Two Minutes With... Bristol Rovers

Last Tuesday evening saw us face our first opponents at The Hive, with recently relegated Bristol Rovers the visitors. In the opening instalment of Two Minutes With, Henry Burridge (@HJBurridge) gives his thoughts.

Tuesday 12^th August 2014
Barnet 2-0 Bristol Rovers
Akinde ’22
MacDonald ’43

Pre-match

How did you get to the game?

I grabbed a ride with a few friends. The traffic was surprisingly light and we ended up reaching The Hive about 5 o'clock!

What did you make of The Hive?

I thought it was a tidy little ground, if unspectacular. Getting there so early, we popped in the main bar beforehand and I was really impressed; I can't remember a bar at a football stadium that looks that good! With the other pitches and facilities around the ground itself, it's a great set-up for a lower division club.

If you went to Underhill, how did The Hive compare?

My dad grew up five minutes down the road from Underhill, so it always had a sense of nostalgia for me. It's always a shame to see grounds like that go as they have more character than modern replacements, and more so considering the way Barnet were forced out.

The Match

What did you make of the game?

From our perspective, it was pretty poor – we never got going in the first half and left too much to do after the break. I thought Barnet played some good football and a few Rovers fans have underestimated the quality of the Conference.

Who (from either side) impressed you?

John Akinde, sadly. Being a former Bristol City player - not to mention a poor loan signing for us - I could've bet my overdraft on him scoring. He took his goal really well and showed a lot of strength against our centre backs.

Who (from either side) could have done better?

Our manager, Darrell Clarke. He changed the formation and a number of the players from a reasonable display against Grimsby in our opening game. I'd imagine Will Puddy, who was making his debut in goal for us, will be disappointed with the second goal as well.

Post-match

Was the score line a fair reflection on the game?

Yep, we were too slow in possession and made too many poor decisions. You can tell that we had a disjointed pre-season. I can only remember us giving Graham Stack one proper test all night.

Who do you play next and how do you think you’ll do?

We lost 2-1 to Altrincham on Saturday and Clarke made a load of changes again. The goals we conceded were shocking and the result has really hit the fans hard; it's stirred up a lot of the unrest from last season again. We've got Telford at home this weekend and desperately need a result to get supporters back onside, although that might be a slow process.

Ratings

Price of match day ticket

5/10 - £17 for a standard end terrace always looks a bit steep, but it's the same at most grounds now. I'm going to miss getting student tickets this season...

Purchases made at the ground

10/10 - I ordered myself a bacon baguette from the main bar and was stunned to find it freshly cooked, packed full of meat and great value for money. Never eaten anything better at a football ground! Finding they serve Stowford Press was also a pleasant surprise.

View

7/10 - We stood at the back of the terrace, which wasn't too high but still nice and tight to the pitch.

Quality of football

6/10 - From our point of view it wasn't great, but Barnet looked a tidy side, even though we were resigned to the contest being basically over at half time.

Overall experience

7/10 - A new ground, good cider and naff football; it's a pretty standard Rovers away day!

Total - 35/50

Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part one

Accrington Stanley

Mel – @melstanley01

14^th in League Two – “Could do better”

We haven’t lost any major players, luckily we managed to keep hold of the likes of Amond, Nasalia and Hatfield –players I believe to be key this season. New signing Shepherd looks good.

I’m positive for this season and have fairly high expectations. I’m hoping for a push for play-offs or, at worst, a top half of the table finish.

The main game to look forward to is Rochdale’s return to League Two – for obvious reasons. In terms of moving forward, they’ll prove to be a test as they have a lot of our former players and management. From my point of view (like others), I think that’ll prove to be the most interesting game.

AFC Wimbledon

Rob

16^th in League Two – “Baptism of fire”

In the close season we released Jack Turner, Chris Bush, Fraser Franks, Gareth Gwillim, Bret Johnson, Jamie Stuart, Reece Jones, Ricky Wellard, Kieran Djilali; in addition to Ryan Jackson, Lee Minshull, James Mulley and Max Porter who were all told in January that they would be leaving. Replacements include a Venezuelan goalkeeper Jaimez-Ruiz, left-back Warren Cummings from Bournemouth and right-back Curtis Osano. We have permanently signed centre back Pim Balkestein, who was on loan last season as well as Angus MacDonald (defender) on loan from Reading.

I expect our Goalkeeper Seb Brown to have a good season along with Jack Midson who will hopefully top the goal scoring league. I expect this season to be very tough and anywhere outside the relegation zone would be nice and fancy a decent run in the FA cup.

