‘Not what you’d expect from a Darrell Clarke side’

After what has been a very tough start to the season for The Gas, a point against Shrewsbury is, in Darrell Clarke’s own words, “a foundation to build on”.

There were certainly positives to take from the game. In midfield, Ollie Clarke was looking back to his best, working hard to win the ball and driving forward to begin attacks on several occasions. Last season was a disappointing one for the midfielder, but hopefully this is a sign of things to come as he steps up in the face of fresh competition for places in the centre of the park.

The defence, overall, looked more solid than in previous games, conceding only an unfortunate own goal when down to ten men. This area of the pitch has been the most worrying for me so far this season, and although a clean sheet would have been welcomed, the solidity of this performance will hopefully give our back four some confidence.

It was also an impressive debut from new goalkeeper Jack Bonham who, although not overly worked, did the simple things right – something we have missed all too often over the last year.

However, it certainly wasn’t all rosy at the New Meadow. Shrewsbury look a very poor side after their high-flying squad from last season was dismantled, so to leave without the three points having taken the lead is disappointing. A major contributing factor to this was down to the sending off of new boy Joe Martin, as we witnessed what will surely go down as one of the worst Gas debuts in recent history.

The experienced left-back was lucky to stay on the pitch for as long as he did and his red card was one of the only decisions the referee got right all game (the penalty he awarded us was soft, to say the least!). Darrell Clarke will surely be unhappy with this poor discipline shown in his first game, but hopefully this leads to young Michael Kelly getting the left-back spot against Plymouth following his impressive full debut against QPR in the cup.

Another cause for concern for Gasheads is the lack of fire power up top. Whilst Ellis Harrison was not a prolific goalscorer, he was a part of a confident forward line for the Gas over the last few years, when a lack of goals was certainly not a priority. One shot on target against Shrewsbury, which was the penalty, is not what you’d expect from a Darrell Clarke side. Sam Matthews has impressed on the wing, showing the kind of flair and technical ability that has been missing since Billy Bodin departed, but new signing Alex Rodman has been disappointing.

The signing of Ed Upson impressed supporters over the summer, but he is yet to hit the heights expected. And following Liam Sercombe’s injury, our arguably strongest area of the field has far from shone so far, but hopefully this can improve in the coming weeks.

Our home game against Plymouth on Saturday has the potential to turn the fan base one way or another. A loss to the side that sit bottom of the league will no doubt spark anger amongst supporters, whereas a win in what many consider to be a local derby can go some way to getting the punters back onside.

Harley Thorne is one of the presenters of Bristol Rovers podcast, GasCast. Find the latest episode at www.gas-cast.co.uk/blog/podcast/33-square-pegs-round-holes/