Bristol Rovers verdict: Overdue home comforts, U's finally unlocked and 60 points mark in sight

It's funny how quickly things can change in football. On Saturday morning Bristol Rovers supporters were dreading an eighth consecutive game without a goal and a win and come Tuesday evening they were celebrating back-to-back victories. The importance of these two wins against Cheltenham Town and now Cambridge United can't be underestimated given the worrying predicament Rovers found themselves in this time last week.

Maybe not quite as fluid as they were on Saturday given the opponent, the Gas were still excellent in spells against Cambridge, particularly in the first half, where there were certainly concerns at half-time that the affair was still goalless after the hosts squandered a number of chances, most notably a penalty.

For the second game in a row, a tame penalty kick was caught by the opposition goalkeeper but this time Rovers didn't have the cushion of a one-goal lead as Chris Martin was the man denied after Antony Evans lost his spot-kick privileges (more on this later).

Thankfully, the striker was able to make amends by scoring a late winner in the 87th minute, ending a personal goal drought that was approaching nine games. That's 16 for the season now and, knowing that the 35-year-old scores in bursts, there could well be at least one more to come this term.

It was a deserved win for Rovers and a bit of a relief as, had they not won, it would have been another one of those games where missed chances would be rued. Additionally, it was vital to get at least one more home success in before the end of the season given their frailties at the Mem this side of the season.

Plenty of positives to consider once again. Here are some of the talking points...

Home comforts at last

To go from how low the place was after the Reading defeat to the highs of celebrating not only a win but a pleasing performance within the space of a week is no mean feat. Matt Taylor had to face boos from the Thatcher's End as he walked down the tunnel last week following Rovers' flat display against the Royals which extended the club-record goalless streak. This time around, he celebrated with those still in attendance with a triple fist pump which has seemingly become trademark following victory.

Once again, attendance was low with the best part of 6,300 home fans reported to be in the building as the South Stand in particular looked pretty bare. However, as we said last week, it's completely understandable. Given the run the Gas had been on, supporters weren't necessarily going to pack the place out suddenly after one win against a side down the bottom end of the table (no offence intended to Cheltenham). Additionally, midweek matches can have a different type of trickiness regarding logistics of getting to BS7.

For those who did show up though, hopefully they enjoyed having something to celebrate once again on home turf. Admittedly, a 1-0 victory over Cambridge isn't anything to shout home about too loudly but it's been almost two months since Rovers' last win at the Mem and just their third in 12 in 2024.

Had the Gas not secured victory either on Tuesday night or this weekend against Peterborough United, it would have left a real sour taste in the mouths of supporters who would have had to wait another three-and-a-half months at the very least to see another home win. It was by no means perfect but just feeling the benefits of a victory at the Mem will be another boost for these players.

Asked how much getting back on track at home was discussed in the build up to the game, Taylor said: "Yeah definitely. But they do that from what they see. As much as you talk about it and you address it because you know what we’ve been like here recently, it’s been difficult. They will applaud and appreciate effort first and foremost and good football and I thought we had that tonight. We probably lost a little bit of our good football as the second half went on but the effort, I’ve got to be honest I thought they ran again tonight and they harried. Very rarely did Cambridge get through the team and if they did we got back in numbers.

"We have got enough quality to hurt teams. It didn’t quite happen in that first half where we had the best of the attacking moments but then it only needed one in the second half."

Cambridge finally unlocked following a frustrating afternoon in the reverse fixture

If you cast your mind all the way back to August, you may remember that there was major frustration following the reverse fixture against Cambridge where two late goals sealed the victory for the hosts in a game where Rovers huffed and puffed but couldn't break down a stubborn defence deploying a low block for what felt like the entire 90 minutes.

That game really should have finished 0-0 as opposed to 2-0 and, although the U's were managed by Mark Bonner on that occasion and Garry Monk this, there were certainly flashbacks of that afternoon at the Abbey Stadium during the second half where it seemed as though every man in yellow and black where behind the ball.

That's why it was particularly frustrating watching the second half because Rovers had had the opportunities to secure a comfortable lead but as the game went on it felt like we were destined for a 0-0 and another match against Cambridge where the Gas couldn't quite unlock them.

In fairness to Monk's side, they did have chances from set-pieces and could well have taken the lead relatively early into the first half with Jed Ward seeing the ball strike his body following a corner. How much he knew about that I'm not sure but it was certainly a chance. They were also denied an equaliser with one of the final kicks of the game by a Luca Hoole goal line clearance.

After the major frustration that was the 2-0 defeat earlier in the season, it was just pleasing to see Rovers remain determined and eventually find the decisive blow.

