ROVERS suffered an ignominious FA Cup exit for the second consecutive season after non-league Barrow knocked us out of the competition at the Memorial Stadium on Sunday.

The National League side had been on a long unbeaten run since August, but with a place in the third round at stake, fans were optimistic that a professional performance would be enough to see us through.

Chesham delivered the knockout blow last season so we naively thought that lightning couldn’t strike twice.

The match started promisingly as Gaffney gave the Gas the lead with a decent finish after setting up the move in the 10th minute.

That was as good as it got for Rovers unfortunately, as the visitors hit back six minutes later through Bryon Harrison. A combination of sloppy defending and poor positioning from goalkeeper Roos let the marksman in to level the contest.

Harrison gained his second for the Cumbrians in the 61st minute, which proved to be the winner. Rovers, missing the injured Taylor up front, piled on the pressure in the closing stages but were unable to find the breakthrough.

The shocking result continued a miserable run of form that has seen us lose five of the last seven games.

Darrell Clarke pulled no punches after the game, accusing his players of not defending well enough and not being good enough when in possession.

He hinted that changes will be needed in the January transfer window, which should serve as a warning to the players that they need to improve quickly or risk being shipped out.

Roos is not inspiring confidence and we seem to have forgotten how to defend as a unit. We also look less potent going forward and are lacking creativity from midfield.

However we should remember that these players pushed us into the play-off zone a few weeks ago and they deserve the chance to show their quality again.

We are still only two points away from sixth and it is up to the players to rediscover their form and secure three points at home to struggling Bury at the Mem on Saturday.