Looking ahead to Dover.... Top scorers.... Rovers:.......................Dover: Taylor......... 16.......... Payne..........15 Harrison...... 11.......... Murphy...... 11 Monkhouse...7........... Deverdics.... 7 Blissett......... 5........... Miller.......... 5 Mansell........ 4........... Essam.......... 4 Team goals... Rovers:.... Dover: 63............. 68 History... Played each other just once, ever! Earlier in this season which ended 1-1. Just a little bit too even for my likings! .
Form table for us and Barnet including the teams we still have to face! Pos.Team...............Pts...GD 01..Rovers..............14..+11 02..Barnet...............14..+10 08..Dover................10... 0 17..Gateshead...........6... -3 22..Kidderminster.....4...-7 24..Alfreton...............3...-9
Rovers only have tickets left for Alfreton home game available in family enclosure and east stand terracing. The terraced away end is now opened to home fans too so you can purchase tickets there too. Away fans will just be in the corner of the south stand. They been given just 100 tickets.
Our lads will do the business. There's enough experience and young legs out there to a good job. They've been doing it all season. It would be useful if Barnet slip up, though!
Clarke has imposed a media blackout on his players in a bid to help them retain their focus ahead of a game they must win at Dover to give themselves any chance of taking their title hopes into their own hands going into the final week of the regular season. Clarke said: “We are at the business-end of the season now and I just want the players to do their talking on the football pitch. I have got a very determined group of players in the changing room and I want to keep them in that zone and focused solely on their main jobs. We have had to forge a siege mentality inside the changing room at times this season and that has helped to keep us strong as a collective. I just feel that it is the right time to take the spotlight off them a little bit to help them concentrate fully on what we need to do over the next week or so. We have another big game in front of us tomorrow and the players can’t wait to get back out on the football pitch again. They have been at it in training and I’m surprised at how relaxed and confident they are considering the size of the prize we are playing for. The game at Dover is another pressure game for them, but they certainly haven’t given me any indication that they are going to freeze. We’ve played some pressure games recently and they have come through those with flying colours. It’s a game we know we have to win and we are leaving no stone unturned. We are fully prepared and have plans A, B and C mapped out to deal with every changing circumstance. Rovers face a tricky test against a Dover side that have won six of their last nine games and manager Chris Kinnear has exceeded all expectations in the season after gaining promotion from Conference South. Clarke said: “Chris has done a great job to get them to where they are in the season after winning promotion from Conference South. It is only recently that their chances of making the play-offs have slipped away, but I’m sure they will look back and be happy with the season they have had. To be on 66 points and to have been well away from the wrong end of the table for the most part makes Chris a good candidate for manager of the year. I know how he works and I know that they certainly won’t be doing us any favours at all on Saturday.” A defeat at the Crabble would put an end to Rovers’ title hopes if Barnet were to claim a victory in their game against Kidderminster Harriers at Aggborough. Clarke said: “We have got some big results and we’ll be going out and trying to get another one on Saturday. The pressure has been there from the first day that we returned for pre-season training and having to deal with that has stood us in good stead for games like this. We have had some big pressure games during the season and more often than not the lads have handled that side of things very well. Every time one of our players pulls on a Bristol Rovers shirt it is a must-win game and the way they have adjusted to that has been great. I certainly haven’t seen signs from any of them to suggest that the weight of the world is on their shoulders. There are different games that will bring different pressures that players have to adapt to."
A quick look at tomorrow's opponents! Bristol Rovers go into tomorrow's game looking to keep the pressure on league leaders Barnet with a win against Dover Athletic at the Crabble Athletic Stadium. Rovers: Darrell Clarke's men will be looking to get a vital three points in the race for the Vanarama Conference title. Team News: Only Stuart Sinclair and Neal Trotman are long term absentees for the fixture. Darrell's View: "It's been a difficult week but then they always are going to be come the business end of the season but we just can't wait for the game to come. "The whole squad is chomping at the bit and I'm sure the supporters are as well. "We've got some good momentum going into the game and we are fully prepared for a difficult game at Dover because they've had a fantastic season. I think their manager [Chris Kinnear] has done an excellent job considering their promotion last season. Opposition: Dover Athletic currently sit in 8th place in the Vanarama Conference Premier table having gathered 66 points from their 44 games. Before losing 3-1 to Chester last weekend, Chris Kinnear's side won three of their last four games including impressive wins against Eastleigh and Woking. Dangerman - Stefan Payne: Payne first came to prominence as a teenager when he was signed by Fulham after an impressive start to his career with Croydon and Sutton United. Stefan then had spells with Gillingham, Macclesfield before returning to Kent with Ebbsfleet. The Whites front man signed in the summer of 2014 after leaving AFC Hornchurch having scored 31 goals in 46 appearances for the Ryman Premier League side. Payne has made 46 appearances for Athletic this season finding the back of the net 16 times with 3 of those coming in his last 2 games. Last Time Out: Tom Murphy snatched an injury time equaliser for Athletic after Adam Cunnington redirected a Stuart Sinclair shot to put Darrell Clarke's men in front.
