AWAY THE GAS
BY DARREN STOBBS
Ahead of our trip to Accrington Stanley it was noted that we had never won at The Crown Ground, having played there eight times since 2006.
In fact, we have only managed two draws there and only won three matches overall in 17 meetings with the Lancashire outfit.
It’s strange that these unwanted statistics seem to carry on throughout the years against ‘bogey’ teams for many up and down the country. This despite different players and managers representing different clubs over many years.
We set off from The Mem just before 8.00am on a near sold out coach, anticipating to put an end to our recent poor form, which has seen us go from top of the form table before Walsall away, to bottom of the form table.
Accrington themselves were not on the best form, so we saw it as a game to get back on track.
We stopped at Sandbach services for 45 mins and then took to 40 questions of Martin’s latest quiz, which we decided to do on the way, in case everybody was in a bad mood after the game!
A well set out quiz with a range of questions for all abilities made the last part of the journey fly by. A special mention to one of our passengers, a gentleman who was back in the Bristol area, having flown over from Perth, Australia and took the opportunity to travel with us before heading back to the place he now calls home.
We arrived at The Crown Ground at 12:10pm.
In past seasons I have always gone to ‘The Crown’ pub next to the stadium, but got to know in advance of the Supporters Club bar at the ground.
Accrington has always been a welcoming place and today was no different. The club bar was well populated with many Gasheads deciding that this would be their pre-match go to place. A range of drinks were on offer, which included a local beer called Hen Harrier. Also on offer was a pie with mushy peas and gravy for £4.35p.
The bar was very well presented and does Accrington proud. One fan mentioned to Martin that if it wasn’t for the away fans support, then they would likely fold as a club. Home support is regularly around the 2,000 mark, with big clubs like Burnley and Blackburn around the corner.
I heard one Stanley fan mention about the amount of Rovers fans in the bar was amazing, although a little upset not to be able to find a seat!
I found it brilliant, yet also amusing, that nearly every Accrington fan that walked in had a club scarf proudly around their neck. It must be a kind of ritual there!
Another thing to mention, Martin had noticed a fan from the ‘other’ team across town in the bar. Having sporting their shirt under a top. Apparently he had moved up to the area and no doubt he was in the home end! Another of our own fans had noticed it and said ‘Isn’t that supposed to say Est.1982 on your shirt!’, he certainly put himself in a position to come under a bit of stick! I thought to myself, it’s amazing, you come all this way and still come across someone from the red side!
Pies inside the ground were priced at a very reasonable £3.60p and you have just got to choose a meat and potato pie from this part of the country!
On to the match and a card with a big poppy on was given out to everyone who entered the arena. This was to be shown as the players entered the field, ahead of a short Remembrance Service.
The first half was a slow start for ourselves and it was beginning to pan out to be another poor performance. We went 1-0 down when a low cross was put in from six yards out. All too easy from a Rovers perspective.
As the first half was drawing to a close we were beginning to put some decent moves together, but the whistle soon brought the half to a close.
The second half was more of the same, not being able to get any rhythm to our game.
However, we got a goal out of the blue through a superb strike by Kamil Conteh from 25 yards out into the bottom left corner.
Having been given a lifeline, we were unable to build on this and Accrington were soon back in front when the ball hung in the box and was put in from close-range.
It was then 3-1 when a good save by Brad Young was then headed out into the path of Isaac Sinclair and he placed the ball into the far left corner, on the angle.
We looked very weak at both ends of the pitch and a standout player from the home team was Farrend Rawson in central defence. He is a no nonsense defender who did all the basics right and won all the battles. He also got the home team’s Man of the Match. It was hard to pick a Man of the Match for Rovers, but a very much improved player from last season and now showing the correct attitude in the blue and white quarters shirt is Shaq Forde, he was always trying to make things happen when given the chance.
ATT: 2,558 with 445 Rovers fans.
We left Accrington at 5:15pm and with a 20 minute stop at Strensham Services, we were back at The Mem at 9.00pm.
I have said a number of times that Darrell needs to field a team of all his own players, which is difficult with a number of players still on big contracts from the disaster of last season – so that is easier said than done.
However, my own opinion is that a lot of them are not up to the challenge of the expectations at Rovers this season. Firstly we need to get the number of points required to stay up – this is the reality of the current situation. However, if we can stay within 10 points of the top seven positions by the January transfer window, then we still have a chance of going up.
That does seem a long way off at the moment. Thinking of Darrell Clarke’s double promotion teams in the past, I am convinced they would comfortably beat the current team before our eyes – so I am sure Darrell knows what is required.
Whether he gets that chance is another thing, as he rightly pointed out himself that he knows if you continue losing matches then the obvious will happen. That would be a great shame, after the lift we all got in the summer with his appointment. A lot of teams have appointed new managers, notably Cheltenham our next opponents, with a big upturn in results. That is already looking to be a huge match, with them lurking just behind us in the league table.
Then the news on the way back to Bristol that Newport had dismissed their manager – so maybe watch out for a response over the bridge in Wales.
It does seem that when Rovers have recently appointed a new manager the opposite seems to happen and we go backwards before we can go forwards.
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