AWAY THE GAS
BY DARREN STOBBS
For the first time in a number of years the Supporters Club was able to provide transport for an EFL Trophy away game.
It was made possible thanks to our Community Trust who, as they did last Saturday for the trip to Walsall, allowed us to use their minibus to take supporters to the game. Once again, we thank them for their generosity.
We left The Mem at 4:15pm and went straight to Cheltenham, arriving at 5:20pm.
Parking at Whaddon Road with coaches never seemed to be an issue in the past, but like some other grounds we have visited, it seems the stewards were not informed where a coach goes at their ground! In the past we parked outside the ground, never in the main car park, which, apparently, has to be pre booked, in spite of the fact that there were a number of empty spaces in it!
And so our coach driver decided to drop us off and return to pick us up once the match had finished.
In the past I have used the main Supporters Club bar at the ground, but on my last visit I went to the ‘Parklands Social Club/Community Centre’ next to the ground.
The steward who directed the coach said we could use the Supporters Club inside, or the away Fanzone outside (uncovered). However, on trying to gain entry to the inside bar, we were told that it wasn’t for Rovers supporters. I was surprised as we have used it many times before.
This is the first refusal so far at an away ground this season, but we have the same policy at The Mem. I have never been in favour of this, as we are welcomed to many other club bars up and down the country.
We then decided to make our way to the Social Club next door to the ground, which also shows all the sports channels. On our way out we decided to try the burger van in the social club car park, which at £4 for a cheeseburger and onions was an absolute steel.
We tried to go straight into the ground with the food but were stopped as we crossed ‘the barrier’ outside the ground, as no hot food allowed beyond that point! Pringles, bags of nuts and anything else that I saw people
take beyond there was allowed!
I then had to move to ‘the other side of the makeshift barrier’, all of five yards, to finish my food.
As we entered the ground, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of Rovers fans in attendance, for a cup competition poorly supported in recent years, for factors most of us know about but I won’t explain now.
It reminded me of how the competition used to be supported years ago, even with travelling to places much further afield. The early kick off time and cheaper prices definitely factored in, with a number of families with younger supporters in attendance.
On to the match for a 7.00pm start and it was a decent performance throughout. We exerted a great deal of pressure on the Cheltenham defence, although we didn’t create too many clear cut chances.
It took a special curling shot into the bottom corner from Luke Thomas in the second half to settle the game and put us through to the next round, with a group game to spare.
Deserving to win, it’s a common theme with a lot of other games. However not putting games to bed early on could end up costing us in the future, so just having that clinical edge would make things a lot easier for ourselves.
Luke Thomas was my man of the match, his workrate was brilliant and it was great to see Academy player Kian Hill get his debut, off the bench in the second half. He put in a lot of energy and effort for the time he was given on the pitch.
We left the ground at 9.00pm and returned to The Mem at 10.00pm and now have back to back home games coming up.
Attendance: 1,713, which included 366 Rovers fans.
