ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
|
With three new players arriving last week, was there at last cause for a bit of optimism going up to Rushden last week? Unfortunately no, but as the bloke on Nationwide League Extra put it, "they did get to within 18 minutes of avoiding their sixth straight defeat." On the face of it, there were no surprises with the score line, seeing as the Diamonds were sitting pretty in second place prior to our meeting. However, most reports relayed an uplifting improvement in Rovers' all-round play, and just for those who missed out on the midweek goal extravaganza at Runcorn, we managed to score another one from the penalty spot. On TV, the foul on Paul Tait was not the most blatant of challenges and you see dozens of those go unpunished throughout the season. Nowadays referees only tend to award spot kicks for attempted murder, but I'm not complaining and it was a nice present in the run up to Christmas. By all accounts, Graham Hyde was labelled man of the match and it was refreshing to hear that one of our players dominated the midfield for once. Kevin Street started well on the right before fading a bit in the second half, but he has been playing in the Conference for six months with Northwich Victoria and will need a few games to get back to League sharpness. His arrival perhaps allowed Wayne Carlisle a bit of a rest because he has been soldiering on with a few niggly injuries recently. There is no doubt in my mind that Carlisle was our best player in the first few months of the campaign, and some time off will hopefully allow him to return with all guns blazing. Another regular on the treatment table has been Trevor Challis. He got crocked in the first half against Runcorn at the Mem a couple of weeks ago, and then found himself hobbling off within four minutes up at Nene Park on Saturday. Simon Bryant's probably turned out as many times as Trev at left-back recently, and it appears as though Christer Warren came to the club at the wrong time when he signed on a short-term deal earlier in September, as he could not buy a place in the starting eleven back then. Talking of injuries, Rovers legend Andy Tillson was forced to announce his retirement this week. I was among many who reckoned he would again team up with Ray Graydon when the latter was appointed as our new manager in the summer. Tillson was out of contract at Rushden and there was an opening for a centre-back or three down here in Horfield, and it would have been fitting for him to play out his final games with the club he served the longest. Our recent adventures in the league have surely hinted that Rovers were wrong to let him leave a couple of years ago, and it must have been satisfying for him to go on and win a promotion with Graydon's Walsall in his twilight seasons. He then went and played in his third play-off final last year, but this time suffered another heart-breaking day out as Rushden were beaten by Cheltenham - this after suffering defeat with Rovers in 1995 against Huddersfield. But due to ongoing back problems, he has hardly put his boots on this season, and sadly he has decided to call it a day. Thanks for the memories, Tillo!
|