Bristol Rovers v Exeter City Matchday Thread

[Trapdoor]

Maybe one last thing how good was Hartridge last night outstanding

Think that's extremely generous. The defence conceded 3 goals. Admittedly 1 of them was almost unavoidable but the other 2 were pretty poor defensively. Hartridge played better than he has been of late but to describe the performance as "outstanding" seems hyperbolic?

 

[Colesman Ballz]

Think that's extremely generous. The defence conceded 3 goals. Admittedly 1 of them was almost unavoidable but the other 2 were pretty poor defensively. Hartridge played better than he has been of late but to describe the performance as "outstanding" seems hyperbolic?

Whereas your dismissal of his efforts seem more "carbolic" !

 

[SaintJames]

I still do not want him as our manager, but at the same time I am realistic he won't be going anywhere anytime soon and in essence I just want to be proven wrong, but I still have doubt as to him as a manager, they haven't gone away with one match.

I'm sure Gary can't eat his tea knowing you havent given him your ringing endorsement fella. We have just won a great game of football and yet you (and a few others) are so blinded by a perverse form of expectation or myopia that you still bang the same old same old boring carp. Just give the bloke a chance will ya

 

[Grecian2K]

Oldhamd away and Walsall home albeit they no idea the timings of the goals and they where 0-3 to 3-3

Of course there was also always that historical evening at Barnsley on 3 May 1977 when the Tykes raced into a three goal lead in just 10 minutes.?

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But of course we had Alan Beer (the Nombe of the 20th century) LammieLammieLammie (the Caledonian Timothee of his day) and, of course, the incomparable Kell's to send them away with their tails tucked further between their legs than a whipped whippet.

And I'm sure that if you buy him a glass of St Austell's finest next time you see him Sturtz will give you a minute by minute account - after all he was one of the "fingerful" of Grecians who made the long midweek trip back in those pre motorway days!

 

[grecIAN Harris]

It's the first chance I've had to say anything about last night post match. Mental, absolutely mental. The first half we were dominant and it seemed it was a case of when we got the third to kill the game off. Sam could have had a ten minute hattrick before the ref started making the game scrappy with free kicks and bookings that really weren't necersery. The only thing Rovers did of any note was forcing Jamal into a great save, which I'll come back to later, although I thought the Rovers player was offside. Having said that my view of the game completely changed when I got home (we were stood right at the very end of the terracing in the corner) and saw what actually happened in certain circumstances so I might have got that wrong also. For example, watching the way Bellfield went down for Collins goal we were all convinced it must have taken a deflection only to watch the highlights on Sky later and see that Bellfield might aswell have said to Archie, 'here you go, I've left a bloody great big gap for you to aim at'. I'd love to see what Pete would have made of it.
The second half started out in a manner that kept our confidence in getting a third would kill the game and then Rovers scored. A little disconcerting but we were still creating decent chances and pushing Rovers back and getting a third would push them back on the ropes again. And then they equalised. I can't remember whether it was the second or third that started from a crap decision by the ref not to give us a free kick in front of the away terrace for a very blatant shove on Jevani. The ball in was hung up for a bun fight and with some of the trees they had up front it was just begging for one of them to get on the end of it. Rovers get their tails properly up now and , as was alluded to in the post match with Mr C, the home end was sucking the ball towards them. And then on to the next bit of what we thought we saw was nothing like what happened. Rovers player goes on a run that none of the City seem capable of stopping until Josh Key appears to get across him and shields the ball out a goal kick (again, bare in mind where we're stood) only for the ref to give a penalty and Rovers take the lead. Having seen it back on TV, Key quite clearly takes the bloke out and it is a stonewall spot kick. We go again and start to turn push Rovers back but doom and gloom is amongst our gang of four............... apart from this bright cherub, me, who confidently predicts we're going to win 4-3. 'Nah, can't see it happening' was the standard reply. We're getting more and more into as the game gets more and more open. City are creating chances but he turning points comes with Chieck suicidal pass across the box, straight to Rovers striker and Jamal digs him out the biggest hole he has been in in his career. That goes in it game over but it didn't and we're still in it. And then Stanno gets around the back and dinks up a 'just off the green' chip on to Tim Diengs head and bedlam ensues in the away end. Back to end to end again, Stanno has a chance to win and fluffs his lines and then finally Jamal launches a big boomer down the pitch. It clears the Rovers back four, one bounce............ Bellfield's all at sea, Sammy's only got to get his head on it......... Sammys' got his head on it, bedlam x3 in the away end. There's still time for Stanno to put some real gloss on the score as he is put through one on one with Bellfield but again he fluffs his lines.
Two big points for me last night: First, those of you who still aren't sure about Blackman, compare and contrast the save he makes to Diengs goal. Both headers were pretty much in the same spot of the same six yard box. If anything, I'd say the Rovers header had more power on it. Jamal pounces on it like a panther and gets a bloody big paw on it to turn it away, Bellfield doesn't even get close to Tim's header. Then ask yourself would Bellfield, who is generally a decent shot stopper when I've seen him play, have got to Chieck's gift had he been in a similar situation.......... I think not. The Big Man has got down and ultimately given us the platform to go on to win the game.
Second, we've all been saying it for weeks and boy, did Super Sammy Nombe prove it last night. We carried a threat right from the get go last night and why? Because Nombe was up front to give us a presence, a focal point. To give the Rovers back line a pain in the arse all night with his hustling and harrying. We had somebody to give the ball to up front and knew that most of the time it would stick. Jevani had a runner in central areas to feed and he looked better for it. And Sam repaid it all by bagging a brace. I hope that's all sunk in Mr C as I'm sure we would have had three points on Boxing Day if he had started and we'll stand a better chance of getting three points on Sunday at Oxford by starting him.

