It's a great result for overseas fans in inconvenient time zones. Do you think our protestations had any effect, was it the Fans Forums intervention or did it just happen?

PLAYER WATCH v Coventry City Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski ******* ** 10 Nyambe ******************* ** 32 van Hecke *********************** ********* 20 Lenihan ****************** * 30 Ayala ***************** * 26 Edun ********************* ****** 23 Travis ********** ****** 5 Rothwell ***************** ***** 27 Buckley (64) ******** **** 10 Dolan (64) ******** ** 13 Gallagher (72) ******************* ********* 18 Poveda (64) **** ** 5 Davenport (64) **** ** 4 Diaz (72) *** * 5 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main incidents above.) 00 Edun receives from Lenihan on the left wing in our half but Dabo confronts him and he turns back and tries to pass back to Ayala but it clips a Coventry heel and falls to danger-man Gyokeres on the edge of the box. He advances, Ayala backs off and Travis and Edun manage to block his effort. Rothwell boots clear. 04 Nice ball from Rothwell to Travis who steams towards the box, he slips it through to Gallagher who’s offside. 05 An excellent long ball down the right channel from Lenihan allows Gallagher to make a good run behind two defenders and into the box. His attempt to cross is poor and rebounds for a corner. 07 Buckley slides a neat ball through to Dolan who collects and runs into the box. There’s the usual fancy stuff, a defender has a handful of Dolan’s shirt and he goes down. But Dolan is given offside. 08 A good ball down the line by Dolan for Nyambe to chase. Nyambe does well to get to the byline but his attempted cross is blocked. 10 Edun is done by the winger but Lenihan sweeps across reassuringly to bundle the ball into touch. 17 Nyambe wins a long-ball header and Travis gets a secondary header to Buckley who turns Kane expertly. Kane is embarrassed and hauls Buckley down. Should have been a yellow card! 19 van Hecke wins the ball in the middle of the park and feeds Nyambe on the touchline. He plays an excellent 1-2 with Gallagher and Nyambe crosses from the edge of the box but it’s blocked again. Eventually Coventry clear. 20 Coventry corner, the heads go up and the ball lands near the 18y line and Rothwell is wrong-footed, allowing the Coventry man an unchallenged shot on goal but it’s deflected I think and Kaminski saves nicely, he must have seen it late but got down well. van Hecke hoofs clear. 22 Edun spreads the play nicely to Buckley who threads a wonderful ball behind Kane to the on-rushing Nyambe. Nyambe beats Kane again in the box and fires in a powerful shot but the keeper makes a good save. Great move. 25 Edun loses the ball in Coventry’s D and defenders are caught up-field in no-man’s land. City stream forward. Lenihan makes a decent challenge but the ball runs for Coventry. Travis and Buckley aren’t chasing back hard enough. There’s a shot on goal and Kaminski saves well at the near post. Rothwell hoofs away. It’s not safe though and a City man gets a second shot but it’s too high. 26 Edun blocks a clearance and the rebound lands nicely for Gallagher near the box but he’s offside for the second time. 27 Buckley booked for a needless foul. Dolan wins the ball in our half but Gallagher’s poor ball hands the advantage back to City. Ayala slices the ball for a corner but redeems himself by heading the ball clear. 31 Nice ball deep into the box by Dabo and Ayala is there again to clear the danger. 34 Buckley, on a yellow, treading dangerously as he brings another City man down. He's not been so effective since he was booked. 38 Nice flick on by Gallagher to Dolan who fires off a shot from the edge of the box but it’s straight at the goalie at the near post. 39 Rothwell picks up the ball midway in City’s half but there’s five or more defenders between him and goal. He solves the problem by passing to Gallagher who flicks a brilliant 1-2 behind him and into the box, splitting the defence wide open. Joe races on to the ball at full pace, tips it over the keeper and follows the ball into the net. Amazing goal. 40 From the kick-off Gallagher dispossesses the City man and heads to goal. The challenge comes in but it’s a corner. 41 Eventually Gallagher picks up the ball just outside the box, shows good strength to hold off 2 defenders and, from 25m, unleashes a rocket but it smashes against a defender. Good effort from Sam, it looked on target. 42 Edun picks up a loose pass in midfield and feeds Rothwell who returns it perfectly to Edun near the D but he’s dispossessed and it runs to Dolan in the box but his shot too is blocked. Hectic! 43 Travis drives into the box but his pass to Gallagher is poor and it's out for a goal-kick. He had the chance to shoot…….would have been the better option I think. 44 Sloppy play by City and Rothwell picks up the ball and, as we’re becoming accustomed to, he drives forward into the box. From the left of goal he cuts back the perfect pass to the onrushing Gallagher who sidefoots it into the net. The keeper got something on it but it had enough power to do the job. 46 After a series of half-challenges by Rovers' defenders, Walker manages to put the ball in the net but he was offside! 51 Not a lot happening so far this half. Dolan just had a weak shot saved easily by the keeper. 52 Lenihan cleans up nicely but his long ball finds Gallagher a mile offside again. 53 Coventry having the better of this half so far. 54 Nicely, Nyambe shepherds the ball out for a corner frustrating the City attacker. 56 Great defensive work by Nyambe ushering Dabo further back towards his own half and his challenge sees the ball reach Gallagher who’s pass is awful but Travis clears up. 58 Gallagher receives a throw but passes directly to a Coventry man in the middle of our half! It’s danger. Poor control by Travis and the attacker drives across goal deep inside the box but Ayala gets a foot in and it’s cleared! Then Dolan gives it away. Poor stuff! 61 Gallagher gives the ball away again in the middle of our half and we’re on the back foot, the ball goes out to the City right wing and the cross to the near post, where Lenihan usually is, is met by Walker and it’s 2-1. 65 The City player stumbles and Gallagher is able to drive down the right wing but a chasing defender easily dispossesses him. Disappointing. 67 The excellent Gyokeres receives the ball in our half and holds off van Hecke’s challenge, he waltzes past Davenport as if he isn’t there, holds off Nyambe and squares the ball to Kelly 20m out who hits a good shot that beats a diving Kaminski and hits the post. The rebound hits the keeper and it’s in the net. Deary me! 69 Good response. After some good approach play, Edun puts in a great cross but Nyambe can’t get there. 71 Great long ball down the left wing from Lenihan to Gallagher but his cross is disappointing as Poveda charges in. 72 A tired van Hecke hauls an opponent down in desperation. Super Diaz comes on to rapturous applause, Gallagher off. 74 Rothwell puts a good free-kick into the box and Ayala puts his header square across the goal but van Hecke can’t quite get to it. Edun gives the ball away on halfway. Danger! Everyone is rushing back. Nice football from City and, unmarked, Gyokeres receives the ball on the penalty spot but van Hecke slides in from behind and brings him down. How was that not a penalty? BIG let-off. 78 The only way Kane can stop Rothwell’s run is to haul him back by his shirt. Yellow card. Rothwell takes the free kick and Lenihan rises to challenge two defenders and the goalie and it’s chaos. The ball is loose and it’s cleared off the goal line as Ayala closed in for the kill. 81 Gyokeres tries a shot from the left side of the box. van Hecke doesn’t do enough to close him down. 87 Edun slides a good ball out of defence on the left wing to Poveda. He turns inside nicely evading the defender and lobs the ball forward beautifully for Diaz to chase. He crosses into the box and amazingly Edun has continued running but the defender just gets there first, at the near post, to put it out for a corner. Edun is lying on the ground with his head in his hands. It was that close! Not quite enough weight on the ball from Diaz. 91 Rothwell receives the ball on the right and drives into the box. He puts in a fantastic cross to the far post and Diaz rises above the defender beautifully to meet it with his head. The goalie spreads and saves; it’s panic stations but the goalie eventually grabs the ball. The Rovers players can't believe it; now Ben is holding his head. Oh! It was offside apparently!

