THE GAME
Promise Omochere scored his first goals for Rovers who registered a comfortable win over Cambridge United at The Memorial Stadium.
Goalscorer Promise Omochere
Ruel Sotiriou had chances to open his Rovers account before the first goal arrived, but saw a fierce left foot shot hit the post and another drift wide of the target.
Josh Griffiths saved well from Shayne Lavert before Omochere’s first goal, which arrived on the half hour mark. Played in by Luke Thomas, the striker’s shot was deflected past goalkeeper Vincent Reyes by defender Connor O’Riordan.
Whilst there had been an element of good fortune about his first goal, there was no doubt about his second, scored three minutes into the second half. Played in by Bryant Bilongo, Omochere clinically despatched a shot into the bottom corner of the net before celebrating in style in front of the Thatchers End.
Cambridge, who had offered little going forward, looked a more lively side following the introduction of substitutes James Brophy and Daniel Barton, though they were unable to find a way past a solid Rovers defence. They did hit the crossbar twice late on after Rovers had made their own substitutions, but Matt Taylor’s side were in no mood to surrender their lead and clinched a valuable three points.
Kamil Conteh in the thick of the action
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘I thought we deserved to win the game and it felt like a dominant display. I would have loved us to have gone further ahead, because you never know what will happen in the last ten or fifteen minutes of the game.
‘It was great for Promise to get off the mark. That first goal probably settled him, and a few others, down a little bit. You could just see us being more comfortable with our attacking play and it was great to get a second goal early in the second half.’ (Rovers manager Matt Taylor)
‘It feels really good. It was good to get three points at The Mem. I think that was the most important thing, to bounce back from a defeat at Stockport.
‘As a striker, it’s important to get your first goal and it’s something you want to get out of the way. You feel the weight is lifted off you, and you can get more and more. I’m really happy to get off the mark today with two goals.
‘It was a really good team performance. I think we got the pressure right today. The first ten minutes were a bit difficult, but then getting one of the central midfielders to jump in with me and Ruel helped us out with the three centre backs up there.’ (Rovers striker Promise Omochere)
‘We’re trying to improve week on week, but I think the overall feeling from us is for all the good play that we are having, we are concerned at the goals we are conceding.
‘If we can get them out of our game then we will be in a great position to take points. Even in the game today, it wasn’t as though our goalkeeper was getting peppered and they were cutting us open.’ (Cambridge manager Garry Monk)