I’m looking forward to a better trip to Barnet this season without the rain and thumping defeat. Wycombe is a ground I went to with Wimbledon FC so fancy a day out there too!

Aldershot Town

Rhys – @rhys9emberson

11^th in League Two – “Record breaking season”

We have lost our captain, fans’ player of the season and player of the season, Darren Jones, to Shrewsbury; as well as Straker to Southend. Our replacements – Sonny Bradley and Troy Brown – both were on loan last season. Troy has signed permanently and Sonny is on a season long loan from Hull City. We have signed Tonkin from Oxford as a replacement for Straker.

We have broken our transfer record this summer, signing Craig Reid from Stevenage and have so much strength in depth. In other years it’s been easy to predict the starting 11, but this season it is very difficult. My season expectations are to finish in the top half and once again challenge for the play-offs. I think we can sneak into the play-offs and maybe finish 7th.

On a personal level, my aim is to do 20 away games this season. The fixtures I looked for when they were released were Oxford away Wimbledon away as their both excellent away days normally; as well as the first and last game which are Plymouth and Rotherham away. Wycombe at home is always a home game to look forward to as it’s the return of Gary Waddock the man who guided us into the football league. Exeter is the first home game and I am looking forward to once again being on my beloved East Bank chanting for 90 minutes. I am also looking forward to York away and hitting The Stone Roses bar – and York will be a new ground for me.

Barnet

22^nd in League Two – “No real surprise”

We released a fair few players at the end of last season, most of which, were out of contract. Whilst a lot of players in May, the remaining players to depart left once the new manager (Mark Robson) took over. The stand-out players, for me, to leave would be McLeod, Mark Hughes and Sam Deering (who’s now at fellow League Two club, Cheltenham). We all knew McLeod would leave, and despite his goals in the first half of the season, he didn’t really seem to have his heart in the club anymore. We were all surprised to see Mark and Sam leave though, as both were influential last campaign, and Hughesy was our skipper (who kept us in the League with that winner at Burton!). Whilst we’ve not really found that 20-goal a season striker to replace McLeod, we have signed Jon Nurse (ex-Dagger) and Jake Hyde has returned to the club after a stint up in Scotland. We’ve also signed the majority of West Ham’s former youth squad, with the pick of the bunch probably being Ahmed Abdulla, who’s had league experience after brief loan-spells with Swindon and Dagenham.

I really don’t know how we will get on this season, but it’s fair to say, I don’t set my expectations very high after the last three seasons. Part of me expects a similar performance, riding chances and maybe even running out of luck! I’d be happy with anything above 18^th, to be honest. New manager, new squad and new philosophy, what could go wrong? It’d be nice to end our football at Underhill on a high, and have something to be happy about for once.

Like every other season, I’m looking forward to Northampton away – even though it’s on the final day! Our penultimate game is our last at Underhill, so I’m looking forward to that, although part of me will feel sad as I’ve grown up with the stadium for the last 18 years or so. York and Fleetwood, both promoted last season, will be new grounds and should be fairly good weekends, in very different parts of the country! Living in Essex, I suppose I have to mention the local games in Southend and Dagenham as well – not that we ever have much luck at either!

Bradford City

Tim – @tjroche

18^th in League Two – “Nearly a disaster”

It was sad to see Dave Syers and Simon Ramsden depart for Doncaster and Motherwell respectively. Both players were popular amongst the fans but unfortunately injuries meant they didn't get a chance to shine last season. The pair were offered new deals but on heavily reduced terms, so it was understandable that they decided to move on. I feel we have brought in some good replacements in Gary Jones and Nathan Doyle though, the latter is an especially popular signing after an impressive loan spell in 2006-2007. Our marquee signing is undoubtedly Andrew Davies. Having spent much of last season at Valley Parade on loan from Stoke City, it looked inevitable that his future lay much higher than League Two. However to our surprise he opted to stay with the Bantams, signing a one-year deal. He is a cut above at this level and will look to continue his central defensive partnership with last season's Player of the Year, Luke Oliver.

Despite our brush with the relegation zone last season, I believe that we possessed the nucleus of a potentially good team. We very rarely got beat by more than the odd goal so it makes sense that rather than making wholesale changes, Phil Parkinson has focused mainly on adding to the existing squad. For the first time in a few seasons we have not seen a large-scale 'clear out' of the squad so I feel that continuity could be a crucial factor in any success we have this season. Most of our fans seem to be enthused by the signings we have made and there is an air of positivity around the club once again. We have sold nearly 9000 season tickets and our supporters seem excited for the new season. Bearing all this in mind, I predict a finish of 5th for Bradford City.