Thanks for your efforts. I hope this is the norm from now on.

I want them to stay. One of the reasons they get injured is because they are both highly committed, they don’t take a step back. I wish more of our players had the balls.

Thanks Tyrone, it wasn’t much fun writing up the last 2 matches so it’s good to know someone found it useful.

I must admit I was surprised by Rothwell's result but he ruined several attacking chances.....including 3 rubbish corners, 2 of which went directly into touch! He also had a big responsibility for the first goal and later allowed a Blackpool player a free pot-shot at goal from the halfway line.

PLAYER WATCH v Blackpool Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski **** **** 3 Magloire (80) ****** ******** -9 Carter ************** ******* 11 Ayala ********************** **** 37 Pickering ****************** *** 19 Travis ************** ***** 14 Rothwell (88) ******* ********** -10 Buckley ************** ***** 16 Dolan ********* *** 13 Diaz ************* ****** 18 Gallagher (42) *** ** 1 Edun (42) *********** ***** 9 Khadra (80) *** * 7 Butterworth (88) * 2 Highlights and Lowlights A justification for the main incidents above. 02 The Blackpool forward beats Travis and Buckley too easily midway in our half but Rothwell and Magloire combine to retrieve the ball on the edge of the box. Buckley puts in a couple of good passes but the last one catches Diaz offside. 03 A long ball comes into the box and Ayala heads away but not far enough, it falls into that central area of our own half where the midfield is often absent. Magloire is way out of position and as Blackpool attack, Ayala holds off, leaving a big gap allowing Lavery to get a shot away. Carter blocks but it bounces up in the air and agonisingly down and into the net. Soft goal, no one was defending the right hand side of the pitch! 09 More weak tackling on the edge of our box by Travis and Buckley. Fortunately the Blackpool man puts the ball into touch. 11 Pretty passing around the Blackpool box but it doesn’t look threatening, then Travis is fouled 25m out and central. Pickering puts the free-kick well over the bar. 15 Nice inter-passing from our own half into the Blackpool box…….Magloire to Buckley to Dolan to Rothwell to Buckley but his cross is blocked out for a corner. Rothwell’s corner bends into touch before it reaches Ayala…..who’s powerful header is parried by the goalie. 17 Rothwell picks up the ball midway in Blackpool’s half. He carries it forward and let’s loose from 25m but it’s deflected wide for a corner. Blackpool head the corner clear. 18 Good long ball down the wing to Lavery but Ayala muscles him off, like a true pro, on the edge of the box. Oh! Looks like Lavery is injured….not Ayala’s fault. 23 This is bad. Magloire is on the halfway line, we have a throw-in on the far side.. Blackpool win possession and the ball comes Magloire’s way. He’s drawn too far forward….but Rothwell is stood next to the danger man Anderson...But when Anderson sprints forward, chasing the ball, Rothwell lets him go! Magloire, who has much further to run, catches Anderson but he’s beaten too easily and the cross comes over. Carter was watching Madine but he had two men to cover and chose the wrong one. Pickering was pointing to various attackers but ended up marking no one. Madine’s header is brilliantly saved by Kaminski but Yates dives in to head home the rebound from 1m. 29 Magloire mis-controls and Blackpool attack and he’s out of position. Fortunately Madine, in the D, messes up and it goes for a goal-kick. 30 Dolan wins a corner. Rothwell’s effort is poor, low to the near post and it’s a goal-kick. 32 Long goal-kick by Kaminski, Gallagher makes no attempt to get off the ground and hence loses the contest. 33 Dolan wins another corner. Oh, for goodness sake! Rothwell AGAIN arcs the ball straight into touch. You bring all the big guns up...and it’s all a waste of time! 34 I’ve got to point this out…..on 34.54……..Magloire is all alone in his right hand quarter of the pitch…….no one anywhere near him…….and Blackpool have the ball on his side of the pitch! Whatever system we’re playing…..it’s rubbish. Eventually Gallagher arrives and Blackpool pass it backwards. Phew! Finally Rothwell makes a good defensive tackle and wins a free-kick. 36 Poor mis-control by Gallagher almost sets up a Blackpool attack. Now Blackpool are passing it around, fully relaxed and confident. We’re being out-played in every area. Here we go. Keogh has just run 40m down the centre of the park with no sign of a challenge! A cross comes in from the Blackpool right, over Kaminski’s head and Ayala, under pressure gets a touch, almost on the line, I’m not sure if it was going in! 38 A good long ball down the line goes over Magloire (out of position again!) to Anderson. He crosses but Carter rushes to the near post to take the ball off Madine’s foot. 42 Gallagher off, Edun on. 43 With Rovers on the attack, Rothwell loses the ball in the centre circle and the Blackpool player, seeing Kaminski off his line, takes a long punt but it’s off target. 