 

[Bridgy 81]

It's the first chance I've had to say anything about last night post match. Mental, absolutely mental. The first half we were dominant and it seemed it was a case of when we got the third to kill the game off. Sam could have had a ten minute hattrick before the ref started making the game scrappy with free kicks and bookings that really weren't necersery. The only thing Rovers did of any note was forcing Jamal into a great save, which I'll come back to later, although I thought the Rovers player was offside. Having said that my view of the game completely changed when I got home (we were stood right at the very end of the terracing in the corner) and saw what actually happened in certain circumstances so I might have got that wrong also. For example, watching the way Bellfield went down for Collins goal we were all convinced it must have taken a deflection only to watch the highlights on Sky later and see that Bellfield might aswell have said to Archie, 'here you go, I've left a bloody great big gap for you to aim at'. I'd love to see what Pete would have made of it.
The second half started out in a manner that kept our confidence in getting a third would kill the game and then Rovers scored. A little disconcerting but we were still creating decent chances and pushing Rovers back and getting a third would push them back on the ropes again. And then they equalised. I can't remember whether it was the second or third that started from a crap decision by the ref not to give us a free kick in front of the away terrace for a very blatant shove on Jevani. The ball in was hung up for a bun fight and with some of the trees they had up front it was just begging for one of them to get on the end of it. Rovers get their tails properly up now and , as was alluded to in the post match with Mr C, the home end was sucking the ball towards them. And then on to the next bit of what we thought we saw was nothing like what happened. Rovers player goes on a run that none of the City seem capable of stopping until Josh Key appears to get across him and shields the ball out a goal kick (again, bare in mind where we're stood) only for the ref to give a penalty and Rovers take the lead. Having seen it back on TV, Key quite clearly takes the bloke out and it is a stonewall spot kick. We go again and start to turn push Rovers back but doom and gloom is amongst our gang of four............... apart from this bright cherub, me, who confidently predicts we're going to win 4-3. 'Nah, can't see it happening' was the standard reply. We're getting more and more into as the game gets more and more open. City are creating chances but he turning points comes with Chieck suicidal pass across the box, straight to Rovers striker and Jamal digs him out the biggest hole he has been in in his career. That goes in it game over but it didn't and we're still in it. And then Stanno gets around the back and dinks up a 'just off the green' chip on to Tim Diengs head and bedlam ensues in the away end. Back to end to end again, Stanno has a chance to win and fluffs his lines and then finally Jamal launches a big boomer down the pitch. It clears the Rovers back four, one bounce............ Bellfield's all at sea, Sammy's only got to get his head on it......... Sammys' got his head on it, bedlam x3 in the away end. There's still time for Stanno to put some real gloss on the score as he is put through one on one with Bellfield but again he fluffs his lines.
Two big points for me last night: First, those of you who still aren't sure about Blackman, compare and contrast the save he makes to Diengs goal. Both headers were pretty much in the same spot of the same six yard box. If anything, I'd say the Rovers header had more power on it. Jamal pounces on it like a panther and gets a bloody big paw on it to turn it away, Bellfield doesn't even get close to Tim's header. Then ask yourself would Bellfield, who is generally a decent shot stopper when I've seen him play, have got to Chieck's gift had he been in a similar situation.......... I think not. The Big Man has got down and ultimately given us the platform to go on to win the game.
Second, we've all been saying it for weeks and boy, did Super Sammy Nombe prove it last night. We carried a threat right from the get go last night and why? Because Nombe was up front to give us a presence, a focal point. To give the Rovers back line a pain in the arse all night with his hustling and harrying. We had somebody to give the ball to up front and knew that most of the time it would stick. Jevani had a runner in central areas to feed and he looked better for it. And Sam repaid it all by bagging a brace. I hope that's all sunk in Mr C as I'm sure we would have had three points on Boxing Day if he had started and we'll stand a better chance of getting three points on Sunday at Oxford by starting him.

In my relatively short time on Exeweb that’s the longest post I’ve seen by some distance.
What an effort, although to be honest I haven’t read it yet.
I will do though as it deserves some sort of response, whether positive or negative.

