Smith 5.5 competent without being commanding and distribution was both poor and ponderous. I'm afraid the gulf in quality between the talent we own and the talent we've borrowed is obvious
Leadbitter 3 up until the double substitution no one in a Rovers shirt deserved more than three out of ten. The cross for the goal did come from Leads side of the pitch but to be honest I'm struggling to remember anything he did that was either positive or negative in his brief appearance on the field
J. Clarke 7 centre back, right back, right of a back three. Didn't shirk his responsibilities in any of the roles he was called upon to play.
Lockyer 8 after a forgettable first twenty minutes Locks coped admirably with the changing shapes of our defence and nullified Barnet's attack for the remainder of the game. Drove the troops on. Growing into the captain's role at last.
Craig 7 header for Barnet goal came from his man so gets a point less than Locks but he was equally dominant in the last 70 minutes as TL
Kelly 5 sacrificed at half time as DC found a convincing formation to tackle the second half with, but in all honesty his most memorable contributions of the first half were a couple of confident chest downs to the keeper
Sinclair 1 I am a beard fan but that tackle in that area of the pitch was just stupid, stupid, stupid.
Sercombe 7 after an anonymous and ineffective start a long range potshot straight at the keeper on about 25 mins seemed to kick start his game. Much more purposeful after the restart as Rovers took the game by the scruff of the neck. Excellent strike smacking the crossbar was a highlight
O. Clarke 7 was anonymous a lot longer than Sercombe but was more influential than him once he finally got into the game, overlapping from wide right and tigerishly winning the ball back all over the pitch in a commanding second half display. Like the others his total rating reflects an abject first 45 and a vastly improved second 45
Nichols 8 deserved two pens and no yellow card. Our only performer in the first half and kept it going in the second half when his team mates matched his level of performance. Probably deserves the MOTM accolade and would have got it from me too bar an exemplary 45 minutes from Lines.
Payne 1 well at least he argued with the ref on behalf of his teammates but I think he got booked for impersonating a footballer as, that chat with the ref aside, he did nowt
Subs: Matthews 6 part of an early double change that started to wake the side up. Always convinces more going forward than he does in his defensive work
Bennett 7 a Pompey supporter warned me he would frustrate as the wild swings from his best to his worst became apparent, but today his early introduction was a positive as his obvious comfort with close control of the football caused unease amongst the agricultural defenders he was up against. Gave us an additional outlet we badly needed.
Lines 8.5 has my utmost respect as a player that can keep churning out match changing performances when some of his own "supporters" write him off as powderpuff or past it. He pulled the strings throughout the second half that enabled Nichols and Clarke to threaten from wide, Sercombe and Bennett to receive the ball with good odds of beating the first man in front of them and allow the defence and keeper an easy out ball to keep the pressure off them. Add in a consummately taken penalty and a blindingly good long range effort smacking the inside of the post and you have almost the perfect half!
Crowd 7 Gas, just like the team, anonymous first half and spirited in the second. Barnet, well they had a drum.
Ref 0.5 well he got the sending off and the second penalty shout right. Other than that he was hopeless for both sides. However, Barnet 18 fouls and a couple of deliberate handballs-no cards, Rovers 9 fouls and a proliferation of cards...really?
Barnet 5 started well, disappeared up their own rear ends.
