Gas Gossip: Sub-standard Bristol Rovers were no test for brilliant Leeds (From Gazette Series)

Bristol Rovers fans’ panel by Jeff Bolitho

2:00pm Thursday 29th October 2009 in Sport

THE only bright spot to come out of Tuesday night is that Rovers are unlikely to have to face Leeds United at the Memorial Stadium again for a long time.

Leeds were superior to the Pirates in every department and the 4-0 scoreline was a fair reflection of their dominance.

They are now four points clear at the top of League One and on that showing, it will take something special to deny them the promotion they seem destined for this season.

However, their undoubted brilliance should not disguise another sub-standard Rovers performance as we failed to provide Leeds with any test of their credentials.

Few passes were strung together and barely a shot on goal was mustered in a display woefully lacking in spirit, commitment and desire.

Captain Stuart Campbell was the exception, as he led by example and tried to cajole his teammates into reaching the heights they attained earlier in the season.

Sadly that was never going to happen and the side look a shadow of the team that outplayed Huddersfield, destroyed Brentford and outfoxed Southampton not so long ago.

The abject display seemed to follow on from the second half against Yeovil on Saturday, when players switched off after taking the lead through Chris Dickson.

A comfortable victory against the Glovers should have been assured but inexplicably, we let them back into the game through two soft goals and instead of bouncing back after a run of defeats, confidence has sunk.

Players brought in by Trollope to strengthen the squad, namely Blizzard, Wright and Dickson, have failed to fulfil their promise so far.

And with Lines injured on Saturday and Pipe still suspended, our squad is looking threadbare with few options available from the bench to change a game.

The games don’t get any easier with a trip to MK Dons on Saturday, who are riding high in fourth place and are no doubt looking to take advantage of our current form.

Rovers’ players owe it to themselves and the fans to bounce back after four defeats on the trot and recapture our early season form to protect our top six status.

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