League Two seems to have a more 'Northern' feel about it than in recent seasons, so there will be a nice selection of local trips for our fans. I am particularly looking forward to Fleetwood Town and York City. An early meeting with our old friend Steve Evans at Rotherham United is another to whet the appetite!

Bristol Rovers

Henry – @HJBurridge

(Henry J Burridge Journalism)

13^th in League Two – “Praise Lord McGhee”

Most of the players that we’ve cut were either loans or deadwood, the only real loss being winger Mustapha Carayol, who left for Middlesbrough after some Twitter shenanigans. Of the players Mark McGhee has brought in, David Clarkson looks the pick; assuming we can keep him fit he should rack up a decent goal tally in League Two.

Scottish centre back Garry Kenneth also looks a quality acquisition on paper after he was released by Dundee United, but we could still do with another player in central defence. The main issues are up front, we look very light on options and lack somebody with enough pace to frighten the opposition. McGhee has said he’s still in the market for another four players, and some experience in midfield would be especially handy, but he’s cutting it quite fine!

I’d like to say we’re going for promotion, but without some quick recruits I expect us to fall short. It’s difficult to see where the goals are coming from and we look rather flimsy in the middle but, with the right additions, a play-off spot would please most supporters.

As I’m at university in Plymouth, Argyle away was the first fixture I scoured the list for, and hopefully we might beat them for once so I can avoid more ridicule!

With Swindon going up last season Rovers have lost all their traditional local rivals, which is a bit of a disappointment, leaving Cheltenham as our closest opponents. It doesn’t quite have the same edge that games against Bristol City or Swindon do, but it’s a great day out and we’ll be sure to pack the away end.

Two minutes with… Bristol Rovers

Bit of a delay getting this instalment of ‘Two minutes with…’ up, but last Monday saw the visit of Bristol Rovers – the first game of 2012. And the year began well with an important three points and a clean sheet! Pirates fan, Henry (@HJBurridge on Twitter) shares his match day experience.

02/01/12
Barnet 2–0 Bristol Rovers
(McLeod ’69, Kamdjo ’80)
Attendance 2,537 (away 431)

How did you get to the game?

I got the train from Bath to Paddington, then having to get the tube along to Kings Cross for a train to New Barnet. I sorted my tickets well in advance and once I got to Kings Cross I found that the company had booked me on the weekend times, obviously thinking that Saturday services would be run for the bank holiday, so I had to wait around for an extra 25 minutes before catching a ride up to Barnet.

What did you do pre-match?

My dad is originally from London and grew up in Barnet, so it’s a trip I’ve always wanted to make. He lived on Leicester Road for a long time, so I walked along there from the station down to Underhill for a spate of sentimental family history.

Where did you sit/stand in the ground?

I stood on the away section of the East Terrace, towards the halfway line. Considering the situation we find ourselves in, there was a decent away attendance and I felt we created a good atmosphere, singing throughout with some, shall we say, fairly original lyrics – I never thought I’d be chanting ‘one Pat Butcher’ at a football ground!

What did you make of the game?

It was a pretty drab game, even by League 2 standards; you can tell why both teams find themselves on the precipice to the Conference. Rovers didn’t offer a great deal until the last few minutes of the first half, mainly due to playing Matt Harrold as a lone striker, which was an odd decision given the importance of getting a result against a team as close to us as Barnet.

Taking off Harrold at half time due to an injury was fair enough, but to continue hoofing balls up to his significantly shorter replacement, Scott McGleish, after the break was ludicrous and the ball kept coming back at our shambles of a defence. It was always going to cost us and eventually it did; neither central defender took charge of a standard ball forward, letting McLeod in behind for the opener, from there on Barnet never looked back.

To the delight of the Rovers faithful, Paul Buckle was sacked on Tuesday evening and, it’s fair to say, nobody’s going to miss him around here! We can get a new man in now and, hopefully, pull away from the relegation zone; Sean O’Driscoll and Gary Johnson have been touted as possible replacements, with the former being my dream appointment.

Was the scoreline a fair reflection?

Perhaps 2-0 was slightly harsh on us, but the way Buckle set us up meant Barnet were always going to have the bulk of the play. We’ve conceded nearly two goals per game in the league, so we were always likely to leak a goal at some point; we can’t really have any complaints.

Who, in your opinion was man of the match?

