‘Rovers go into Saturday high on confidence’

This time last week I promised you four league points. I’m pleased to say that the boys delivered on my word with a home win over Gillingham and an away point at Milton Keynes.

That doesn’t tell the whole story though, as anyone who attended either game can tell you. In both games, we struggled, fell behind, and came back in spectacular fashion, providing the kind of late drama not seen since, well, a few weeks ago.

Late goals are becoming a feature of our season; it’s hard not to see this as a good thing. It means we’re not falling apart if we go behind in a game, which speaks volumes about the positive mentality Darrell Clarke has nurtured in the group. It also means the team’s fitness levels are clearly very high, which hasn’t always been the case under Clarke’s predecessors.

However, it does show up the fact that we are starting games slowly, a problem which the manager acknowledges. Regular readers of this column will know that I think formations play a big part in this issue, but on Tuesday night it was more down to a general lack of quality, as Darrell referred to in his post-match presser. Not lack of effort, but a bad day at the office. Passes not hitting targets, marking not being tight enough, the odd goalkeeping howler, that kind of thing.

Despite falling behind in all of the last nine league games, ALL OF THEM, those nine outings have provided four wins and four draws. That’s promotion form in anyone’s book. It does make me wonder though. How good could we be if we started games like we finished them?

For now, I think we’re all happy enough. And that will continue to be the case if the team keeps serving up the type of fare they have been of late. Comparisons that span across divisions and eras are kind of pointless. But at times our team reminds me of a lower league version of Newcastle great “Entertainers” side, who reached their peak with that famous 5-0 win over Manchester United 20 years ago this week (I know, we’re all getting old). Never knowingly beaten, goals in abundance from all areas of the team, and brilliantly exciting to watch. Football is, after all, entertainment – I’d be happy winning boring games 1-0 but I’m even happier winning them 2-1 or 3-2 with late comebacks.

There are too many moments from those 2 recent games to pick out for you but Charlie Colkett’s absolutely sublime piece of skill to start the move for our 2nd goal vs MK was not something you expect to see in 3rd tier football. He brought the ball down and back heeled it to Cristian Montana in one fluid move, immediately taking multiple defenders out of the game. Once his time with us is up, I hope he’s given a proper chance to play at a higher level, because, as any match-going Gashead will tell you, he’s simply fantastic.

Aside from Colkett, there are so many players really performing lately. Matt Taylor was beginning to get another round of undeserved stick for going the odd game without a goal; hopefully the hat-trick on Tuesday keeps that minority quiet for a bit.

Chris Lines channelled his inner Steven Gerrard on Saturday with our equalising goal, a surging run right through the middle of the Gillingham back line and a neatly placed shot in front of the Thatcher’s End. And Ellis Harrison is once again looking like a player truly at home at this level of football – which is incredible given that he was on the transfer list post-relegation to the Conference and was sent out on loan to Hartlepool as recently as 6 months ago.

And so, to Saturday, and a long old hop to Oldham Athletic. The formbook suggests that Rovers are good value for 3 points here. Or at least it did until the Latins beat league leaders Scunthorpe at home on Tuesday. Before that game, they’d scored seven league goals all season, and, like MK, not won at home. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, though, and Rovers go into Saturday high on confidence but also having received an absolute rollicking from Darrell after Tuesday.

I’ll put my hypothetical fiver on a win for the Gas up north, but no clean sheet – 3-2 perhaps?