THE postponement of our fixture against Sunderland due to international call-ups meant that Bristol Rovers had a three-week break from league action with an EFL Trophy match and an FA Cup replay entertaining Gasheads instead, Stephen Knowlson.

Last week we hosted local rivals Swindon Town for a place in the next round of the Trophy, a rather controversial competition ever since Premier League academy teams were invited to compete, something reflected in the low turnout for the match – barely a thousand fans bothered.

A cagey affair was settled by a late Mark Little goal, a close range finish from Victor Adeboyejo’s flick on. The victory sees Rovers entertain Leyton Orient in the next round.

It was considerably more important for Graham Coughlan’s men to avoid the potential banana skin of yet another FA Cup exit to non-league opposition. After drawing with Bromley at home, Rovers had a tricky trip to the National League high-fliers for an FA Cup first round replay last Tuesday.

The South London outfit showed themselves to be no pushovers at the Memorial Stadium so it was important to get off to the best possible start and Rovers did just that by edging ahead in the third minute of the game. Jonson Clarke-Harris returned from injury against Swindon without scoring but he was right back in the goals here, scuffing home an excellent Ollie Clarke cross to give Rovers an early lead.

Bromley piled on the pressure late in the first half and harshly had a goal disallowed after Michael Cheek rounded Jordi van Stappershoef and netted, only to be denied by the assistant’s flag.

Rovers had chances to extend their lead but the home side had the better of the match and applied some real pressure on our back line at times. Ultimately, it was a solid defensive display that saw us progress to the second round for a home tie against Plymouth Argyle.

Whilst the defence has generally been good, recent matches haven’t delivered much in the way of scintillating attacking prowess but with the return of Clarke-Harris hopefully the goals will flow again – starting in the league on Saturday away to Shrewsbury.