Bristol Rovers 2 Cambridge United 1

 On Saturday we took the long trek across country from Ely to Bristol. Another weekend of train strikes and no other games that were remotely interesting anywhere that we could have got to led to us making this decision. That said, I had been planning one mental away trip and as this one was at least winnable on paper it seemed like worth going to. However, taking the coach did mean that we left at 7:30 am and got back at midnight.

The Bristol Rovers ground is  worth a visit, if just because it is so weird. Understandably the one stand looks like a rugby stand given that for most of its history Memorial Stadium was the home of Bristol Rugby Club. 

The stand opposite the away end at least resembles a traditional terrace


To the left of the away end is something that looks more like a cricket pavilion

And then you have the away stand and one next to the cricket pavilion that look like the type of temporary seating that you might see at a carnival or parade.

As for the football, as I've already said a game against Bristol Rovers at least looked winnable. Even though Cambridge have hit a poor run of form losing to Derby, Barnsley and Ipswich isn't something to worry too much about given they are amongst the favourites to go up. Losing to Bristol Rovers and the manner of the loss is something that might cause more concern though.

Cambridge started off really poorly and a 17th minute own goal by Greg Taylor that gave the hosts the lead was something that had been coming from kick off. The first half carried on with Bristol Rovers dominating, but somewhat against the run of play, Sam Smith found himself in the box. Rovers' keeper Belshaw brought him down and Joe Ironside put it in the back of the net. However, the ref had blown his whistle, so the goal didn't count and Joey had to put it in from the spot. somehow the Us were going in at the break on level terms.

The second half started off a bit better for Cambridge and they had some pressure despite Bristol Rovers having a decent shout for a penalty. Nevertheless, they were set back again with a good goal from Josh Coburn on 56 minutes. For the rest of the game Cambridge had a few chances, but never really got back in it and it finished 2-1 for Rovers.

Mark Bonner is still doing a good job, but with Sheffield Wednesday and Posh coming up, it could get worse before it gets better. The defence seems a bit disjointed at the moment too, and I am not sure if he knows who he wants there. The problems seem to stem from there and as well as some errors, they aren't building from the back like they usually do. I am also not sure why further up the field Saikou Janneh wasn't introduced, given what we have seen from him when he's been introduced the last 30 minutes of the game were probably made for him. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boca Juniors shirt history

Image
The first game that I will be at on Sunday sees Boca Juniors take on Paris Saint Germain. I have always wanted to go and see Boca Juniors and I can't see me getting over to Argentina any time in the near future, so I am going to have to make do with seeing them in North London. On my travels I have met plenty of Boca fans, but funnily enough they have all been Russian or Ukrainian. I am a bit disappointed that Martin Palermo has now retired, but I am still looking forward to it. Obviously to do justice to the club history of Boca Juniors I'd probably have to write a book, so here's a quick history of their kit and colours instead. When Boca were formed in 1905 they originally played in pink, but obviously came round to thinking that this was a bad idea and changed to a light blue colour later in the year. They didn't stick with this shirt for very long either and for the 3rd time in a year decided to change the shirt colour, this time to black and white stripes. The fol
Read more

shirt history AS Roma

Image
Roma were the club that I followed in Italy and although they are most famous for wearing red and yellow, hence the nickname giallo rosso the club didn't always wear those colours. AS Roma were formed in 1927 by a merger between SS Alba-Audace and Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS with Italo Foschi being the driving force behind the merger. AS Roma could also trace their lineage back to FBC Roma who were formed in 1901 and who wore red and yellow, but the first shirts they wore took the red, white and blue of Fortitudo-Pro Roma. Roma soon established themselves at the top table of Italian football and in 1931 finished runners up to Juventus and by now had settled on red and yellow as their colours. However, you'll have to take my word for it because the picture below shows Attilio Ferraris in black and white. In 1942 Roma went one better and won their first Scudetto with Amadeo Amadei scoring 18 goals to help them secure the title. Pictured below he is wearing the change shirt with a repl
Read more

Sud Tribune, Dortmund

Image
The Sud Tribune at Westfalen is famed for the noise and support that it gives the BVB team. They started up early and carried on until well after the match had finished despite the poor result. At the end the team looked suitably disappointed when they thanked the fans. Nobody apart from the Hannover fans probably expected 96 to win. Hopefully better times for the Sud Tribune are just around the corner.
Read more