Bristol Rovers 3-0 Burton Albion (League Two)

Joe Anyinsah set up Rovers' first before going off injured

Resurgent Rovers romped to victory at the Mem yesterday afternoon defeating third placed Burton Albion by three goals to nil. The sun was shining in north Bristol and a similarly bright start from the boys in blue saw us go a goal up inside 5 minutes courtesy of the returning Ryan Brunt. With a fair wind we'd have doubled, if not tripled, our lead in the following 15 minutes but we were unable to add to the tally. We did manage to in the second half though thanks to John-Joe O'Toole and Eliot Richards, who swept home right and left wing crosses respectively to put Rovers in cruise control. The Brewers failed to threaten much and the 3 points were deservedly ours.

The opening goal came thanks to brilliant work from Joe Anyinsah down the right hand side. He persisted with his dribbling inside the box and sent in a low ball which Brunt slid home in to the bottom corner to the delight of the 6000-strong crowd. It wasn't a lucky start by any stretch and Rovers continued to dominate and exert pressure on their promotion-chasing visitors. Anyinsah was playing havoc with their defence and in the next 10 minutes or so several efforts were blocked on the line or sent just wide of Stuart Tomlinson's goal - most notably from former Burton loanee Tom Parkes. We were never going to be able to play at that tempo for the whole game and Burton got in to the game a lot more as the half wore on. Billy Kee was trying to make things happen but he wasn't offered a sniff by Mark McChrystal and neither was his strike partner Michael Symes. The referee did what he could to provide them with opportunities, awarding free-kicks for very little around the penalty area, but fortunately our defensive walls did their jobs and blocked the efforts of Jacques Maghoma. Disappointingly Anyinsah had to be withdrawn due to a slight pull in his hamstring, which gaffer John Ward revealed post-match happens 'too often' for his liking, and our right wing threat was no longer as strong. Ollie Norburn deputised but was not as effective out wide and both teams were happy to go in at half-time with the score as it was.

The second half begun with our visitors looking stronger and although they had a lot of the ball they failed to fire any meaningful efforts towards Steve Mildenhall. He had to come and collect a few crosses but he didn't have to deal with anything too strenuous. Rovers ramped it up again as the half grew older and doubled the lead courtesy of midfield dynamo O'Toole. Norburn did well after receiving the ball from the excellent Danny Woodards in the box and he fired in an inviting cross which O'Toole gleefully steered home from 6 yards. We were so comfortable it was unbelievable and Gasheads could enjoy the game without that nagging feeling of fear that the opposition could come back in to it - that's how well the boys were playing. There was no real attacking threat from Burton and Rovers always looked like they could increase their advantage, which they did just 8 minutes later. The brilliant Ellis Harrison, on his home debut, beat a couple of defenders before cutting back a delightful cross which Richards pummelled home with his left foot high in to the roof of the goal. Tongue in cheek cries of 'we want 7' rang around the Blackthorn End as memories of our 7-1 victory over Burton from last season returned to our thinking but in truth we were just delighted with how well we were playing. Oumare Tounkara came on for his debut to replace the tiring Brunt and looked lively although he didn't have any real opportunities to trouble Tomlinson. He showed a good leap and a real athleticism in his approach but with Rovers in such comfort there was no real need for us to be too attacking and therefore he didn't see much of the ball.

The final whistle drew an entertaining game to a close, condemning Burton Albion to their first defeat in eight league matches and ensuring the Gas got back to winning ways after a spell of 3 games without victory. It was richly deserved and will give everybody huge confidence heading in to a big game with west country rivals Exeter City on Wednesday night. The Mem will be rocking and with a performance similar to the one displayed yesterday gives us a great chance of another 3 points.

Proud to be a Gashead!