Great win. Good commentary and thanks for that! Also I would like wave goodbye to Torquay and York as they pass by to join the ugly black morass below us!!!
No problem mate. Despite what Bill Shankly said, there are more important things than football. What you achieved was ten minutes better than the BBC!!
A good, solid win. Harrison is exciting. if a little (understandably) naive...certainly one for the future. The French bloke created mayhem when he came on. His physical presence is something we haven't seen for yonks. Daft referee. McChrystal got MoM.....unobtrusive but gets the job done. Only just over 6,000.......surprising. Noise coming from the Uplands stand...shock horror..how dare they wake people up?! What a great bloke John Ward is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
im yet to see ellis as he has only been playing away and i missed today. looking forward to seeing him. as for the attendance, im not suprised. we were getting 4800-5200 each game. with JW joining and ticket offers, we been getting big crowds. no ticket offers today and we still manage over 1000 more than what we use to get this season. remember as well money is tight for everyone and 7 games in feb may have taken its toll on some and with 7 games in march 5 of which is home games, people may be picking their games
Match Report Rovers 3-0 Burton Rovers got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against Burton Albion at the Memorial Stadium this afternoon. Ryan Brunt opened the scoring on five minutes after a bright start from Rovers. Burton came back into the game, but Rovers showed effective resilience and John-Joe O’Toole and Eliot Richards both got their names on the score sheet in the second half. John Ward made two changes to the side that lost to Northampton in midweek. Ellis Harrison made his home debut for Rovers in place of Oli Norburn, while Ryan Brunt returned from injury to replace Tom Hitchcock up front. New signing Oumare Tounkara started the game on the bench. Ellis Harrison had the first effort for Rovers, shooting across the face of goal from the left hand side of the pitch. And on five minutes Brunt gave Rovers the lead – Joe Anyinsah crossed the ball in to the penalty area and Brunt fired home from close range. Rovers went on to dominate the game for the next 20 minutes, with Harrison forcing a save from Stuart Tomlinson in the Burton goal. Anyinsah then produced a great individual effort, making a break from inside his own half, but his shot from a tight angle fizzed across the face of goal. Tom Parkes had an effort from 12 yards out which was saved by Tomlinson, before Rovers won a string of corners and Brunt saw his header cleared off the line. Rovers were awarded a free kick for a foul on Eliot Richards, and the striker stepped up, but sent the ball over the cross bar. Burton then had a couple of corners themselves, before Billy Kee saw his effort from the edge of the box saved by Steve Mildenhall. Rovers made a substitution on 25 minutes with Oli Norburn coming on to replace Anyinsah who tweaked his hamstring. Burton started the second half strongly, and Rovers did well to weather the storm. Alex MacDonald had a chance for the Brewers from 20 yards out, which was easily saved by Mildenhall. Rovers made another change on the hour mark with Oumare Tounkara coming on to replace Ryan Brunt. The change had an instant impact, as Rovers doubled their lead moments later. John-Joe O’Toole got on to the end of a Norurn cross inside the box and found the net from close range. The second goal seemed to give Rovers renewed confidence, and less than ten minutes later, Eliot Richards made it three. Harrison, who was impressive on his home debut, did well to get the cross into the box and Richards fired home with his right foot. Mark McChrystal blocked a shot form substitute Calvin Zola, before Jimmy Phillips produced a cross that was easily taken by Mildenhall. Rovers made their final change with Jim Paterson coming on to replace Harrison. Norburn had a shot cleared off the line, while at the other end the visitors had a shot easily caught by MiIldenhall. With the clock ticking down Rovers held firm to protect their lead and record another clean sheet. Rovers again showed what they are capable of against a team challenging for automatic promotion, and the side were greeted with a fantastic reception from the fans at the final whistle. Rovers: Steve Mildenhall, Michael Smith, Tom Parkes, Mark McChrystal, Lee Brown, Ellis Harrison (Jim Paterson), Danny Woodards, John-Joe O’Toole, Joe Anyinsah (Oliver Norburn), Ryan Brunt (Oumare Tounkara), Eliot Richards Substitutes: Clayton McDonald, Adam Virgo, Conor Gough, Tom Hitchcock. Burton Albion: Stuart Tomlinson, Anthony O'Connor, Marcus Holness, Ian Sharps, Robbie Weir (Jack Dyer), Damien McCrory, Jacques Maghoma (Jimmy Phillips), Lee Bell, Alex MacDonald, Billy Kee (Calvin Zola), Michael Symes Substitutes: Dean Lyness, Andrew Corbett, Zander Diamond, Matthew Paterson, Jack Dyer.
Manager on Burton win John Ward was delighted to see his side secure a good victory against high flying Burton Albion this afternoon. The manager was pleased that his team managed to score three goals, although he insists they need to keep improving all the time. He said: “We are not going to stop at that, we are going to try and keep improving all the time, and I think we are. “What we have shown today is that we have stayed strong, mentally and physically, and I think that is really important. “The players have played pretty well even in the disappointing defeats, but today we have put a top three team to the sword, and I am really pleased with that “It was a very positive approach from everyone today. We got ourselves ahead and put ourselves in a strong position, and I told the guys at half time to not be afraid of winning. “They are a good side in really good form, and we have limited them in terms of the chances they had. “A lot of the games previously have been tight, and we have managed to score more of our opportunities today. “We put three against a good team and it pleases me that our forward thinking play has been successful today.” The manager is delighted to see his team growing in confidence. He said: “They are gaining in confidence, and they recognise now that they can play well against top teams, even though we lost to Northampton we played well and only lost by an odd goal. “We are right in there, we are earning that little bit of respect from people now. “We have stepped up a place in the division, but the one thing I won’t let happen is let us get complacent. “We have had to work really, really hard and be on our game. We have found that against any team, if we are on our game we will give them a tough task. “Today is a great result, but we have had to work exceptionally hard to get that, and that has been the crux of the way we have played since I have come in. That is what I demand from the team; win, lose or draw.” The manager was impressed with Ellis Harrison who caused Burton some problems in his first start at the Memorial Stadium. John said: “I see Ellis every day and I have seen him get a goal in this league already. He just wants to play football. “He has got power and confidence, and I knew it wouldn’t phase him coming in to play. “He ran out of steam a little bit, but he is going to be a very good payer, we just have to look after him properly.” The manager also confirmed that Joe Anyinsah was substituted because of a slight injury concern, but Ryan Brunt came through his return unscathed. “Joe has just tweaked his hamstring, which happens a little bit too often for my liking and his probably. “Ryan Brunt is fine, he may have looked a little bit rusty, but that hour will have done him the world of good.” And next up for Rovers is Exeter who visit the Mem on Wednesday night. John said: “They are a good team who pass it and play it really well. They will give us a different test, and hopefully we will give them a test. “It is a good game of football in prospect, and I am sure we can compete with some Champions League on the TV and get people down at the Mem again. “After today’s result I hope they would want to come here.”
