Pre-Season: Yeovil Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers

Oliver Norburn scored Rovers' equaliser

It finished 1-1 at Huish Park this afternoon as Rovers upped their preparations for next season by taking on League One opposition. Rohan Ince scored from long range when Conor Gough appeared to dive over the ball, but Oli Norburn equalised after coming on as a substitute by lifting the ball over Marek Stech from just a few yards out.

There was no Matt Lund in the Rovers squad today as he's returned to parent club Stoke City to receive treatment on an ankle injury, although full-back Jim Paterson was back in action following a facial injury sustained in training a week or two ago. The major absentee from the squad was Mustapha Carayol, who finally looks like he will depart the club in the next 48 hours. He was originally named among the substitutes but as kick-off approached it became apparent he wasn't present at the ground and would play no part. Strong rumours suggest he is up in Middlesbrough finalising a move to the Championship club and a deal looks set to be completed on Monday. In terms of incomings, Chris Spittles of BBC Somerset implied that Rovers were set to make two more signings next week, with Garry Kenneth confirmed by Mark McGhee as one of them (I reported that he was a Rovers target here in the early hours of Friday morning: Garry Kenneth Linked).

McGhee set the side up in a 3-4-3 formation at the start and we managed to get in a few early efforts on goal. Yeovil grew more in to the game as the first half progressed, but it was an even contest and Rovers offered much more encouragement than their recent performance at Newport County. There were changes at half-time which appeared to work in the Glovers favour more so than ours, but it remained tight with few chances at either end. However the home side did manage to break the deadlock with a long range Rohan Ince strike which ran under Conor Gough's arm and in to the back of the net from 25 yards out. We had a distinct lack of attacking threat following David Clarkson and Matt Harrold's withdrawal, but just 4 minutes later Oliver Norburn linked up well with Joe Anyinsah to equalise from close range. The game finished all square and Rovers recorded their most pleasing pre-season result to date.

One real negative to take out of the game was the injury sustained by German trialist Fabian Broghammer, who was replaced half-way through the first half. At half-time he shook every player's hand which suggested he may have made his final appearance, but with Carayol's imminent departure looming, it's understood Broghammer will return next week and sign for the club.

Next up is a difficult trip to Tamworth on Tuesday evening before we face the big local derby against Bristol City at Ashton Gate.