Rovers began their league campaign with a home fixture against Wickhambrook FC on Saturday afternoon, where they were looking to put their disappointing pre-season behind them and get their season off to a winning start.
Rovers lined up with new boys Lee Glacken and Gary Radford both making their full debuts and with Peter Hailstone and Jamie Maxwell on the bench. Joining them on the sideline was Andrew Clarke, who mad a welcome return to the squad after an injury hit few months.
After conceding early goals in their recent friendly matches, Rovers were looking to make a more solid start and that they certainly did as the first 15 minutes of the game became a very tight affair, with both sides being limited to rare chances.
Rovers then began to take control of the game and within a 5 minute spell, created 3 good opportunities to take the lead but unfortunately all these chances went begging, as Rovers once again found themselves wasteful in front of goal.
It was just after this period that the deadlock was broken, but not by the home side. A long ball over the top seemed no problem to Rovers but Gary Radford failed to get the ball away from danger and the ball was nicked off of him and was slotted home, past Dave Clarke in the Rovers goal.
Rovers tried to pick themselves up from this setback and again were able to take control of the game and again create one or two openings but again were found wanting in front of goal when it mattered.
As chances went begging at one end, the visitors again hit Rovers on the break, when, sadly again for him, Gary Radford got caught in possesion and the wickhambrook striker was able to slot the ball past Dave Clarke for his, and Wickhambrook's second goal of the match. Unfortunately Radford was injured in the incident so had to leave the pitch and was replaced by Ange Clarke at right back.
This further setback seemed to unsettle Rovers and they were glad to hear the half time whistle, 10 minutes later, for a chance to regroup.
Manager, Paul Winstone, made one change at half time, as new boy, Peter Hailstone, replaced Alistair Clark in centre midfield, as Rovers looked to bounce back into a game they were still very much in, on their first half performance.
The second half was a far more even affair though as the match entered a period of stalemate where niether side were able to create any real chances. Rovers made their final change of the afternoon when Ian Murfit came on to replace Lee Glacken up front, on the hour mark, as Winstone tried to freshen things up a little.
Unfortunately for Rovers though, as the half went on, they began to tire more than their visitors and as they pushed forward in search of a way back into the game, they found themselves more and more exposed at the back and were fortunate not to fall further behind on a couple of occasions.
The final whistle came, much to Rover's frustration, as they were left to rue a string of missed chances and individual errors from the first half.
Not the start to the season that Winstone was hoping for but he, and Rovers, can take some positives out of the game, as they know the result did not match the performance and they now look forward to putting things right next weekend, when they travel to Bacton to face United on Saturday afternoon.
