Player Ratings: Bristol Rovers vs Braintree Town

Mildenhall : 6
Leadbitter: 6
Parked: 7
McCrystal: 7
Brown: 6
Mansell: 6
Gosling: 4
Lockyer: 6
Monky: 5
Blissett: 3
Taylor: 6

Harrison: 6.5
Balanta: 5
Dawson: 6

Mildenhall 7 had to earn his money,couple of good saves
Leadbitter 7 his pace was very useful tonight and did ok
McChrystal 8 Solid as usual,beautiful ball to Taylor for the pen
Parkes 7.5 Another big performance
Brown 6 good second half
Gosling 4 didn't offer much,corners were not bad
Mansell 5 worked hard but only got in the game when they went down to ten
Lockyer 5 same as above
Monkhouse 5 seen more of the ball
Blissett 4 struggling at the moment
Taylor 6 great control of McChrystal pass for the pen,looked like he was carrying a knock second half but good pass to el

Subs Balanta 5 some nice touches
Harrison 6.5 great run and finish from taylors pass
Dawson 6 better when he was on,wonder why he didn't start

DC 6 the knives were out at half time,but sorted the formation in the end

Braintree 7 impressed me,very well organised knocked the ball about well and unlike a lot of teams had a goal threat.
Glad they only had ten men

Ref 5 after the last clown,he had to be better

Mildy 8 - 2 big saves
Leadbitter - 7 didn't stop
Parkes - 8.5 - drove team on, gets better every game, a Goliath.
macca 7 some heroic tackles, thought he should of forced the line up more 1st half
Browner 7 - what you'd expect
Gosling 4 - hit and miss
Mansell 7 - grew into the game, can see he misses sinclair
lockyer 6- Got it done.
Monkhouse - 5 not his best
Blisset - 5 why he was picking the ball up and spending a lot of time on the wing baffles me. Still was a handful
Taylor - 9 (mom) Love this bloke. Clever assist , won the pen and scored the pen. Classy performance.
Balanta - 6 worked hard. But His 1st touch was abysmal too many times. He's better than that.
Harrison - 8. Brilliant closing down. Got the goal. Unlucky not to have 2. Seen it late.
Dawson - 9 is he LDV in disguise. Should have started

Mildy 7 couple of good saves and attempted better distribution. Caught flat footed on the odd occasion though.
Leadbitter 7 looked at home in both RB and RWB roles
McChrystal 8 Braintree's nimble forwards offered a different challenge to those from Alty but the skipper proved as adept at dealing with them
Parkes 7.5 often the spare man he made more probing runs than usual and generally looked after the ball well.
Brown 7.5 put in a peach of a cross in the first half that neither striker anticipated and continued the good work when switching to LWB second half. He and Parkes showed complete confidence in each other's games which got us out of danger with crisp passing on more than one occasion,

Gosling 4 the odd decent touch but no supply or threat evident from the right tn the first half. If we had seen the Gos of Torquay away instead then the decision to start with him would not have appeared so strange.
Mansell 7 as hard working as ever but more productive than the Alty game, and nearly got on the scoresheet with one near post run and flick.
Lockyer 7 performed equally well in the midfield engine room and as the right member of the second half back three
Monkhouse 6 not as poor as others seemed to think and his versatility was one of the main reasons the switch to 3-4-1-2 worked so well slotting inside alongside Mansell easily.

Taylor 7 back to being a handful for defences and probing their weaknesses
Blissett 6 better than his display against Alty. Had already left the pitch when Daws came on and started producing the service he'd have thrived on, but still put in a shift

Balanta 7 sticking him in the hole behind the strikers worked well, he recycled the ball and offered an outlet/threat throughout the 2nd half
Harrison 7 composed finish and provided a much needed injection of pace
Dawson 7 made a significant improvement to the attacking armoury on his introduction

DC 8 good switches of formation and excellent use of subs. Some have criticised the decision to start Gosling but the idea was fine - it was poor execution by the player on this occasion.
Crowd 9 vocal - night games seem to engender better singing voices!
Ref 7 couple of over zealous bookings but overall I'd happily take him officiating at more of our games - hardly any perplexing decisions and not one chant of you don't know what you're doing
Braintree 9 breath of fresh air, lively in attack and coped with being down to ten men superbly. Understandably tired towards the end but I wish that more than 23 of their fans had seen what a credit to their club their team were on the night.

Mildenhall 7 great save first half and did well with attempted lob second

Leadbitter 7 gets better every game. Had his hands full with thier number 15. Great tackle 2nd half.
McChrystal 9 MOM Captain fantastic won everything.
Parkes 7 After lord mayors show still did a good job.
Brown 6 Did a job

Gosling 4 inaffective display.
Mansell 6 Booked but well up for the fight.
Lockyer 6 Passing still an issue but does a job in the absence of Sinclair.
Monkhouse 7 He fits well into any system we play a does a lot of unsung work for the team.

Taylor 8 another great performance, got his man sent off and put the penalty away.
Blissett 3 Woefully out of form and confidence.

Subs: Balanta 5 his ball retention was key in keeping us up the pitch.
Harrison 7 pleased he scored winner and did a strikers job, SCORED!
Dawson 8 what an impact sign him on!

DC 7 tactics spot on 3 points.
Ref 7 one of the better ref's this season.
Braintree 6 Fair play to them gave us a good tight game which we had to work to win.

Mildenhall : 7
Leadbitter: 7
Parkes: 7
McCrystal: 9
Brown: 6
Mansell: 6
Gosling: 4
Lockyer: 5
Monky: 5
Blissett: 4
Taylor: 5

Harrison: 7
Balanta: 4
Dawson: 7

DC: 7
Ref: 7
Braintree: 8

Mildenhall 7

Leadbitter 7
McChrystal 7
Parkes 8
Brown 7.5

Gosling 2
Mansell 6
Lockyer 6
Monkhouse 5

Taylor 6
Blissett 4

Subs: Balanta 6
Harrison 7
Dawson 7

DC 7
Ref 7
Braintree 8

all the reviews are good but this is even better than average, and i'll take this instead of doing my own.

good point re ref.  shame Manse got his 9th yellow, but he got the big decision right, without wavering. Braintree's website described the sending off as harsh.  LOL. maybe we could send them a rulebook?

don't agree that gos at start was a fair try.  Dawson hasn't played much footy.  Gos was woeful at Woking, which was a warning.  it is too risky to start him; his performances have no consistency at all.