Player Ratings: Bristol Rovers vs. Oxford United (RESULTS)

Bonham 7.5 - 3 good saves
Partington 7 - Decent especially second half needs to work on crosses
Kelly 7 - Didn't look out of place
Lockyer 6.5 - Woeful distribution
Craig 6.5 - average
Sinclair 6 - A trier but no quality
O Clarke 5.5 - Asked to play out left, looked out of place
Upson 7.5 - Had a decent game my MOM
Sercombe 6 - Crap first half
Nicholls 6 - Effort but no end product
Jakubiah 5 - Struggled

Bennett 7 - Made a difference
Mathews 7 - As about
Payne NOLE

Ref 1 - Truly shocking
D.C. 5 - Got the second half right
Crowd 7 - Good effort
Oxford 4 - Cheating bastards

If you don't score you don't win! Simples! water poor first half but much better second, heaven knows what happens when we play the top teams! Still onto the next project UTG

Bonham 7.5 reliable and confident.

Partington 6 wondering why he tried crossing?
Lockyer 7 nice goalline clearance.
Craig 6.5 booking and found out.
Kelly 6.5 tried hard.

Sinclair 7.5 m o m great blocking.
Upson 5.5 awful distribution.
O. Clarke 6 not himself.
Sercombe 5.5 anonymous.

Nichols 7 best game so far, still no goal.
Jakubiak 6.5. needs a big man near him (oooorer!)

Subs: Matthews 6 looking livelier.
Bennett 7.5 changed game dimensions.
Payne 6.5 better cameo than last time.

Crowd 6.5 library.
Ref 7.5 I thought two decisions apart, a really good game!(?)
Oxford 4.5 we should be beating teams like this easy hands down. Apart from singing Irene is a prostitute (hey, original!) and chim chinnery, their fans are as much a gutless outfit as their cr@p team is and I hope they all get herpes.

It was Upson that made the go alone clearance!

Really???

If you watch highlights on other thread, it def is not Upson.

Methinks it's Locks.

Although, a great cross by Parts that sets up header by Nichols IS put over by Upson.


Better luck next time, Smudge1

Specsavers methinks! Apologies

Bonham: 7. Odd choice for MoM as he only had two or three saves to make. What he did though, he did well. Has been a cracking signing although I fear we have next to no chance of keeping him.

Partington: 7. Did well defensively but would have liked him to have given us more width in first half. Crossing poor in second.
Lockyer: 8.5 MoM. Immaculate and I don't remember him making a mistake throughout. Back to his best.
Craig: 8. Only just behind Tom due to the needless booking that I think rules him out of a crucial game v Wimbledon. Proper no nonsense defender.
Kelly: 7.5. Got forward slightly more than Joe and is settling in nicely.

Upson: 7.5. Best game I've seen from him. Battled hard throughout at the base of the diamond and in the standard 4-4-2.
Clarke: 6. Not at the standard he has set himself this season. I'm not sure him and Ed works together.
Sinclair: 7.5. Worked so hard and made some crucial 'body on the line' blocks in the first half. Surprisingly effective behind Nichols in the second, although I would have swapped him with Sercombe.
Sercombe: 7. Poor first half but did well in the second, working harder than I've seen him before.

Jakubiak: 5. Struggled to get into the game, although service to both front men was poor in the first half. The tactical switch to one up front worked well but Alex was a slightly unlucky victim.
Nichols: 8. Quiet first half and my heart sank when he was up top on his own after the break. However, I thought thus was Tom's best performance for us. Lively second half and caused problems. Strikers will always be judged on goals, but he was unlucky a couple of times when thwarted by two quality saves.

Bennett: 7.5. Made a difference and good to see him running at defences. Would like to see him and Matthews swap wings for short spells to give full backs something different to think about and provide more natural width.
Matthews: 6.5. Good player but I thought he lacked the impact that Bennett had. I was on the West Enclosure though so maybe didn't appreciate what he did.
Payne: Not on long enough, but showed some good touches.

DC: The diamond didn't work today but had the courage to make changes at half time. I'm a huge fan but acknowledge he is under pressure. Thankfully, the players are clearly playing for him though, as whilst the quality is missing in the final third at the moment, the commitment is there throughout the team. Remains the man for the job and should be given a crack at getting us back up even if we are relegated.
Oxford: 7. Odd mixture. Played quite well in the first half and their no10 caused us problems, but they mixed it with diving and a cynical manipulation of a terrible referee. How Mackie stayed on beyond 30 minutes, given his constant whinging, is beyond me.
Crowd: 5. Tried hard first half but understandably lost heart. Credit for supporting Nichols vocally when many crowds would have turned by now.
Ref: 2. Awful. Tried to give everything first half and let everything go in the second. I genuinely think that refs are usually better than we give them credit for, but we do seem to have had some shockers this season. God knows what Keith Valle would have said about some of them!

Bonham 8
Partington 6
Lockyer 6
Craig 6
Kelly 6.5
Clarke O 4
Upson 6
Sinclair 5
Sercombe 5.5
Nichols 6
Jakubiak 4

Bennett 7
Matthews 5
Payne 6

Crowd 6
Ref 2
Oxford 3

Bonham 8 Proving to be a quality 'keeper.

Partington 7 Improved as the game wore on
Lockyer 6.5 Usual mixture
Craig 6 Did the basics
Kelly 6 Steady Eddie

Sinclair 6 'Keep on Running'
Upson 7.5 Continually trying to influence the game
O. Clarke 5.5 What the hell was he doing at LMF? All over the place, literally.
Sercombe 5 Did he play in the first half?

Nichols 6 Yes, he worked hard, and could be seen as unlucky...but he's meant to score goals!
Jakubiak 6 Not his day, can't be faulted for effort

Subs: Matthews 7.5 Both he and Bennett showed what had been missing; skill and direct running
Bennett 7.5 As above
Payne NOLE

Crowd 6
Ref 4 Whistle happy
Oxford 4 Relegation candidates, like us.