 

[Rosencrantz]

It's the first chance I've had to say anything about last night post match. Mental, absolutely mental. The first half we were dominant and it seemed it was a case of when we got the third to kill the game off. Sam could have had a ten minute hattrick before the ref started making the game scrappy with free kicks and bookings that really weren't necersery. The only thing Rovers did of any note was forcing Jamal into a great save, which I'll come back to later, although I thought the Rovers player was offside. Having said that my view of the game completely changed when I got home (we were stood right at the very end of the terracing in the corner) and saw what actually happened in certain circumstances so I might have got that wrong also. For example, watching the way Bellfield went down for Collins goal we were all convinced it must have taken a deflection only to watch the highlights on Sky later and see that Bellfield might aswell have said to Archie, 'here you go, I've left a bloody great big gap for you to aim at'. I'd love to see what Pete would have made of it.
The second half started out in a manner that kept our confidence in getting a third would kill the game and then Rovers scored. A little disconcerting but we were still creating decent chances and pushing Rovers back and getting a third would push them back on the ropes again. And then they equalised. I can't remember whether it was the second or third that started from a crap decision by the ref not to give us a free kick in front of the away terrace for a very blatant shove on Jevani. The ball in was hung up for a bun fight and with some of the trees they had up front it was just begging for one of them to get on the end of it. Rovers get their tails properly up now and , as was alluded to in the post match with Mr C, the home end was sucking the ball towards them. And then on to the next bit of what we thought we saw was nothing like what happened. Rovers player goes on a run that none of the City seem capable of stopping until Josh Key appears to get across him and shields the ball out a goal kick (again, bare in mind where we're stood) only for the ref to give a penalty and Rovers take the lead. Having seen it back on TV, Key quite clearly takes the bloke out and it is a stonewall spot kick. We go again and start to turn push Rovers back but doom and gloom is amongst our gang of four............... apart from this bright cherub, me, who confidently predicts we're going to win 4-3. 'Nah, can't see it happening' was the standard reply. We're getting more and more into as the game gets more and more open. City are creating chances but he turning points comes with Chieck suicidal pass across the box, straight to Rovers striker and Jamal digs him out the biggest hole he has been in in his career. That goes in it game over but it didn't and we're still in it. And then Stanno gets around the back and dinks up a 'just off the green' chip on to Tim Diengs head and bedlam ensues in the away end. Back to end to end again, Stanno has a chance to win and fluffs his lines and then finally Jamal launches a big boomer down the pitch. It clears the Rovers back four, one bounce............ Bellfield's all at sea, Sammy's only got to get his head on it......... Sammys' got his head on it, bedlam x3 in the away end. There's still time for Stanno to put some real gloss on the score as he is put through one on one with Bellfield but again he fluffs his lines.
Two big points for me last night: First, those of you who still aren't sure about Blackman, compare and contrast the save he makes to Diengs goal. Both headers were pretty much in the same spot of the same six yard box. If anything, I'd say the Rovers header had more power on it. Jamal pounces on it like a panther and gets a bloody big paw on it to turn it away, Bellfield doesn't even get close to Tim's header. Then ask yourself would Bellfield, who is generally a decent shot stopper when I've seen him play, have got to Chieck's gift had he been in a similar situation.......... I think not. The Big Man has got down and ultimately given us the platform to go on to win the game.
Second, we've all been saying it for weeks and boy, did Super Sammy Nombe prove it last night. We carried a threat right from the get go last night and why? Because Nombe was up front to give us a presence, a focal point. To give the Rovers back line a pain in the arse all night with his hustling and harrying. We had somebody to give the ball to up front and knew that most of the time it would stick. Jevani had a runner in central areas to feed and he looked better for it. And Sam repaid it all by bagging a brace. I hope that's all sunk in Mr C as I'm sure we would have had three points on Boxing Day if he had started and we'll stand a better chance of getting three points on Sunday at Oxford by starting him.

Good summary but I think you are getting your goalkeepers mixed up with serial killers . James Belshaw is a goalkeeper, Levi Bellfield is in nick for the rest of time (hopefully).

 

[grecIAN Harris]

Good summary but I think you are getting your goalkeepers mixed up with serial killers . James Belshaw is a goalkeeper, Levi Bellfield is in nick for the rest of time (hopefully).

I've only had two hours sleep in the last thirty six hours.......... give us a break.
Given his performance and that the fact that it was his injury that gave us the injury time to score in, Be!!end is probably a more apt name. I understand Joey Barton concurs with this notion (I've still yet to see his post match interview).

 

[Bridgy 81]

Two hours sleep in one and a half days!
I’m surprised you could keep your eyes open to make a post as long as that.
I think they had better treatment at Guantanamo Bay.

 

[Rosencrantz]

Two hours sleep in one and a half days!
I’m surprised you could keep your eyes open to make a post as long as that.
I think they had better treatment at Guantanamo Bay.

Don't worry Bridgy, he had the equivalent of two tonnes of sherbet last night watching that game and will be still running on the after effects. He will crash out some time around 8.30 this evening by my reckoning.