Bristol Rovers 1 Stoke City 2 – No Jacket Required

A late call up from The Sun saw me off to cover the friendly game at the Memorial Stadium last night.

Unfortunately I was in my car miles from home when I took the call and didn’t have a thing to wear. Well, more specifically, I didn’t have a coat with me and by the time the final whistle blew I was sitting shivering in my shirt sleeves - having been reacquainted with the West Country wind that whips around the Mem. I won’t be making the mistake on a cold winter’s evening next February that’s for sure!

The match itself was usual pre-season fare. Nothing on the result and so a nice relaxed atmosphere in the ground as both sets of players stretched their muscles and built up stamina before real hostilities begin.

Rovers first game is on Saturday away at Peterborough United and – even though the game was meaningless – they were obviously keen to impress and they did.

Chris Lines (who will probably be in Paul Trollope’s staring eleven) sat the first half out on the bench while Dominic Blizzard, 26, took his place in the centre of midfield alongside skipper Stuart Campbell and the former Watford man caught the eye with a roving, all action performance and even grabbed a goal.

In the 45th minute Blizzard took advantage of a mistake by Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen – who flapped and missed a Wayne Brown corner – to bury a header from about eight yards out.

Former Fulham winger Brown, 21, also caught the eye and it was interesting to see him take some of the set pieces which have been the sole preserve of Campbell in recent seasons.

Rovers had re-signed keeper Mikkel Andersen, 21, on a one month loan deal from Reading hours before kick-off and the Denmark Under-21 star – returning to the Mem following his lengthy loan spell last season – looked commanding and was unlucky for Stoke’s opener.

Tuncay fired a low shot in from 12 yards in the 38th minute which Andersen did incredibly well to get down to and block, but the Turkish international left him with no chance when he followed up and buried the rebound.

Stoke’s winner came on the stroke of half time. Ricardo Fuller picked up a Michael Tonge pass into the box and side stepped Andersen to poke the ball past two Rovers defenders manning the line. It was Jamaican striker Fuller’s only real contribution to the game and manager Tony Pulis said afterwards that he is “definitely looking to add another striker” to his squad along with three or four other players.

Rovers on the other hand look to have a decent crop of youngsters backing up the first team and when Trollope made the usual friendly game wholesale changes on the hour, kids like Charlie Reece, Ben Swallow and Eliot Richards came on and looked far from overawed by the Premiership opposition – although some of their cheeky flicks and back heels might have seen them get a good old fashioned kick up the arse had it been a more competitive game! Still, it was good fun and showed they are a confident bunch and the Pirate’s future might be brighter than some Gasheads had thought.

Paul Trollope was also pleased with the effort put in by his kids, but said: “I’m more pleased that we came through the game without any problems and can now look forward to the first game on Saturday.”

N.B. The attached clipping was published in The Sun this morning and obviously welll worth freezing my nuts off for :-)
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