Bristol Rovers (0) 1 Elliott 84
Gillingham (1) 1 Nutter 34
Att. 6,614
Entrance: £17.50
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 350/5,909
Match Report
It was a Eugene Bopp moment. True it was six minutes from the end of the match rather than six minutes from the end of the season and the consequences could be far less should we beat Swindon and Leeds in the next fortnight (but we all know that is not going to happen). True, it was a superbly hit volley that rocketed into the top right hand corner, rather than a loopy fluke over a stranded keeper, but it felt exactly the same. I remember walking away from the City Ground and a Forest fan saying that Bopp had never hit a shot like it in his time there and he probably never did again. Likewise today, I very much doubt a central defender like Steve Elliott has ever hit a shot quite as cleanly, quite as accurately and probably will never again.The match itself, if you were a strictly neutral I guess it must have been pretty dire, but caught up in the tension of the situation good and bad football tends to get lost. The pitch was an absolute cow field and certainly didn’t suit Simeon Jackson. Georges Ba was quite effective up front and following a spell of pressure from us, firstly Ba hit the bar and then from a superb Southall cross, Nutter did well to squeeze the ball in at the far post, my first impression being that it had hit the side netting.
Second half we were mostly on the back foot, but defending resolutely, King outstanding, Cullip and Richards each getting a head in and a tackle in just when needed. Rovers were not really hurting us and the time was ticking away and then it happened . . . The ball dropped, he hit it and a micro-second later we were effectively relegated.
We didn’t play too badly, I would have thought most Rovers supporters opinion would be that they deserved at least a draw and I would find it hard to disagree. We were pretty toothless up front, as said the pitch did us no favours with the strike force we fielded. Stuart Lewis was busy, Crofts was good as was Trigger.
As we walked away, a group of spotty 16 year olds, warbled “Going down, going down” to us. They didn’t look as though education had been too kind to them, but even they could add up that we hadn’t done enough.
The Memorial Ground has just one more match as this incarnation of Bristol Rovers home ground, after which the site is to be redeveloped. The actual pitch area is to be moved 50 metres. Today it is a jumble of makeshift stands and a couple of odd, permanent buildings. We were housed in a temporary seating area with a tarpaulin thrown over the top that offered no protection from the driving rain if you were seated towards the end of the area. But as we only offer a pack-a-mac as protection to away fans in wet weather who are we to complain. We’ve been to Eastville, Twerton Park, the Memorial and for the next two years they will be sharing at Swindon or Cheltenham, so I think it is time for Rovers to put down some lasting roots.
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