Player Ratings: Bristol Rovers vs Altrincham Town

Mildenhall 6 nothing to do as usual
Leadbitter 8 defended well and got forward
Parkes 9 outstanding in defence and scored the winner
McChrystal 8 solid as usual
Brown 6 defended ok but not as effective going forward as he has been
Mansell 6 Worked hard in the middle
Lockyer 6 same as above
Monkhouse 5 the odd nice touch but not as involved as I would like
Dawson 7 looked the most likely to open them up
Blissett 4 often caught flat footed and slow to react
Taylor 5 Same finishing standard but not his best outside the box today

Subs Harrison 5
Gosling 5
Balanta not on long enough

Ref 0 utter rubbish

DC 4 never really tried to play on the deck much,and we didn't seem up for it today,and can thank his defence for the win

Alty 6 very well organised and hard working,a couple of good players,number 4 and 11,but like so many other teams not much up front

Mildenhall 6 safe pair of hands, but his kicks mysteriously seemed to be aimed at Taylor

Leadbitter 7 showed excellent composure. Combined well with `dawson 1st half.
McChrystal 6 steady game
Parkes 7 composed performance
Brown 7 wasn't troubled defensively and put in some good balls

Dawson 7 was very lively, sometimes crossing wasn't on the money. The goals looked like they would come from him.
Mansell 5 poor game - too many wasted passes
Lockyer 6 steady game , but not dynamic enough to play in midfield
Monkhouse 6 better 2nd half, but rarely carries the ball forward

Taylor 5 Not on the money today and a dreadful miss first half
Blissett 6 typical hit n miss from Nath, had one good snapshot saved but also let the ball get away from him too often.

Sub: Harrison 6 same as Blissett
Gosling 5 - shouldn't be put on the right wing, slowed things down.
Balanta 7 excellent cameo performance and almost scored. I hope he will get longer on Tuesday or even starts - for Taylor or Monkey

DC 5 did he tell his players to get the ball early today ? We were so eager to punt balls forward 1st half. Dawson came off too early.
Ref 4
Altrincham 6 Plucky performance - their defence and midfield really dug in.

a deserved win and perhaps we should've been a couple ahead at half-time. 2nd half the game became fragmented - both teams losing the ball and although we had more of the ball there was little quality until Balanta came on and he made the game look easy. Surely we need his calmness and touch on the ball for a longer period on Tuesday ??

Mildenhall 6
Leadbitter 8
McChrystal 8
Parkes 9
Brown 7
Dawson 7
Lockyer 6
Mansell 6.5
Monkhouse 6.5
Taylor 4
Blissett 5

Harrison 5
Gosling 5
Balanta 5

DC 5
Ref 3
Altrincham 7

Not the same player that joined us, looks injured and has done for weeks. We need him and beard for the run in

Mildenhall 7 can't give anyone in that defence less than 7 but he contributed more going forwards than defence in this game
Leadbitter 7.5 best I've seen him play. Room for improvement but promising both defending and attacking
Parkes 9.5 almost perfect. A shoe-in for MOTM before the second half had started
McChrystal 8.5 heading in both boxes was exemplary.
Brown 7 was getting a lot of joy down the left in the second half

Lockyer 7 one five minute period he was tigerishly tackling everyone no matter who they played for! Personified determination.
Mansell 6 gritty but could have done with being closer to his opponent on several occasions
Monkhouse 7 we weren't great at getting the ball under control but Bob was about the best at doing so.
Dawson 5 several opportunities to get the early cross in were spurned for over elaboration and dead ball delivery was erratic. However, did force a defender to smack one into the post and his best corner of the match found Parkes for the goal.

Taylor 3 front pairing looked like they had been on different training pitches all week - not on the same wavelength as Bliss, made some poor choices and wasted the clearest chance of the first half....hopefully that is out of his system and he will have a blinder Tuesday.
Blissett 4 likened his performance against Lincoln to big Dev, well this was closer to a Robbie Turner type display, nothing worked out quite as it should and the Alty defence had him well marshalled.

Harrison 6 best of the three forwards and when Balanta joined him on the pitch we finally looked like we could unlock them.
Gosling 4 it was not working for Dawson so was not surprised Gos replaced him, but rather than take the game by the scruff of the neck like at Plainmoor, it seemed that our number 11 wanted to get away without anyone knowing he was on the pitch.
Balanta 7 not on very long but worked well with Ellis to create our best chance of the second half and was the only forward who treated the ball like a friend rather than a stranger!

DC 5 when the defence is untroubled but the forwards are misfiring do you stick or twist ? Difficult to change both forwards at half time but it would have been the bravest and best thing to do. Balanta would have kept and used the ball better, Ellis would have had the hope that a quick interchange would have got him past the last defender and could use his pace to bear down on goal.
Crowd 8 - at least we were on form!
Ref 3 - we've had this clown 4 times at the Mem this season, enough is enough. We have seen him more than Goldberg, Wall and Wakefield!! He does not know the rules, or he chooses to ignore them when it suits him, as the game goes on he gets further and further away from the play, is consistently inconsistent and allows any infringement involving arms and hands (pushing, holding, shirt pulling, hand ball) to go unpunished.

Altrincham 7 Useful looking team.

Mildenhall 6 Not much to do, distribution could be better

Leadbitter 6.5 Improving slowly every game
Parkes 8 Very good performance
McChrystal 7.5 Solid and steady
Brown 6 Steady game, might have done better going forward

Lockyer 6.5 Actually passed to team mates today, tackled well, good game
Mansell 6 Not one of his better games
Monkhouse 6 Nothing special
Dawson 5 Crossing not very good

Taylor 5 Not at the races, but still missed him in s/h
Blissett 4 Wish he would put himself about a bit more

Harrison 5 This player could do so much better
Gosling 4 Was he sent on to slow the game down and waste time
Balanta 6 Looks class, but can he apply it every game

DC 7 Back him, 1-0s are precious

Ref 2 Should change his name to Coco the Clown

Aldrincham 6 Looked useful without threatening to much