The Memorial Stadium Saturday 10th December 2022
Bristol Rovers 1
Collins (87)
Port Vale 0
Referee: Carl Brook Attendance: 8,264
An eagerly awaited game between two sides promoted out of League Two last season saw former Rovers boss Darrell Clarke and former Gas striker Ellis Harrison return to the Memorial Stadium.
A minute’s applause was planned in the 18th minute, in memory of Darrell’s daughter Ellie, who took her own life earlier this year, was planned by Gasheads and it was duly observed by everyone inside the ground at the appointed time.
Prior to that we had received news of two absentees from Joe Barton’s starting XI. Sam Finley and Trevor Clarke were injured in a training ground clash which, apparently, aggravated underlying medical problems neither player realised existed!
Finley had a calf strain and was likely to be missing for up to two weeks, while Clarke’s injury was described as a thigh/groin problem likely to keep him out for up to 12 weeks.
That meant a return for skipper Paul Coutts, who had been missing through injury since the middle of October and Lewis Gordon, who had missed the Bolton game as he was attending a family funeral.
The visitors started the game brightly and James Belshaw saved well from Dennis Politic in only the second minute. The keeper then denied Harrison a goal against his former side when he touched the striker’s effort round the post.
At the other end Josh Coburn, who was fouled almost every time the ball went up to him, flashed a shot wide of the upright. It was no goal on that occasion, and neither was a foul given against Vale in the build up. Coburn, for all his brilliance at the tender age of 20, should go down more under the rough treatment meted out to him. At the moment he’s far too honest!
Following that opening flurry Vale retreated into a defensive formation, leaving Harrison a forlorn and dejected figure up front. It was almost as though the game plan had been to score early on and then defend for the rest of the game. When that plan failed, it seemed they wanted to protect the point they had at all costs.
Goalkeeper Jack Stevens wasted time at every opportunity and was warned by referee Carl Brook that he would be booked if he persisted and that was in the first half. Needless to say he persisted and the card stayed in the ref’s pocket!
It was goalless at half time and although the pace of the game quickened slightly after the break, there really wasn’t much to shout about.
Vale seldom got over the halfway line and invited Rovers to monopolise possession and while Coburn saw one effort saved by Stevens and Collins and Sinclair went close to breaking the deadlock, it seemed that Rovers were heading for their first goalless draw of the season.
However, we reckoned without Aaron Collins who managed to get on the scoresheet with just three minutes remaining. Coburn flicked the ball on to John Marquis and he, in turn, found Collins. Although subdued for most of the afternoon the striker conjured up a little bit of magic and fired a shot low in to the bottom corner of the net for his eleventh goal of the season.
Bristol Rovers: Belshaw, Thomas, Connolly, Gibson, Sinclair (Gibbons, 90), Coutts, Rossiter, Gordon, Evans (Marquis, 64), Collins (Whelan, 90), Coburn.
Substitutes: Jaakkola, Kilgour, Saunders, McCormick.
Port Vale: Stevens, Smith, Jones (Forrester, 79), Hall, Worrall, Garrity, Conlon, Benning, Politic (Butterworth, 64), Wilson (Massey, 64), Harrison (Odubeko, 70).
Substitutes: Cass, Holden, Pett
ALSO
Former Rovers striker Ellis Harrison was in the Port Vale side and former Rovers manager Darrell Clarke was Vale’s boss
A yellow card was issued to Paul Coutts
Coutts was skipper
Three substitutes used
(Photos courtesy of JMP)
Keith Brookman