ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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In a stop-start season, Rovers' progress in the LDV Vans Trophy has punctuated the many draws with a few welcome wins as we've knocked Kidderminster, Barnet and Wycombe out of the competition. On Tuesday night we added Leyton Orient to the list of casualties thanks to a spirited comeback on a bitterly cold night in the capital. When you get this far in the Vans, the prospect of losing a tie is no longer greeted with a shrug of the shoulders and a feeling of indifference. With just a couple of teams between you and a trip to the Millennium Stadium, it almost becomes more important than the league fixtures, especially when your team is stuck in mid-table. Living in Cardiff, this magnificent stadium is on my doorstep and I have been to see Wales there several times as well as the Community Shield at the start of this season. In the short while that Wembley has been off the map, Bristol City have visited for a Vans Final and the play-offs and even a Birmingham City-supporting mate of mine has been down with his team, but the nearest Rovers have come is the last eight of the LDV a couple of years ago. I was listening on the radio on Tuesday and Lewis Haldane's injury-time winner nearly brought the house down, so I can only imagine how the travelling support must have reacted. Craig Disley had landed the first blow to Orient's hopes of a Southern Final derby with Southend just after half-time, and it was only the attacking midfielder's second of a season dogged by injury. Disley's knack for breaking forward into the opposition penalty area has often landed him scoring chances but a combination of bad luck and the woodwork has so far seen further goals elude him. It was good to hear that Lee Thorpe was showing glimpses of the good form he enjoyed at the back end of last season and he came ever so close to netting a screamer with a strike from nearly 30 yards that thundered against the bar. Thorpe had ended a frustrating personal goal drought against Cheltenham on Saturday when former Gas keeper Shane Higgs hacked at thin air and completely missed his clearance, gifting our man the chance to grab a deserved equaliser. Despite Higgs leaving himself flat on his backside on the edge of the area, it wasn't the easiest of tap-ins because Thorpe still had to beat the two covering defenders on the line. This goal was just reward for an improved performance and I'm sure he enjoyed silencing his critics and putting his recent bad spell of form behind him. There has been open criticism of Ian Atkins' direct tactics in recent weeks but most would agree that we played some decent stuff on Saturday, particularly in the second half. The only problem was that our shooting was too straight and I lost count of how many shots went right down the keeper's throat. The players trudged off at the end after yet another draw and that made it seven stalemates in nine outings but at least we have not been losing and since suffering a 1-0 defeat to Wycombe at the end of November, our record boasts just one defeat in twelve games. Having witnessed many miserable collapses under Ray Graydon, I think this sort of form is rather good and should not be sniffed at.
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