Player Ratings: Bristol Rovers vs Swindon Town (RESULTS)

Lumley 7 has impressed me so far for someone so young, has looked confident and assured
Leadbitter 7 as I have said many times before a better attacking defender than defensive but was good today
Brown 6 struggling for form but still a legend!!
Sweeney 8.5 MOM made a big difference, organised, solid, crafty and nearly scored
Lockyer 7 looks better with a bigger man next to him, good improvement
Sinclair 7.5 played a surprisingly forward role but did very well
Lines 7 quality most of the time, as last week keeper made a good save from his free kick
O Clarke 8 deserves his place in the team, has been a revelation
Bodin 7.5 considering he has not trained much this week a constant menace
Harrison 6.5 tried hard but was a bit lacking probably because of fitness
Taylor 7 not sure playing wide is for him but he gave his all

Sub's
Moore 6 lacking confidence and does not seem to like having to defend
James 6.5 tidy little cameo
Gaffney 6 lacking confidence should have scored

Ref 5 inconsistent
Swindon 4 poor will win nothing with kids even if they are Chelsea's
DC 10 tactically spot on today
Crowd 6 a bit nervy during the second half

Good solid 1-0 win, yes we should have scored more (though credit to Swindon defending and goalkeeper) but I would have taken this after last week. A clean sheet, and a defence that will improve after they have played together more. Burns, who was doing fitness work with Mansell before the game, looks solid but looks as though he is a few weeks away from full fitness. DC hinting we may have one or two coming in early next week. Just need to arrest our poor away form before a difficult month with Scunny, Bradford, Sheffield United and Bolton to come. UTG

Lumley - 7.5 important save in first half. Sounds strange, but was a major difference between the teams, very good distribution and kicking, as for swindles goalie his distribution was to the Rovers players more than his own, was very lucky not to cost them a goal or two and was a major reason they didn't build many attacks.



Leadbitter - 6, generally good, a bad mistake let the Swindle boy through but he did recover it.

Lockyer - 7, good on the ball and some good tackling, today will be great for his confidence.

Sweeney - 7.5, very solid, looked good in the air and also with his feet, putting himself about, and in the opposition box.

Brown - 6, solid at the back, but struggled when supporting the attack, couldn't get past his man or get a cross in.



Bodin - 7.5, was great news that his injury wasn't serious and to see him back on the team sheet, outstanding strike, real threat, still on course for double figures for the season as I predicted.

Lines - 7, not his best, but still good, part of a midfield that were on top most of the game.

O. Clarke - 7.5, very good game, again battled and dominated.



Sinclair - 8, tireless terrier causing the Swindon back-line grief, some great tackling



Taylor - 6, quiet, brought one ball down out of the air from over his shoulder, which was exquisite.

Harrison - 6.5, put himself about.



Subs: Gaffney - 4, struggled to get in the game, poor touch.

Moore - 2, awful, couldn't pick a pass, even a simple one, looked like he was on a different planet.

James - 5.5, tried, put himself about, didn't get much opportunity in the limited time he was on.



Crowd - 5.5, very quiet, probably suffered from being an early kickoff, but another great attendance.

Ref - 6, played a very good advantage early on, let swindle get away with a lot of niggly fouls and preventing quick free kicks, particularly in the first half.

Swindon - 3, you can see why they are relegation threatened, lucky not to have conceded more goals, very risky playing the ball around at the back, players clearly not up to that sort of game, midfield was over run, little threat. Colkett played a great long pass in the first half that just escaped their attacker, but he must wonder what he's done moving from us to them.



DC - 8, putting Sinclair in that spot was a master stroke, had to make some big decisions about the defence given the options now at his disposal and got the clean sheet. Subs weren't effective, but Harrison and Bodin were returning from injury and hadn't trained much, so was understandable. The team would really have benefited from Lambert up top today, doesn't look like it'll happen, but DC still planning to sign one or two.

Lumley 7 looked nerveless- let's hope he keeps that up over the coming months
Leadbitter 6 curate's egg performance...great run lousy cross, careless loss of ball tigerish winning it back, leave his winger in acres or space then recovers to deny the opportunity.
Brown 6 one horror moment gifting the ball to an opponent in the box otherwise solid at both ends.
Sweeney 7.5 good debut, undeserved booking
Lockyer 7 solid
Clarke 7.5 showing why Colkett wasn't getting game time
Lines 7 showing good game management now
Bodin 7.5 excellent strike and threatening throughout his hour on the pitch
Sinclair 8 the few times we've used him as an attacking midfielder have been his best games. Didn't give their defence a moment's peace
Taylor 7 showed a good football brain without being at the cutting edge today
Harrison 6.5 put in a shift.

Subs were detrimental to the team performance especially Moore 2, who was heading for a minus score up until making a couple of positive contributions near the end. I've seen training cones have more effective games. James 3, looked busy doing nothing, Gaffney 5, wasteful but put some effort in.

Ref 5
Swindon 4
Crowd 7

Lumley 7

Leadbitter 7
Lockyer 7
sweeney 8
Brown 6

Bodin 7.5
O. Clarke 8.5 MOM
Linsey 7.5

Sinclair 7

Taylor 7
Harrison 6

subs: Moore 4
Gaffney 5
James 5

ref 5
crowd 9
DC 9
Swindon 4

Lumley 7 Good assured performance 

Leadbitter 6.5 Fairly good performance but became really jittery when Moore came on
Lockyer 7 Untested for the most part 
Sweeney 7.5 Very solid and dependable. May be a threat in the opposition box as well.
Brown 7 Had to work hard to make up for the lack of winger in front of him

Bodin 8 Well taken goal, great player to watch when in form
Lines 7 Sat deeper than usual
O. Clarke 7.5 Unlucky not to score from a couple of efforts. 

Sinclair 8 The ideal role for him. Constantly had Swindon on the back foot and played good simple football when in possession.

Taylor 7 Worked hard off the ball to stifle Swindon's style of play
Harrison 7 Same as Taylor

Subs: Gaffney 5 Wasn't up to the pace of the game
Moore 4 Completely erratic
James 5.5 Couple of nice touches to win free kicks and a corner

Crowd
Ref 6.5 Gave soft decisions all game though at least he was consistent 
Swindon 3 Completely toothless with seemingly no idea of how they were going to win a game of football. Colkett floated around in a free role to be wherever the ball wasn't. Persisted with playing out from the back despite it not working. 

Lumley 7
Leadbitter 7
Lockyer 7
Sweeney 8.5
Brown 5.5
Sinclair 7.5
Lines 7.5
O Clarke 8.5 MOM
Bodin 7.5
Harrison 6.5
Taylor 7

Substitutes

Moore 5
James 5
Gaffney 6

Ref 7

Swindon 4


Crowd 8

Lumley 7 clean sheet no dramas.

Leadbitter 6 done ok but doesn't deliver enough in the final third.
Lockyer 7 solid, no mistakes and worked well with Sweeney.
Sweeney 7 no nonsense defending unlucky not to score.
Brown 6 Looks tired at the moment good in defence.

Bodin 7 what a goal typical Bodin performance.
Lines 7 Good shift broke when possible.
O. Clarke 9 rock in the middle again, broke up play very well.

Sinclair 8 in his best position a constant thorn in Swindle's side.

Taylor 6 Quiet but did ok
Harrison 6 Did ok

Subs: Gaffney 4
Moore 2
James 4

Crowd 7 good numbers
Ref 6 let the game go but let to many bad fouls go.
Swindon 4 had no one on the pitch I remember saying 'good player'! Seemed lightweight esp midfield.