‘Rovers: comeback kings of England’

Eighteen hundred smiling faces departed the Kassam Stadium on Saturday evening, plus a few hundred more beaming in the Memorial Stadium, watching on TV. We always seem to take a huge following to Oxford, despite it not being a derby. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to get to. Perhaps it’s just a great place to watch football. I mean, it’s not, not at all. If we’re honest, we always pack out the away end at their place because, well, we always win there.

Last week’s win marked the fifth straight league victory for Rovers in OX4. We’re about as popular amongst United supporters as, well, the guy whose name is on the door. (Kassam still owns the ground, and he and the club have reportedly had various differences of opinion on a selling price so that United can own their home again).

This away win was so clearly written in the stars was an that we felt confident enough to give the yellows a goal by means of a head start. Adam Smith won’t want to view his mis-hit pass again in a hurry. A quick word, if I may though, about the goalkeeper – he’s been solid for us lately. A bit of criticism has come his way this week, and it’s a tad unfair. No goalie on earth went a career without a howler – not even Banks, Shilton, Schmeichel or Yashin. If such a perfect keeper were to exist you can bet your bottom dollar that he wouldn’t be turning out in League One.

Smith, as I’ve said, has been solid. Not spectacular, but reliable. For me, that’s what we want in a Number One, especially after a little while where our defence had to get used to a new custodian every six months as the keepers were all on loan. Where this clamouring for Smith to be dropped comes from, I have no idea.

Anyway, other than that slip-up, Rovers were on top all game, really dominating Oxford in patches. No-one in the ground (or watching the big screen) could suggest that an away win wasn’t the right result. Kyle Bennett’s maiden Rovers goal and yet another cool finish from player-of-the-year-elect Ellis Harrison settled things. Oh and what an assist from Ollie Clarke for Harrison’s goal; his dinked ball over the defence, dropping into the Welshman’s path, is due to replace all previous definitions of the word ‘cheeky’ in future Oxford English Dictionaries, so how apt that he did it in the city of dreaming spires.

Our status as the comeback Kings of England was further strengthened with a home win against bottom club Rochdale on a bizarre Tuesday night. This one had it all; moments of genuine quality (Chris Lines’ screamer to win the game), moments of absolutely no quality (the first 15 minutes resembled two very drunk men swinging punches at one another and missing repeatedly), shambolic refereeing (the linesman being overruled by the official having seen a handball as Dale scored the opener), and, erm, George Galloway in the director’s box. Perhaps he’s part of a celebrity consortium taking over the club, along with other recent-ish guests, Kelsey Grammer and Noel Edmonds. This is Rovers, so don’t rule anything out.

We also saw the now-common sights of Liam Sercombe and Joe Partington scoring. Sercombe’s volley from Tom Nichols’ header-cum-cross was his 11th of the season, a brilliant return for a central midfielder. Parts went ages without a goal and has now got three in the last three home fixtures. This group really do not know when they’re beaten, and while some of the defending was poor, against a travelling side who should climb out of the bottom four before long based on that display, the character shown to come back not only from going a goal down but then from giving away the lead is a real positive.

So, tails up, and just five points off the playoffs, we head to AFC Wimbledon at the weekend. Rovers massively owe the Dons one, after the reverse fixture ended up in arguably our worst home league performance since promotion to League One and an easy away win for the South Londoners. Neal Ardley’s side are engaged in what is seemingly an annual battle with the drop – given what their budget must be, as the smallest club in the division, every season they finish outside the bottom five should be seen as a big achievement. This year has the added incentive of their arch nemeses, Milton Keynes FC (don’t call ‘em the Don’s, kids) being in a relegation scrap too. I hope it’s not patronising to say that sending their not-so local rivals down could rival the scenes of the 1988 Cup Final. Should Ardley and co. fail to avoid the drop this season, Saturday could be Rovers final trip to Kingsmeadow; a return to their spiritual home, Plough Lane, is on the cards for 2019, in a new stadium (not jealous at all, guys, not at all).

After being handed three points at the Mem, they’ve struggled, and after a brief period of improvement in January, normal service, e.g. failing to win, has resumed. They’ve lost all four games since the transfer window closed and given that we are now able to win on the road again, three points in front of another packed away following (and another packed bar watching live from BS7) is surely a probability.