ROVERS secured a valuable win in the quest for a play-off spot by defeating promotion rivals Southend United at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

The Gas were quickly out of the traps and Bodin added another stunning strike to his growing collection of superb goals by weaving past a couple of players before drilling an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net in the first minute.

Rovers kept the pressure up by mounting wave after wave of attacks and the shell-shocked Shrimpers could not handle our pace and energy.

The loss of the suspended Clarke and injured Sinclair in midfield did concern me before the game, but it is to the players’ credit that they were not missed.

Gaffney was performing well and got his reward with a goal on 31 minutes. He powered through and struck a fine shot from over 20 yards to double Rovers’ advantage.

It was an excellent first half performance and although Southend came back strongly in the second half, our defence now looks so solid and resolute that I never felt at any stage that they were likely to reduce the deficit.

Lumley had another outstanding game in goal and efforts must be made to secure his services next season.

Sweeney also looked as imperious as usual in central defence and ensured we could soak up the pressure.

We were trying to hit Southend on the break and James was unlucky not to break his duck as he hit the post with one opportunity.

It was a great team effort as the contest finished 2-0, extending Rovers’ unbeaten run to nine games.

The Pirates travelled to Bury on Tuesday looking to continue that run but suffered a setback as we crashed to a 3-0 defeat.

The result leaves us in eighth place, four points off the play-off zone.

We will be aiming to beat struggling Chesterfield at the Mem on Saturday.