Tuesday
18th
July 2006, Pre-Season Friendly,
Memorial Stadium, Kick-Off 7:45pm
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Bristol Rovers |
0 - 1 |
Albion |
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2,166 |
Carter 88 |
Bristol Rovers:
Scott Shearer, Aaron
Lescott, Craig Hinton, Steve
Elliott, Chris Carruthers,
Sammy Igoe, James Hunt,
Craig Disley, Stuart
Campbell (Andy Sandell 77),
Junior Agogo (Lewis Haldane 67),
Richard Walker. Subs not used:
Mike Green (gk), Darren
Mullings, Byron Anthony, Gary
Warren, Sean Rigg, Chris
Lines
Albion:
Tomasz Kuszczak, Jared
Hodgkiss, Jeff Forsyth (Curtis
Davies HT), Steve Watson (Chris
Perry HT), Martin Albrechtsen,
Richard Chaplow, Rob
Davies, Junichi Inamoto, Darren
Carter, Rob Elvins (Michael
Nardiello 55),
Zoltan Gera (Nathan Ellington 55).
Subs not used: Luke Daniels (gk),
John Hartson, Ronnie
Wallwork, Jonathan Greening,
Paul Robinson, Nigel Quashie,
Ibrahim Sissoko
Referee: Lee Probert (Gloucestershire)
Assistant Referees: Andy Williams
(Herefordshire), Simon Knapp (Bristol)
Fourth Official: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
Half-Time:
Bristol Rovers 0-0 Albion
Away Following: 297
A Last-gasp goal from Darren Carter gave Championship new
boys West Brom
victory at the Memorial Stadium last night, but there was no disgrace in
defeat for Bristol Rovers. The Pirates put in an encouraging display and had
more than enough chances to secure their third straight pre-season victory.
But in the end it was an opportunist finish from Carter that meant the club
relegated from the Premiership last season took the honours.
Rovers created the first chance of the game in the opening minutes when
Junior Agogo broke from halfway, but Martin Albrechtsen got back quickly to
cover and, after being forced wide, the striker blazed a left foot shot high
over the top. Robert Elvins sent a 20-yarder wide of Scott Shearer's right
post, but Rovers should have taken the lead after 16 minutes and it was only
the agility of Polish international keeper Tomasz Kuszczak - a target for
Manchester United - that denied them. Agogo's through ball found Richard
Walker, whose initial shot was blocked. And when the rebound fell to last
season's leading scorer, his header was clawed away by a fine close-range
reaction save. Rovers' front two paired up well again on the half hour with
Walker's nod-on from a long clearance almost putting Agogo through, but
Albrechtsen did well to intervene at the cost of a corner, which came to
nothing. The first half was a fairly even affair, with West Brom's best
chance coming shortly before the break. Carter received a return pass from
Zoltan Gera and broke towards the edge of Rovers' box, but sent his shot a
yard wide. Then Rovers saw a good chance go begging when Stuart Campbell
just kept the ball in play and chipped it back from the bye-line. Walker, a
couple of yards out, rose to get in a header but saw his attempt deflected
behind off Steve Watson.
The home side created another opening early in the second
period when Sammy Igoe provided a good cross from the right. It reached
Agogo, eight yards out, who stepped inside his marker but could only prod
his shot straight at Kuszczak.
West Brom rattled the woodwork when
Gera hit a dipping
25-yarder. Shearer just managed to get his fingertips to the attempt and was
grateful to see it bounce off the crossbar. One of the biggest cheers of the
night came when former Rovers favourite Nathan Ellington made an appearance
after 55 minutes, the striker getting off the bench to replace Robert Elvins.
Craig Disley almost put Rovers ahead after an hour with a dipping shot from
28 yards, which just cleared the crossbar. Then Agogo got into a good
position but lashed his finish wide before being replaced by Lewis Haldane a
few moments later. Shearer made a good save to beat out a Carter shot and
the Albion striker shot over the top seconds later before
Walker,
at the other end, was also off target with an attempt from 20 yards. Walker
almost made a late breakthrough for the Pirates when he spotted Kuszczak off
his line and sent in a chip which only just cleared the bar, but it was
West Brom who stole the game at the death. Carter latched on to a long
clearance two minutes from time and crashed his shot from 10 yards past
Shearer and high into the net.
thisisbristol.co.uk
Bryan Robson:
"It was a good run out because I wanted to give most of the
younger lads another chance to see how well they could do against opposition
like this. A few of them did quite well - especially Jared.
"I was also pleased with
Bristol because they tried
to play good football. Their players were sensible with their challenges and
the pitch was in very good condition."
(Speaking about trialist Michael
Nardiello) "Michael wants to try to get more involved in first-team squad
football. He's trained with us for two weeks and that was his second taste
of a game with us.
"For a 17-year-old, we're quite impressed with him. We're
looking at offering him a two-year contract."
Paul Trollope:
"We were pleased with the way we played. The opponents were
of a much higher quality than we've played so far, but I was pleased with
the tempo we performed at, and I think we stepped up well.
"We played some good football, and apart from their goal at
the end, I was pleased with the defensive performance of the whole team. The
concentration and application was first class, and we possible deserved to
have scored and kept a clean sheet.
"But it's not all about the result in pre-season, we would
have liked to have drawn or won, and we probably deserved to, but we can
take confidence from the way we played. They have good players, and the way
we competed against them shows me that we are moving in the right
direction."
Albion last played a friendly against Rovers at the Memorial Stadium in
July 2002, slumping to a 3-2 defeat. Ronnie Wallwork and Danny Dichio were
the Albion scorers whilst Giuliano Grazioli (2) and David Gilroy netted
for the home side.
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