Rovers were back in League 2 action this week when they travelled to the Heath to take on Elephant & Castle FC. The Whites were looking to put last weekend's British Sugar derby defeat behind them and, once again, try to kick start their disappointing season into life. Their cause was not helped by a poor turn out leaving them only 12 players to choose from.
Rovers knew they would be in for a tough afternoon as their hosts had already recorded a comfortable win against them a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly Rovers spent most of the opening period of the match on the back foot as the home side looked to pile the pressure on right from the kick off.
Despite their dominance in possession, E & C were unable to convert any of the chances they created and as the half ticked by, Rovers began to carve out 1 or 2 openings for themselves.
The deadlock was broken just after the half hour mark when a fine counter attacking move saw Andrew Clarke thread a lovely ball through to Martin Coverdale, who finished in fine style, slotting the ball past the home keeper to put the Whites ahead.
E & C continued to press hard for an equaliser and right on the stroke of half time they were rewarded for their efforts when a dangerous curling ball was fired low and hard into the Rovers area. Geoff Green did his best to cut out the cross but his stretching effort to do so ended up with him wrong footing Scott Glacken in the Rovers' goal and the ball ended up in his own net.
Boss Paul Jeavons was delighted with his side's battling 1st half performance and demanded more of the same after the break sensing that there was something to be had from the game if Rovers could play as well during the 2nd period.
The 2nd half was pretty much a carbon copy of the 1st, as again the home side continued to boss possession and look the more threatening going forward. Rovers were still restricted to hitting E & C on the break but they did continue to create 1 or 2 chances for themselves and did enough to keep the home side's defence on their toes.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, it was Rovers again who got their noses in front when another well worked move saw Justin McKenzie slip a lovely ball through to Jamie Maxwell, who created a bit of room for himself before unluckily seeing his fierce effort smash off the host's goalpost. The rebound kindly fell at the feet of striker Andrew Clarke, who then fired Rovers back into the lead from close range.
The home side then threw everything they could at the Whites in the last 20 minutes, as they went looking for another equaliser but for the most part Rovers dealt comfortably with their host's efforts to do so.
A fantastic away win for Rovers was then cruely snatched away from them with only minutes left on the clock when Rovers were unable to deal with an E & C long throw, something they had easily coped with all afternoon. The ball was flicked on and then bobbled about in the Rovers area before being slotted home from close range to level the match.
Despite being on the back foot for a lot of the game, Rovers were pleased with their battling performance and pleased with a point against one of the stronger sides in the division. They would have gladly taken a point from the game before kick off but were left a little disappointed to have come so close to taking all 3 points from the match.
Rovers return to the Heath next Saturday when they have the tricky task of taking on League 1 side, St Edmunds, in the 1st round of the Mick McNeil Cup.
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