THE PERFORMANCE

GIVEN the events that preceded and followed it, it’s easy to forget that there was actually a football match at the weekend; one which Rovers won and won convincingly.

Let’s not carried away. Oxford may have had a string of higher-league scalps behind them but they looked every inch a League Two side at the Kassam Stadium.

Take nothing away from Rovers, though. The way they hassled and harried their opponents high up the pitch was impressive – and key to the most comfortable of victories – as was the football they played and the chances they created.

All in all it was a promising afternoon. Sterner tests are to come, however.

 

THE STRIKERS

TONY Watt stole the show with his devastating 10-minute cameo before the break but his display was matched, if not bettered, by his strike-partner Simeon Jackson.

It’s fair to say that little fanfare greeted the well-travelled frontman’s arrival earlier this month.

But the Canada international has come here on small wages, by Championship standards, and with something to prove. He knows this could be his last chance to play for a club as big as Rovers.

But if he can repeat the performance he produced on Saturday then he stands a chance of winning a bigger and longer contract come the summer.

Pacy and powerful, Jackson ran the U’s ragged, and it was just a shame he failed to head in Elliott Bennett’s cross late on. He deserved a goal.

 

ELLIOTT WARD

WITH Danny Graham coming back into the selection fold for this weekend’s trip to Middlesbrough, Rovers boss Paul Lambert has a headache over who to start up top.

And you would not blame Lambert if he reached for the paracetamol because Elliott Ward’s showing on Saturday has also left him with a decision to make.

Captain Grant Hanley has, in my opinion, been Rovers’ player of the year, while his centre-back partner, Shane Duffy, missed chances aside, can also be pleased with his season so far.

But they will not be able to take their places for granted if this is what we can expect from Ward, who was composure itself on the classiest of debuts.