ROVERS managed to end the week on a high with a morale-boosting win over Cheltenham on Tuesday night.

It followed a largely uninspiring encounter with promotion-chasing Oxford on Saturday, in which the Pirates managed to salvage a point.

The wet and blustery conditions didn’t make it easy but the Os started the better of the two sides, with former Pirates target Constable opening the scoring with a magnificent strike.

From then on we struggled to find any rhythm and frequently lost possession as endless punts upfield proved to be as ineffective and frustrating as ever.

Oxford’s midfield hunted in packs and chased every lost cause. Although they won few admirers through their play-acting and moaning, their extra know-how and experience gave them the edge.

Rovers failed to create any clear-cut chances but deserve credit for never giving up and restricting Oxford to one goal. Regular Gas goalscorer O’Toole rescued the side as he got on the end of a Lee Brown free kick with just six minutes to go.

The signing of Gow came as a boost to fans before the game, having joined on loan from Exeter until the end of the season, with Eliot Richards going the other way.

Richards has undoubted ability but has lacked consistency during his Rovers career so far and maybe needs a fresh start.

If the talented Gow can recreate the form he showed against us at the Mem earlier this season he will be a valuable asset.

Our failure to win left us in a precarious league position and piled on the pressure to gain a result against Cheltenham at the Mem on Tuesday night.

O’Toole was again our saviour with a well taken strike on 34 minutes that proved to be the winner in an evenly-contested match. Rovers had plenty of defending to do in the second half but coped well on a boggy pitch and showed admirable commitment and attitude.

The win moved the Gas up to a healthier-looking 18th place in the table and we now need to keep the momentum going at Bury on Saturday.