ROVERS continued their fine run of form with another brilliant victory at Oxford on Saturday, moving the Gas further away from the relegation zone.

The Kassam Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for the Pirates in recent seasons, but John Ward’s resurgent team put that hoodoo to rest with a 2-0 win.

Rovers had to be resilient and hard-working to contain the Us and got their noses in front thanks to a correctly awarded penalty.

Lee Brown has rediscovered his form under Ward and he showed his coolness under pressure as he dispatched the penalty to give Rovers the lead. The left back was unfazed by having to take the spot kick twice after an encroachment in the area.

Eliot Richards is another talented young player who is finding his form again and he made no mistake with an equally clinical finish in injury time to put the icing on the cake of an excellent win.

The result sparked more jubilant scenes at the final whistle as nearly 2,000 travelling supporters went home happy.

It is now three games in a row that Rovers have scored in injury time, so I would suggest no fans leave early when watching this side.

Ward has made us hard to beat, well organised and capable of scoring goals, all qualities which have enabled us to win four out of the last five games.

We are now five points away from the relegation zone and are beginning to confidently look upwards rather than anxiously glancing down at the bottom two.

That is all thanks to Ward and the time has come for the board to open negotiations with him on a new three-year contract.

He has restored the feel-good factor around the club and deserves to be rewarded for steering the Pirates’ ship into calmer waters after McGhee’s rocky voyage.

Six more points are up for grabs as the Memorial Stadium hosts Wycombe on Saturday, followed by Rotherham next Tuesday. There is no reason why Rovers cannot take maximum points from those games, which would further reinforce the view that Ward is the man to lead Rovers for the foreseeable future.

Do you agree with Jeff’s views? Have your say below.