Post by molloy on Sept 27, 2013 13:45:38 GMT
Gavin (Gk)
Phil
Luke
Lucas
Andy
Lee
Cooper
Stephen (c)
Ben
Liam
Alex
Subs
Ryan
Rob
George
With rovers still full of confidence they found themselves missing some key players with the travel santos with no recognised centre backs in the squad, the ever reliable full back Luke pushed into centre back to partner debutante Lucas for his first appearance for rovers,
The first half started as the previous the 2 games had with a slow start from rovers who were still trying to adjust to the 3G surface, santos started brightly knocking the ball around well and caused rovers problems their dominance was rewarded on the 10th minute as an unfortunate slip from full back Andy left Santos's right winger with plenty of room to pick his spot giving Gavin in net no chance, this seemed to kick start rovers back into life as they took control of the game passing it around well, wingers Liam and Ben started getting into to the game and really caused problems for the santos fullbacks, Liam's shot/cross testing the oppositions keeper, with chances going begging cooper was guilty of missing the best chance in the first half as the ball came across him in the box he failed to connect with it only 8 yards out but rovers didn't have to wait to long for the equaliser as some brilliant play from the left side and in particular Andy who turned the right winger with ease and passing the ball down the channel to Ben who cut it back for Alex who made it 2 in 3 games, santos offered very little reply as this point but did have a half chance just before the break as their striker attempted an overhead kick which was way off the mark, with half time quickly approaching santos handed rovers the best chance to go in front as a cross from the left wasn't dealt with landed to cooper who failed to get his shot off,
Coming for the second half the lads were surprisingly fatigued which might of been down to the surface but none the less rovers picked up where they left off in the second half as the passing was neat in the opening 10 minutes, with santos tactically changing strikers to a small lad with pace this offered more of a challenge to our solid defence as santos started using the long ball for him to chase but still the defence stood strong, after a lot of counter attacks from both sides santos took the lead undeservedly as goal kick from Gavin landed to a santos midfielder who carried the ball forward and had a hit and hope shot which caught Gavin off his line, after going 2-1 down rovers started to get sloppy giving the ball away on several occasions and even needlessly from foul throws and with the momentum with santos at this point rovers found themselves 3-1 down as rare mistake from Gavin gave the ball away to the opposing striker who squared for his striker partner to tap it in, just as it looked like rovers were out of the game they rallied together and piled the pressure on Santos's defence chances came and went begging as rovers tried to over play in front of goal, Andy came close as his messi like dribble beat 4 players but only for him to blaze over but rovers weren't to be denied a second goal as the pressure paid off as rovers were awarded a penalty for a santos hand in the area, with Stephen still carrying an injury to his foot Ben stepped up and didn't disappoint as he smashed it right down the middle, so with only 10 minutes left until the end rovers still believed they could get something from the game as rovers had santos pinned back in there own half with waves of attacks but santos held firm, rovers last chance came from a free kick on the left hand side as Ben tried a cheeky shot at the near post but only to see his effort come back off the post with keeper easily beaten, that moment proved costly as with seconds to go santos caught rovers on the counterattack and there striker sealed the 3 points with a last second goal.
Not a bad performance against the league leaders but rovers need to become more clinical in front of goal if they are obtain silverware this season.
MOM - there could of been 3 or 4 players to get this but I'm gonna choose 2 and it's our centre halfs Luke and Lucas, Luke brilliant at the back playing out of position and Lucas fantastic debut from him played like he'd been with us for years
Phil
Luke
Lucas
Andy
Lee
Cooper
Stephen (c)
Ben
Liam
Alex
Subs
Ryan
Rob
George
With rovers still full of confidence they found themselves missing some key players with the travel santos with no recognised centre backs in the squad, the ever reliable full back Luke pushed into centre back to partner debutante Lucas for his first appearance for rovers,
The first half started as the previous the 2 games had with a slow start from rovers who were still trying to adjust to the 3G surface, santos started brightly knocking the ball around well and caused rovers problems their dominance was rewarded on the 10th minute as an unfortunate slip from full back Andy left Santos's right winger with plenty of room to pick his spot giving Gavin in net no chance, this seemed to kick start rovers back into life as they took control of the game passing it around well, wingers Liam and Ben started getting into to the game and really caused problems for the santos fullbacks, Liam's shot/cross testing the oppositions keeper, with chances going begging cooper was guilty of missing the best chance in the first half as the ball came across him in the box he failed to connect with it only 8 yards out but rovers didn't have to wait to long for the equaliser as some brilliant play from the left side and in particular Andy who turned the right winger with ease and passing the ball down the channel to Ben who cut it back for Alex who made it 2 in 3 games, santos offered very little reply as this point but did have a half chance just before the break as their striker attempted an overhead kick which was way off the mark, with half time quickly approaching santos handed rovers the best chance to go in front as a cross from the left wasn't dealt with landed to cooper who failed to get his shot off,
Coming for the second half the lads were surprisingly fatigued which might of been down to the surface but none the less rovers picked up where they left off in the second half as the passing was neat in the opening 10 minutes, with santos tactically changing strikers to a small lad with pace this offered more of a challenge to our solid defence as santos started using the long ball for him to chase but still the defence stood strong, after a lot of counter attacks from both sides santos took the lead undeservedly as goal kick from Gavin landed to a santos midfielder who carried the ball forward and had a hit and hope shot which caught Gavin off his line, after going 2-1 down rovers started to get sloppy giving the ball away on several occasions and even needlessly from foul throws and with the momentum with santos at this point rovers found themselves 3-1 down as rare mistake from Gavin gave the ball away to the opposing striker who squared for his striker partner to tap it in, just as it looked like rovers were out of the game they rallied together and piled the pressure on Santos's defence chances came and went begging as rovers tried to over play in front of goal, Andy came close as his messi like dribble beat 4 players but only for him to blaze over but rovers weren't to be denied a second goal as the pressure paid off as rovers were awarded a penalty for a santos hand in the area, with Stephen still carrying an injury to his foot Ben stepped up and didn't disappoint as he smashed it right down the middle, so with only 10 minutes left until the end rovers still believed they could get something from the game as rovers had santos pinned back in there own half with waves of attacks but santos held firm, rovers last chance came from a free kick on the left hand side as Ben tried a cheeky shot at the near post but only to see his effort come back off the post with keeper easily beaten, that moment proved costly as with seconds to go santos caught rovers on the counterattack and there striker sealed the 3 points with a last second goal.
Not a bad performance against the league leaders but rovers need to become more clinical in front of goal if they are obtain silverware this season.
MOM - there could of been 3 or 4 players to get this but I'm gonna choose 2 and it's our centre halfs Luke and Lucas, Luke brilliant at the back playing out of position and Lucas fantastic debut from him played like he'd been with us for years