Penalty problems

It's not quite Chelsea's dramatics from the night before where players were literally pushing each other over who took a penalty against Everton with the Blues' lead already extremely comfortable at 4-0 but Rovers do seem to have an issue from 12 yards.

They went 23 league games without winning a penalty before getting the opportunity to score a consolation at Lincoln City from the spot last month and now they've won a spot kick in back-to-back matches. However, all three have been missed and that's a major concern.

After firing one over the bar at the LNER Stadium and seeing a tame effort easily saved on the weekend, Evans lost his penalty privileges to Martin who struck the ball even more tamely than the midfielder with the striker admitting post-match that it was probably the worst he had taken in his career.

To an extent, both have the element of the goalkeeper guessing the right way but if you're going to psycho-analyse them, there seemed to be the possibility of the shot stoppers' legs reaching the ball had they dived in the opposition direction.

Thankfully, the misses haven't cost the Gas any points and ultimately it is a reflection of some good play in the area where more penalties have started to be awarded with Scott Sinclair the man fouled on this occasion.

Now though, there's a debate to hand duties over to someone else with Taylor admitting: "It’s a concern because that’s two in two games and we’ve missed the last three so obviously we’ve taken Evo off them and Chrissy is now on them, whether he stays on them.

"We’ll have to sit down, not with the group, but just speak through who our best option is in relation to that but you mentioned the word confidence, I thought we were confident in terms of our play first half but there’s still a little bit of just hitting the back of the net. Putting your laces through the ball, delivering the ball with a little bit more belief that something is going to come out of it and I think they’re capable of that but the run we’ve been on and certainly our home form has probably been understandable in relation to that.

"But I would still back Chrissy and I would still back Antony to score from 12 yards."

Matt Taylor's 'best part' of the past four days

Whether or not we will see them again this season given that there's only two games left over the course of the next 10 days but Taylor was evidently delighted, and to some extent relieved, that injuries to Grant Ward and James Wilson picked up on Saturday have proven to be nowhere near as serious as they initially feared, particularly with the former.

Both players were forced off during the win at Cheltenham with respective hamstring injuries and Ward's was the more serious concern given that he has only recently come back from having a number of weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring issue. The 29-year-old has made, to some extent, baby steps towards full fitness having had three games where he came on as a substitute before starting against Reading and Cheltenham with the Rovers manager keen not to overload the midfielder as he hopes to have a fully fit Grant Ward report for the first day of pre-season in the summer.

However, there were certainly concerns when Ward angrily took his shirt off and headed for the tunnel midway through the first half but scans have given the "all clear."

"We’ll see but from where we were Saturday leaving the ground towards the scans that we’ve had in the last 24 hours…we were fearful, especially with Grant Ward," Taylor admitted. "We really were. We thought we were back to square one with that one so we’ve had a good few days and James and Grant’s news has probably been the best part of it. Now winning games of football is something but players’ health and fitness and obviously the longevity for the future is absolutely massive especially at this stage.

"So that’s a real boost. I don’t know if they’ll be available this weekend. We’ll see how they are Thursday, Friday. They’re in tomorrow but the scans are clear."

Top half finish still possible as Taylor looks to break 60-point mark

You would have been forgiven for not looking at the league table in recent weeks with the struggles that Rovers have endured but there now might be the occasional glance over the next 10 days on the back of two wins in four days. By no means have the Gas shot up the table with Taylor's men sat in 14th after Tuesday's win but, after it looked a tall ask, a top half finish is in sight once again.

Ultimately, it doesn't make the world of difference given that Rovers will end up finishing somewhere in midtable but sneaking into that top 12 again would be a truer reflection of the campaign they've had and will certainly mark progress on last year's 17th place.

The Gas haven't finished in the top half of League One since their 10th place finish in their first season back under Darrell Clarke in 2016/17 and, although that points tally of 66 can't be reached, Rovers have an outside chance of securing a first top half finish in League One in seven years if they can record results against Peterborough and Wigan Athletic.

Asked if he looks at the table, Taylor admitted: "I’ve tried not to for the last month or so. I might start after two wins but we’ve kind of known where we’ve been for a little while and I can’t affect other teams’ results in any way. I want this team to win and to play well and to perform like they did tonight.

"That’s another booster. Let’s assess the league table at the end of the season. That’s the best way to answer that. It’s a shame that we’re not really stood in it with something more than what we’ve got to play for because it would be great. You imagine the Mem if it was full to the rafters with big games coming up with a play-off push. We’ve just fallen short of that but it’s probably not just short, we’ve probably been well-short in truth in relation to where we want to be but then 57 points with two games to go, it would be great to break the 60-point barrier."