I thought the two Bees wide men, Marshall and Deering, were a constant thorn in our side and looked the most threatening players out there. We tend to struggle against pace and movement and every time they picked up the ball they looked to put us on the back foot, which is exactly the way to give us trouble

 A special mention, too, for Danny Senda. He put all his experience to use keeping Mustapha Carayol, our only consistent attacking impetus over the past few weeks, quiet. He spent the latter few months of last season with us and quickly became a fans favourite, so it was nice to see him come over to the East Terrace and applaud both sets of fans at the end.

Who have you got next and how do you think you'll get on?

Next up we’ve got Aston Villa at home in the FA Cup third round. With Buckle still at the helm, many fans were looking at the game with trepidation, fearing Villa racking up a cricket score live on ESPN, but hopefully the players will put in the performance of their lives to impress any potential new boss.

 There should be a near capacity crowd at the Memorial Stadium for the game and a chance to show an international audience what Bristol Rovers are about. The anticipation amongst supporters is building and with the visiting fans less than enamoured with their season to date, there is a good chance for us to get something out of the game.

Thanks Henry

You can also check out Henry’s blog here, and follow him on Twitter @HJBurridge

Match Report: Barnet 2–0 Bristol Rovers (Barnet fan’s perspective)

The New Year started well for the Bees with the opening game presenting three points and finally giving the fans something to be happy about. Needless to say, it was a fairly poor game against two evenly-matched, albeit, mediocre teams.

The Bees started the brighter of the two – the return of Man of the Match, Ricky Holmes, a definite highlight – his partnership with in-form, Izale McLeod always looked certain to reap rewards. On a different day, the home side could have been a number of goals up at halftime; however, McLeod had a tough time gaining and maintaining possession, as a result of a strong performance by the Pirates’ centre back, Cian Bolger. Rovers too, also had a fair few opportunities in the first period – Dean Brill pulling off a wonderful point blank save from Gary Sawyer. With And the Bees being unable to take advantage of playing down the slope, the score remained 0–0 after the opening forty-five.

After the break, Bristol Rovers brought on former Barnet striker, Scott McGleish – to a very good reception from the home crowd. He was, however, largely ineffective, playing as the lone striker; he squandered a chance, blazing a shot from 20 yards well over the bar, and out of the ground.

The deadlock was broken just after the hour mark, and it was the home side to take advantage of some poor defending by the Gas. McLeod, of course, netting his fifteenth League goal of the season. Pook’s long ball upfield was retrieved by a Barnet player, and after confusion between Bolger and Downes, the two players furthest back, Izale’s quick feet meant a simple lob over the Gas’ keeper. The Bees then looked resilient, whilst Rovers were depleted and it was only a matter of time before a second goal came. A short corner from Holmes, after much confusion in the penalty area, was drilled in by Clovis Kamdjo.

There was no way back here for the Pirates, with chants of “sacked in the morning” by the away fans, directed at manager, Paul Buckle, who has since, been relieved of his duties. Although the performance wasn’t great, and the team know they can do better, the Bees can be more than happy with the clean sheet!

Attendance: 2,507 (away: 431)

Starting line-ups:

Barnet: Brill; Senda, Hector, Downing, Saville; Marshall, Kamdjo, Hughes, Deering; Holmes, McLeod.

Bristol Rovers: Pook; Woodward, Bolger, Downes, Sawyer; Richards, Stanley, Dorman, Carayol; Harrold, Zebroski.

League 2 season preview - part one

I thought I’d do something a little different and after completing the Twitter92 a month or so ago, I thought it’d be apt to see what my fellow League 2 supporters thought about their aspirations and expectations for their teams in the coming season. Here is part one (of four):

Accrington Stanley

Mel – Twitter

“I think we will finish mid table at least. Although I still think we could do another push but will play safe.

Key players: Winnard, Coid and Barnett.

Looking forward to the local derbies, although not many this season. Games to look forward to: Morecambe & Macclesfield; as well as AFC Wimbledon, Port Vale, Torquay & Bradford. Not looking forward to playing Crawley.

We've started from scratch, but as always Coleman can turn nobodies into football players; no ownership battles this season is a plus. Hoping for decent referees this season, ones who keep the flow, keep on pitch & have decent eyesight - yes it may appear a bias whinge but this has been a big blight on our promotion pushes”.

AFC Wimbledon

Matt Griffin – Twitter

“Our manager seems to have made it clear that getting the 50 points to ensure survival is the priority. Anything else would be a bonus for us in our first season back in the football league, although I don’t think a mid-table finish would disappoint or surprise many fans.

