht, the saucy sue currently wintering in montego bay with the England cricket team and the Balanese Goddess of plenty.
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friendlygas
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The 15 minutes you speak of has been the problem with all our home games this year as has been our finishing and IMO it is a confidence thing that we have played a lot of good football this season then find ourselves a goal down and feel sorry for ourselves. It crept in today as soon as Howe scored. It was a shame from our point of view that Derek Riordon couldnt play today as I am sure he would have had a field day with some of the chances that went begging. What I will say for your team is that you have a wondeful team spirit and that shone through even when you were under the cosh. That alone will I believe see you in the Play Offs again this season added with the threat which Rene Howe poses. One other point we have always struggled to beat 10 players and I feel today we played our best when it was 11 v 11. its almost as if players overdo it when they are playing against 10.
Good luck for the rest of the season and I really hope that when we play you at the end of the season there will be something on the game for both teams.
Good luck for the rest of the season and I really hope that when we play you at the end of the season there will be something on the game for both teams.
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Dutchgull
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Cheers Friendlygas its always good to hear a balanced view of the game from the opposition ! Lets hope we are both at the right end of the table when we next meet !!
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