44 Bowler is stood right in the middle of our half with no one around him, he receives the ball and has a free run to goal. Travis and Rothwell chase forlornly. Ayala puts in a great block at the edge of the box. The ball goes high in the air and Magloire and Buckley can’t get it away. That man Ayala is back on his feet and clears up the mess! Ayala and Travis having words! 48 Lovely ball from Buckley down the line to Dolan, back to Buckley and his cross is met by Edun but he’s under pressure and it’s off target and back to Dolan. He advances into the box and plays a lovely low ball square across the box, about 2m out, but Diaz and Rothwell can’t get there! Close! 45 Dolan chases back and wins the ball in the corner but is crudely scythed down. Yellow card. Pickering takes the kick and Ayala’s header, under challenge, is straight into the keeper’s arms. 48 Some nice approach work from Pickering and Edun but Rothwell, on one of his runs, runs the ball out of play! 49 Pickering wins the ball and does well to keep it in play. His cross goes over Diaz but Magloire (where did he come from?) does well to keep it in and feed Buckley. Buckley’s cross from the right wing is inch perfect to the feet of an in-rushing Diaz who thumps it into the net. Great goal. 51 Rothwell picks up a loose ball and rushes forwards. He takes on a shot from just outside the D but it’s one of his typical scuffed efforts straight at the keeper I’m afraid. 53 Edun wins the ball in Blackpool’s half and feeds Diaz who cuts inside one defender and releases a shot from outside the D. The goalie blocks but spills the ball and dives on the rebound. 63 Edun is dispossessed (looked like a free-kick to me) just outside our box and Bowler charges down on goal but Ayala gets a touch. That was dangerous! 66 Beautiful long ball by Travis to Edun in the left corner but he’s offside! 68 Some nice football from the hosts but Pickering runs across the box to cut out the crucial ball. Ayala gets his head to the resulting corner. 69 Good ball from Travis to Buckley. His ball to Diaz isn’t perfect but Diaz gets control and fires a shot from the edge of the box but it’s deflected for a corner. Good corner from Rothwell and Ayala’s there again but it’s wide. 72 Diaz receives the ball with his back to goal and flicks a lovely ball to Dolan on the wing. He races into the box and goes down under the challenge. No penalty! Some nice inter-passing around the Blackpool box ends with Pickering firing in a lovely cross but Diaz fouls the defender. 79 Lots of messy play in our right corner. Magloire is really exposed and Bowler has a free run on goal, Ayala challenges and it’s enough to put him off and his shot is just wide. 80 Magloire off, Khadra on. 82 Trickery from Khadra on his wing takes him past the fullback beautifully. His low square cross is air-kicked by the defender which fools Edun completely when he was in prime position! 83 The camera missed most of this. A ball from Buckley to Diaz and he’s offside. 84 Nice ball from Pickering to Diaz at the side of the box. He’s dispossessed but the Blackpool man slips anyway and Diaz feeds Edun in the box. He controls it and touches it to the side before releasing a decent shot but it’s deflected just past the post for a corner. 88 Rothwell off, Butterworth on. 90 Clever flick from a throw-in by Diaz to Khadra on the wing. He puts in an excellent cross from the corner flag that the goalie flaps at. It falls to Butterworth but he can’t get it under control and Blackpool clear. 93 Buckley and Kaminski mess up a throw-in……….Kaminski had to panic-kick the ball out for a throw. 95 Butterworth sends a cross into the box for Ayala but his header into the goalmouth is cleared. Ayala has another go, this time Dolan back-heads the ball and the Keeper stretches backwards to save brilliantly just under the bar. 97 This lad Khadra has something about him. He gets the ball wide on the right after some nice Rovers interplay. He gets a good cross in but the defender gets there just before it reaches Diaz and it’s a corner. Ayala is out-jumped for once! The whistle goes.

