ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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Defeat last week at home to Bury extended our barren run of form to one win in ten games and with it we plunged into the bottom half of the Third Division. Despite the result, we saw a very positive performance from Rovers as the team took the game to the opposition in a much more attacking manner than we had seen in recent away games. After facing some decent opposition over the past couple of weeks, a home clash with Bury was a slightly different proposition in that we were the favourites to win for once. Thankfully Ray Graydon put out a more attacking line-up than those at Oxford, Swansea and Bournemouth, where Rovers had failed to score at all, and Wayne Carlisle returned to the starting eleven at long last. The first half was extremely promising, and many fans found themselves oo-ing and ah-ing for the first time in ages as wave after wave of attacks surged towards the Bury goal. Carlisle and the talented Ryan Williams bombed down the wings with purpose, and crosses rained into the area to put immense pressure on the visitors but it was the same old problem - we just couldn't stick the ball away. With our superb record of one goal in the previous five matches, we certainly didn't have our eye in and chances went begging more than a few times in that otherwise excellent opening period. An early scramble in the six-yard box failed to end up in the net and then Adam Barrett's point-blank header was well blocked by the goalkeeper, before Lewis Haldane eventually knocked one in with a brilliant overhead kick, only to see the offside flag go up on the touchline. I think the interval came too soon for Rovers and by the time they came back out onto the pitch, there were a few doubts in some players' minds and we never regained the same thrust as at the start of the match. It was a relief then to finally break the deadlock with an amazing goal from Haldane that soared right into the top corner. Once he picked the ball up from Ijah Anderson, there was only one thing on his mind and with the keeper flying at full stretch, it was definitely one for the cameras - absolutely fantastic! One goal looked as though it could have been enough and perhaps the players sat on the lead too much, which was understandable seeing as it was the first time we had been in front for nearly a month. Yet Bury clawed their way back into it after a miss-hit corner bounced across the area and in off someone's thigh. At first sight and also later on television, it appeared that the ball went in off a Bury player, so I don't see how Adam Barrett was credited with the goal. The late winner was a kick in the teeth, and scant reward for a Rovers display which was far more forward thinking than the defensive mentality employed during the three away trips. The performance level is admirable but we are not getting the results and with early exits in all the Cups it is no wonder that Graydon will have to tighten his belt with regards to the size of his squad. Christian Edwards is an international and came straight in from Division 1 side Nottingham Forest, so he is unlikely to be earning a pittance, while we paid Barnet a six-figure fee for Junior Agogo in the summer. Other seasoned professionals like Hyde, Miller, Savage and Rammell are surely also on a respectable wage and as long as we languish in the doldrums, we will have to watch what we spend.
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