After a run of one point from four games, concern amongst Bristol Rovers supporters had heightened and optimism that the Gas would survive relegation was more scarce than before. However, a battling, gritty display against play-off hopefuls Huddersfield Town led to a 1-0 win that once again reignited belief that Rovers will have enough to beat the drop.
A bright start from Huddersfield mixed with record signing Promise Omochere having to come off injured six minutes into his first start since returning from injury (no, you cannot write it) made it a slightly nervy start for the hosts.
However, after their first flurry forward, the Gas capitalised on a poor Terriers clearance as Clinton Mola headed into the path of Ruel Sotiriou who fired past Lee Nicholls to hand his side the lead after 10 minutes.
For the remaining 80 minutes, Rovers showed endeavour and determination in abundance, something that supporters should expect as a minimum but haven’t seen on enough occasions this season. They had enough chances to score a second while Huddersfield went close a couple of times themselves.
Unlike the 3-1 victory over Barnsley two months ago, there was no suggestion that the Gas didn’t deserve to win. As Inigo Calderon detailed post-match, his team seemed to want it more than their opponents.
It wasn’t a pretty game by any stretch but it was certainly action packed and could be reflected on in May as extremely significant.
Here are some of the stand out talking points…
Ruel Sotiriou’s home comforts continue
As one of the major signings of last summer, it’s fair to say that Ruel Sotiriou’s Bristol Rovers career took longer than hoped to get going. Now though, the 24-year-old has four goals in his last six appearances at the Mem as his good form on home turf continued.
The former Leyton Orient man has played a number of positions for the Gas during his time in BS7 and had actually started as an eight before Promise Omochere’s withdrawal. Because of the Irishman’s injury though, you would expect that we regularly see Sotiriou positioned up front for the remainder of the campaign.
It is no coincidence that the Cyprus international’s improved form has come since the arrival of Inigo Calderon who has seemed to trust the forward more than his predecessor did for whatever reason.
It hasn’t just been the goals though. In the last handful of matches, away from home too, Sotiriou’s workrate has been much improved and now he is starting to win over supporters after a tough first couple of months at the Mem.
A memorable day for the Bristol Rovers academy
If you had said pre-match that Kofi Shaw would get on the pitch it wouldn’t have come as much of a surprise considering the 18-year-old has often been deployed on the bench since being recalled from his loan spell at Yeovil Town. However, the inclusion of 17-year-old Ollie Dewsbury on the bench as well as the fact that the teenage striker got on the pitch wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card.
By the end of the game, Bristol Rovers had four academy graduates on the pitch with Jed Ward and Scott Sinclair both playing the full 90 minutes.
It means a great deal to the club to have one academy graduate on the pitch for the first team but to have four will have seen their hearts burst with pride.
On the inclusion of the teenage duo, Inigo Calderon told Bristol Live post-match: “I spoke this morning with the head of academy coaching and I asked him about the best position for Ollie because I’ve obviously been watching him but just in training.
“But listen, I like the way a lot, Kofi as well, that’s why they’re here. They are not free appearances for them. I say I don’t think that’s fair for them to come on too early. They have to understand that they’re not ready because otherwise it’s gonna be a problem.
“I think it’s important that they have their feet on the floor because I don’t think they’re first-team players yet. They are more than welcome, but we have to protect them.”
An unhappy Mem return for Antony Evans
You never quite know how returning players will act coming back to their former club, likewise the response of supporters is always tricky to predict. However, respect was certainly mutual between Antony Evans and Bristol Rovers fans as the now-Huddersfield Town midfielder returned to the club he called home for three seasons.
The 26-year-old produced some decent free-kick and corner deliveries but largely had a quiet game on the ball as Huddersfield failed to produce anywhere near their best on what was a forgettable return to the Mem for Evans.
However, he still took the time to applaud supporters at all ends of the ground after he had first gone over to the travelling Terriers following the full-time whistle which was clearly appreciated.
It was, and will be again on Tuesday night, the same when Aaron Collins first came back with Bolton Wanderers last season. Even after he had scored, supporters clapped their former forward off of the pitch. Always nice to see.
Best Mem atmosphere since Inigo Calderon’s arrival
The cliche of “the 12th man” has been thrown around plenty of times lately amid Bristol Rovers’ much improved home form. However, it hasn’t been more prevalent than against Huddersfield.
For the vast majority of the 90 minutes, Gasheads could be heard making a racket and, at times, the decibel levels were approaching deafening. Unfortunately, stats sites such as OPTA don’t measure such figures but, if they did, Saturday would no doubt rank towards the top end of the chart for Rovers’ season.
It clearly made a difference and helped players in blue and white maintain their lead, having found it so early on. That has to be the standard for the remaining six home matches.
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Asked whether that was the best atmosphere since his arrival in BS7, Inigo Calderon told Bristol Live: “ Probably, I would say the top one. It’s true that I liked so much the first one against Leyton Orient because I will always remember this one. But it’s true I felt the fans that were with us.
“I had some friends from the Basque country, from Vittoria today. They came to watch and they were impressed with the noise and I think it’s really good for the players to feel that for the fans.
“Like I always say when we play at home, to create that and the fans coming here and leaving the ground with a smile on their face, that’s everything we can do.”
A huge day in the battle to survive
It feels as though we may well be saying this after every Saturday between now and the end of the season but, once again, that was another massive day down the bottom end of the League One table as Bristol Rovers extended their advantage above the bottom four to six points.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Burton Albion to get a result against League One’s form team Bolton Wanderers and, although they had managed to equalise against the Whites, they fell short, losing 2-1 at the Pirelli Stadium ahead of Bolton’s visit to the Mem on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, defeat for Shrewsbury Town at Exeter City made it even more difficult for the bottom side to survive the drop as they went 11 points from safety. Additionally, Exeter were handed a boost to their own survival hopes.
Elsewhere, Peterborough United and Crawley Town played out 1-1 draws at home to Wycombe Wanderers and Reading respectively while Cambridge United were beaten 1-0 at Wigan Athletic. There was also a massive away win for Northampton Town at Leyton Orient.
Realistically, it looks as though Burton are the team to ensure Rovers stay ahead of with it looking increasingly tough for Shrewsbury, Cambridge and Crawley to overcome pretty sizeable gaps to safety. Nothing has been decided yet, of course, but the Gas have a bit more breathing space again.