ROVERS were not at their best on Saturday but gained a point from a hard-fought encounter with Rochdale at the Memorial Stadium.

Both sides started brightly, with new Pirates signing Boateng catching the eye with his range of cross-field passing.

Some fans may have thought we only had to turn up to secure three points given Dale’s lowly league placing, but their attacking play belied their position as they exploited gaps in our defence.

We were not at our fluent best as the players struggled to adapt to a 3-4-3 formation and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 17th minute. Although the positioning of new goalkeeper Roos was questionable, he had been given little support by the defence leading up to the goal.

Fortunately we hit back within a few minutes, as Hartley again showed his aerial prowess to leave Taylor with a simple tap-in.

It did not last long, however, as Dale regained the lead almost immediately, cutting through Rovers’ defence with ease to make it 2-1.

Although it looked like there had been a push on Taylor in the build-up to the goal, Clarke will have been disappointed with the lack of concentration and focus from his players to allow the visitors to score again so quickly.

The second-half was an improvement and Taylor again displayed his predatory instincts in front of goal with a brilliant acrobatic finish to restore parity in the 49th minute.

A draw was a fair result and the contest highlighted the quality of opposition we are up against this season.

There were a number of positives, notably Boateng’s display in midfield and a highly promising cameo from Chelsea youngster Colkett for the last ten minutes.

Rovers secured another draw in an improved display as they hosted Walsall at the Mem on Tuesday evening.

Taylor’s penalty cancelled out the Saddlers’ opener, but despite dominating most of the second half we could not find a breakthrough to win the game.

Next up for the Gas is a trip to Bradford on Saturday followed by the rearranged game at Swindon next Tuesday.