Again we’re strong at the back, with Dons fan and playoff final hero Seb Brown between the sticks. New captain Jamie Stuart is enjoyable to watch and alongside him in defence is steady defender Brett Johnson who’s also likely to get a few goals. There are also a couple of youngsters worth keeping an eye on in Reece Jones and Brendan Kiernan.

Looking forward to a couple of decent London derbies again – the long trips across town to Dagenham and Barnet. Also personally wouldn’t mind stuffing Creepy Crawley.

Can’t wait for the new season to start. Just 9 years ago we were in the Combined Counties League so looking forward to some more great memories and fun away days out for this strange little SW London club”.

Aldershot Town

Laura Chiverton – Twitter

“Realistically I think this league will be fairly tough. I would like to think we will make the playoffs. The team has looked incredibly strong during pre season & are looking as strong as the end of last season.

Adam Mekki & Alex Rodman are the players to look out for and are both great players from Conference roots. Bradley Bubbs scored 40 goals last season & has set a target for this season’s campaign.

I’m looking forward to playing AFC Wimbledon. Terry Brown, our former manager was a true legend & gent. He left the club to care for his terminally ill wife before Waddock led us to promotion as champions.

I’m hoping that all clubs this season will spend & budget more wisely to ensure their football league status”.

Barnet

Ben Kentish – Twitter

“Who knows how we’ll fare this season! We've got what is on paper the best manager and backroom team we've had in quite a while, and we've kept most of the squad that played so well at the end of last season, but as ever with Barnet it's impossible to predict. I'd say lower mid-table has to be the minimum aim, and with a few more good signings and a bit of luck with injuries etc, a play-off push is a definite possibility.

Mark Marshall is probably the biggest threat to defenders, but new signings Mark Byrne and Sam Deering are both pretty skillful and will set up a fair few goals, plus score a few themselves I would imagine. McLeod and Kabba (when fit) up front must on their day be one of the best strike partnerships in the league, and in defence we've got a couple of good, solid centre-backs. We've actually got the backings of a pretty good side. 

For some reason I'm quite looking forward to playing AFC Wimbledon. It's a shame we've lost the Stevenage derby for this season, although I'm sure we'll be playing them against next year! But Pompey away in the Carling Cup should be a good one”.

Bradford City

Tim Roche – Twitter

“After the debacle of last season, when the hapless Peter Taylor very nearly led City into non-league, a mid-table finish would represent an improvement. New boss Peter Jackson has brought in a varied selection of youngsters and a couple of more experienced heads, so while the play-offs may just be beyond us in what is likely to be a transitional season, a finish of 9th place would be acceptable. This being our 4th season in League 2, our fans are now more accustomed to the reality that promotion might not always be a realistic target.

 Ross Hannah banged in a staggering 52 goals for Matlock Town last season, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in the step up to League 2 football. Mark Stewart, a striker from Falkirk, has also looked impressive in pre-season so City will be very hopeful of improving on last term’s dismal goals scored tally. Of the youngsters we have signed, the 16 year old Scott Brown from Clyde looks to be the most exciting prospect. Although he was brought in with the newly formed Development Squad in mind initially, there is every chance we will see him in the first team sooner rather than later as Jackson rates him as the ‘one of the best 16 years olds (he has) seen in a long time’. No pressure then!

 With the majority of League 2 teams being southern-based there will be some lengthy away trips for the City faithful. AFC Wimbledon should be a particular highlight, as away days in the capital are always fun and it’s a new ground to visit. There’s also the Carling Cup tie away to our dear friends Leeds United to look forward to in the first week of the season – it would be nice to get one over on them, especially as the game will be live on Sky”.

Bristol Rovers

Richard Crew – Twitter

“As it’s Bristol Rovers first Season back in League Two it’s hard to tell, but pre-season has gone well and I've got a lot of confidence in Mr Buckles ability. The signings we've made appear to be sound and the vibes coming out are positive so I have a sneaky suspicion we'll make the play-offs or better if everything gels quickly.

Gill, Zebroski, Virgo, Carayol and McGleish will be the key figures to look out for. I believe we'll be a team that entertains; Mr Buckle has an eye for attacking football judging by the signings and tactics he's employed so far.

AFC Wimbledon stands out for me as the big one, not because of any rivalry but simply because of Wimbledon’s history. I feel it’s an honour to be the club they play first on their League return. I hope it’s a classic for the present Sky Cameras. Of course the Derby games against Swindon, Hereford, Cheltenham and Torquay will hold some added spice as well”.