As the 2014-15 draws to a close Bristol Rovers head to the South East to face Dover Athletic in their final away game of what they are hoping will culminate in promotion. With Barnet one point ahead of the Gas, Rovers know that to give themselves a realistic chance of sealing the championship they will need to take maximum points. Dover’s own chances of securing a run at the play-off spots were reduced to zero last weekend when their 3-1 defeat at Chester left them 9 points behind 5th placed Forest Green. The Whites season got off to a dreadful start with just one point from their first three games. After winning their fourth game at the Crabble against Eastleigh they picked up just one win and six defeats in the following seven games. Just two defeats and fourteen victories in the next 20 games (including a 1-1 draw at the Mem) saw the Whites climb the table. The defeat at Chester came after Stefan Payne opened the scoring in the 36th minute after firing home Tom Murphy's header from Ricky Modeste's cross. The south coast team took the lead into the half-time break but within a minute Chester were back level. The equaliser came in the worst of circumstances for Dover goalkeeper Mitch Walker as Oliver McBurnie's weak close range shot slipped through his fingers following an impressive run by winger Matty Hughes. In the 59th minute the home team went ahead after Craig Hobson headed home John Rooney's corner at the near post. Fifteeen minutes later midfielder Rooney curled a 25-yarder past Walker to secure all three points. After the game keeper Walker explained that whilst he was wearing new white gloves he would not be wearing them again, however he admitted, “It wasn’t them that allowed them to score, it was the man wearing them. And to be honest, I don’t really know how I did let it go in – it wasn’t exactly smashed at me, he scuffed it. That caused the ball to spin a bit but that’s no excuse for it going in”. “There was nothing wrong with my technique either, I did nothing I would do any differently to in any given game. It was my error and seeing the ball roll into the net, in what was like watching it in slow motion, was terrible. I haven’t made an error like that for, I can’t remember to honest but that doesn’t make it any easier. Any mistake you make as a goalkeeper gets highlighted and unfortunately that’s the case for me now.” “But there is no point beating myself up over it. I’ve got to let it go, move on and focus on the next game. What’s happened, happened and there’s no changing that no matter how much I would love to.” Earlier this season Rovers entertained the Whites at the Mem on 4th October. The Gas went in front on 35 minutes, Lee Brown took his throw in quickly and found Dave Martin on the touchline, Martin’s cross into the box was cleared but only to Stuart Sinclair on the edge of the area. Sinclair lashed a shot towards goal that was going wide before Cunnington diverted it past Andrew Rafferty to open the scoring. Just when Rovers thought they had secured their sixth home win in a row the away team found the equaliser they were looking for in when Tom Murphy superbly dispatched the ball past Puddy and underneath the roof of the net from a corner. Dover boss Chris Kinnear believes his team will still play a huge part in deciding who does goes up, and who will do it as Vanarama Conference champions. After facing the Gas they then travel to fifth-placed Forest Green Rovers a week later. Talking about the Gas Kinnear said, “They are a massive, massive club and they have a following to go with it. They will bring over 2,000 fans with them. "It’s going to be like playing a cup tie and I am sure that the atmosphere will be electric because they are so close to possibly winning the league. Yes, it will feel strange with the visiting fans outnumbering ours, it will be like an away game but we’ve proved we can handle playing big away games this season. “We drew 1-1 with Rovers back in October and the lads loved playing in front of that big crowd. It’s all part of our learning curve because it wasn’t all that long ago we were playing in front of 400-strong crowds.” “They are flying and they are banging in goals while doing it. We know it’s going to be tough but that’s what playing in this league is all about. Playing against big teams like Bristol Rovers. Saying that, they know we’ll make it tough for them. Take it from me, we’ll be just as hungry as them to win.”
Should be on at the end of the first half work later on a Saturday now so I will be here at some point.
Dawson has been dropped for Blissett to start making us a 3 man attack. Dawson didnt even make the bench which would have been his last game for us. So last week was his last game for us.
Dover shot and appeals for handball off of McChystal but not given, thankfully. Rover counter attack and Brown makes the cross but easily dealt with by the keeper who kicks it out for a throw.
Harrison chasing the ball with the defender but defender went to ground as Harrison was tugging the shirt.
