Saints booked their place in the second round of the FA Cup thanks to three goals in the space of seven second-half minutes to banish memories of the 2008 cup exit on the same ground.
Alan Pardew made three changes from the side that started the 2-2 draw at Leyton Orient. Neal Trotman was ineligible as Preston North End refused permission for him to play with Wayne Thomas deputising in the centre of defence, while Paul Wotton and Papa Waigo dropped to the bench allowing Michail Antonio and David Connolly to start in a 4-4-2 formation.
The home side started the brighter with Chris Lines, Dominic Blizzard and Andy Williams all using their superior pace to get space behind the Saints central midfield pairing of Dean Hammond and Morgan Schneiderlin, while the pressure that created often forced the Saints defence to resort to long balls up to Rickie Lambert and Connolly which the Rovers defence dealt with fairly comfortably.
Saints’ best moments of the first half came when Antonio and Adam Lallana managed to get on the ball in wide positions. Both produced decent crosses which caused the Rovers defence problems, and Hammond may feel he should have done better with a header from an Antonio cross which ended up going harmlessly over the bar.
Lallana and Connolly both had shots from the edge of the area that flashed just wide of the post, but Rovers created the best chance of the first half in the last minute when a corner caused chaos in the six-yard box and Dan Harding had to head off the line.
Half-Time: Bristol Rovers 0-0 Saints
Saints looked much brighter in the second half, having clearly been told to gain a bit more composure and keep the ball on the deck. Lallana and Antonio were still the main focal points of the attack, but Lloyd James and Dan Harding were getting forward to support a lot more.
It was a good overlapping run by James which led to his whipped cross being headed to safety by Byron Anthony under pressure from Rickie Lambert, and Harding produced a cross from the opposite flank which Steve Elliott sliced over his own crossbar.
Saints then won a free-kick 25 yards from goal after Lambert was fouled by a combination of Elliott and Lines. Lambert took it himself and bent it round the wall, but the ball clipped the outside of the right-hand post and went behind for a goal kick.
Lallana won another free-kick in a similar position five minutes later, James took it quickly finding Lallana in a bit of space on the corner of the area. He worked himself a position six yards from the goal line and squared it to Connolly to flick it past Rhys Evans in the Rovers goal for 1-0.
Three minutes later, Rovers made a double substitution, making a like-for-like substitution in midfield with Ben Swallow replacing Mark Wright and then an attack-minded change with striker Darryl Duffy coming on for Dominic Blizzard. The home side won a free-kick in a wide position and threw bodies forward in an attempt to get back into the game at the earliest opportunity, but the move broke down allowing Saints to launch a counter-attack. Lambert released Antonio to run 60 yards unchallenged. He then fed Connolly on the left in a bit of space and he fired the ball across the keeper into the far corner.
Another two minutes later and it was a feeling of déja vu as a Rovers free-kick was cleared by Rahdi Jaidi to Lambert and he sent the ball over the top of Elliott for Antonio to run onto and he used his pace to get away from the defender, turned Anthony inside out and then fired the ball inside Evans’ near post to make it three in seven minutes.
Oscar Gobern came on to replace Dan Harding at left back shortly after the third goal as Harding had already been booked and the pace of Williams was still causing him problems. However, Gobern soon found himself walking the yellow card tightrope after a late challenge on Lines saw him go into the book as well.
The home side gave themselves a glimmer of hope as the rain began to pour down when Jo Kuffour managed to get in behind the Saints defence and squared it for Duffy to tap in at the far post, and just two minutes later Davis made a good save from Swallow and Duffy somehow managed to shin the rebound over the bar with the goal gaping.
This gave Rovers a bit more momentum and they continued pressing. Davis was called into action again shortly after as he palmed Duffy’s shot onto the post, but Saints then looked to have weathered the storm - conveniently so as the deluge from the sky had eased as well - as the game moved into three minutes of injury time.
In the second of those three minutes, Kuffour backed into Gobern in the area and the youngster made a slightly naive challenge on the former Bournemouth striker who tumbled to the ground and the referee blew for a penalty. Jeff Hughes stepped up to take it and send Davis the wrong way to make the last minute a very tense affair.
Lloyd James showed maturity beyond his years to hold the ball in the corner when he had the opportunity to put the ball in the box, and won a free-kick for his persistence. Lallana took the kick short to Lambert and he held off two challenges before scooping the ball up over the defenders for Lallana whose shot was then saved by Evans, and the referee then blew for full-time.
Full Time: Bristol Rovers 2-3 Saints
In the end, a one-goal win was probably a fair reflection on the game. If we’d held onto the three-goal lead we had at one stage, it would have probably flattered us a bit, but Alan Pardew will be slightly concerned that we failed to maintain the intensity for the last 20 minutes which let Rovers back into the game.
Cup games are all about the end result though, and he’ll be pleased that we buried the hoodoo of the injury-time defeat in the corresponding league game at St Mary’s, since when both sides’ form couldn’t have been more contrasting. Rovers have now lost six in a row since that game, while Saints have won 5 out of 6. Winning breeds confidence, and we go into another tough-looking cup tie on Wednesday against Charlton in good form and spirits.
