So that's it for another season. Months of struggle and anguish have now been curtailed by a somewhat uplifting climax, and we are all hoping that the string of results is a sign of things to come. The Darlington win made it three on the bounce, a record last attained in Gerry Francis' first three league games on his return last season, but this result carried much more weight as it secured Rovers' Third Division status for another year. With a team bereft of its recent match-winner Vita Astafjevs, Rovers showed they had more luxury on the bench as Wayne Carlisle came in and made a goal and scored the clincher. Carlisle's simple wing-play proved yet again to be so effective, as he made for the by-line and clipped in countless crosses, time after time. Even though the full-back knew what he was going to do, Wayne still delivered, and it was his pinpoint centre that found goal machine Andy Rammell for the opener. The signing of veteran Rammell was a big gamble by Ray Graydon, and the manager has come up smelling of roses with this transfer. Four goals in seven games is a wonderful ratio for any striker, and his fourth was another peach as Rambo killed the ball on his chest before volleying past Andy Collett. It was nice to see Collett get a good reception at the Mem, although I had to look twice to recognise him with that new streaky blond rinse on top of his head. The record books state that he is 6 feet tall, but surely he is nearer 5'10" unless it is some kind of optical illusion. Nevertheless, he was still giving away several inches in height to Scott Howie, yet it was Collett who coped better with the aerial play by claiming far more high balls. Howie is a fantastic shot stopper and has won us many points since he has been here, but there were two notable occasions last Saturday where a simple catch was replaced by an unconvincing punch. The first incident saw Rovers concede a free-kick right on the edge of the box in the first half, and then he made a right 'fist' of the second punch as the ball fell sweetly for Darlington to smash in their equaliser after the break. A team in our position evidently does not possess perfect players, but Howie has all the attributes to be a decent goalkeeper. There was a moment last season when it struck me that Howie had made a conscious decision to punch rather than catch, and if he could change his mind and revert to grabbing the ball when it is within reach, then I am sure that he would be all the better for it. Having said all that, let us not forget his amazing display at home to Hartlepool, plus his fine showing down at Bournemouth that kept the score down and last but not least the saves he made at Oxford recently to win those vital three points. There was a touch of the Beckhams about Wayne Carlisle's sublime free-kick last week, as he had been left out of the team recently and came in to devastating effect, making the biggest possible statement to our own 'Sir' Ray that he should be in the team. Collett's lack of inches undeniably gave Carlisle a slightly bigger target to hit than usual, but he still needed to hit the right spot under all that pressure. It wasn't quite as glorious as his Scunthorpe special in injury time, but a lovely winner all the same. It is funny how a few points can make the world seem completely different; your team wins and everybody in blue and white goes home happy. What we must not forget is that until the Cambridge match four games ago, our plight looked very bleak indeed and hopefully this is not just another false dawn. The management have much to prove next season, as do many of the players, and we cannot afford another close call with relegation, otherwise it may be our last. © Chris Chappell - Friday 2nd May 2003 Back to Index