Another Home Loss

Chris Zebroski scored the winning goal

Rovers succumbed to a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Cheltenham Town last night in a game that neither side really deserved to win. Our visitors were as good/bad (delete as appropriate) as we were and whilst we didn't do enough to score a goal, neither did they. We gifted them the opportunity to run at us from wide areas and it ultimately lead to their first half goal from former player Chris Zebroski. Typical that his only goals this season have been against Torquay and Rovers, his former clubs. Couldn't score for us last season could he?!

He was subject to intense chanting and bad-feeling from Gasheads who reworded the song they affectionately sung for him last season in an attempt to insult him. It was loud and quite nasty at times in the second half but, to his credit, Zebs didn't react to it and carried on playing with his head down. We all appreciate he's not a good footballer but he always tried his best for the club and didn't deserved the abuse he was getting. He's clearly still not very good but his performance was exactly as Cheltenham wanted it to be yesterday - clumsy but direct. It worked for them.

Aside from that and there's not much to comment on from our point of view. We started energetically and took the game to them but despite some intelligent interplay from Derek Riordan and David Clarkson we couldn't muster much of a chance. There were encouraging signs and you could sense that a goal was there for us if we continued to play at that pace. Unfortunately we didn't. We allowed them back in to the game and they fashioned a couple of half chances from distance. Oliver Norburn went close with a low effort and a couple of crosses from Clarkson and Fabian Broghammer caused problems but didn't lead to a shot on target. They managed to get their noses in front when Zebroski diverted the ball home from close range before celebrating like he'd won the FA Cup.

Second half and the only real talking points were the tasty challenges being made by both sides. Robins winger Jermaine McGlashan was strongly tackled by Jim Paterson in the first half and held a grudge for the whole game, trying to foul him whenever possible. On another day with a half-decent referee (which probably won't ever happen) he'd have been sent off. Adam Virgo also made a late challenge on Zebroski that received warm applause and much laughter from Gasheads around the Mem. It also received a yellow card but it was the highlight of the second half! Zebroski not only ended up 10 foot in the air, but he must have twisted several times in the process - good old fashioned sliding tackle!

But the overriding feeling at the end was disappointment. We weren't outplayed or carved open at the back, we just gifted them one opportunity to score and they took it. We seem incapable of breaking down a team who set up with 10 men behind the ball and whilst it remains something we can't handle teams are going to come here and do it. We need to get over this hoodoo and take the chances we're creating before we fall too far adrift of other teams. Mark McGhee and the boys need to work hard to make sure we can put things right against Northampton Town on Saturday, a win is a MUST.