After their Suffolk Primary Cup exit at the hands of Mildenhall United FC last weekend, Rovers returned to League 2 action with an away trip to face Wortham FC, where they looked to continue their good start to their league campaign.
The Whites welcomed back Andrew Clarke to the heart of defence in their only change from last Saturday's side.
Rovers started the match very poorly and were unrecognisable from the side that had not lost in League 2 since the eventful opening day of the season. The whites were 2nd best in most departments, and they were punished accordingly, as the hosts stormed into an early 2 goal lead.
After going 2 goals behind Rovers improved slightly, although were still a shadow of their usual selves, and managed to get to half time with no more damage done, as the 2 sides cancelled each other out for the remainder of the half.
Boss Paul Jeavons gave Rovers the kick up the backside they deserved at the interval and tried to instill a little more belief in them, sending them out for the 2nd period knowing that the next goal in the match was crucial and if Rovers did get themselves back into the match then they were more than capable of going on to claim all 3 points.
Jeavons words seemed to have a instant response as Rovers upped the tempo after the break and they started to dominate the early exchanges.
On the hour mark Rovers finally got on the scoresheet when substitute Harry Bell headed in at the far post to halve the deficit and give the Whites hope of a 2nd half comeback.
The goal spurred the visitors on as they continued to have much the better of the 2nd period and had their hosts on the back foot for the most part.
Despite all their possession though they were still guilty of making the wrong decisions in the final 3rd and were especially guilty of being caught offside far too easily, as they went looking for an equaliser.
The match then started to take a very unsavory turn, unfortunately due mainly to the poor behavior off the pitch from both the Wortham management and the Rovers sideline, resulting in the Wortham manager and a Rovers onlooker exchanging words at very close quarters with each other midway through the half.
Rovers did continue to have much the better of the 2nd half but continued to waste their chances. They were made to pay for their wasted opportunites 10 minutes from time, when Wortham caught Rovers on the break to go 3-1 up.
The Whites continued to press despite yet another setback and scored again 5 minutes from time thanks to a great Tom Tawell strike, who netted for the 6th time this season.
Despite their 2nd half domination they were beaten by the clock in their attempt to find an equaliser and left Hepworth empty handed which on the whole their performance deserved.
It was a hard pill for Rovers to swallow in a fixture that was, on reflection, certainly 3 points dropped. The little positive that they can take from the match is that they did play so poorly on the day and yet only ended up losing the game by 1 goal.
They must recapture their early season form next weekend and look to bounce back straight away, when they host Ram Meadow Res FC in League 2.