It’s a plausible theory!

I don’t pretend that the marks are definitive but the poor, collective contribution of the subs seems clear. But why put Poveda and Clarkson on in this situation? They’re not ready, they’ve shown that clearly. I liked Butterworth last time out…..he definitely did make a difference.

He didn’t do much last time out either! Looks like a poor acquisition.

Hmmmm! I just looked back to my stats on the Cardiff game. Carter was on about 35 minutes and scored 18. Now that’s what I call an effective substitution!

PLAYER WATCH v Huddersfield Town Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski ******** **** 11 Nyambe (20) *** *** 1 Carter ********** *** 10 Ayala ****************** ***** 30 Pickering ************ ******* 6 Travis ************** **** 13 Rothwell (74) *************** ** 24 Buckley ************ ******** 4 Dolan (78) *** *** 0 Diaz. ************* ****** 25 Gallagher (78) ********** ********* 4 Magloire (20) ****** ****** -2 Poveda (74) ** ****** -6 Khadra (78) * * 1 Clarkson (78) ** ** 0 Highlights and Lowlights A justification for the main ratings above. 00 Thomas takes the ball to the byline and Pickering gets nowhere near preventing the cross. Nyambe is beaten in the air and the ball comes back across goal to Ward who seems taken by surprise. He heads it over the bar. Should be 1-0. 01 Nyambe is caught upfield and the Town man charges down the wing and Carter fails to close him down. His cross is knocked back to an unmarked Sinani in front of goal but he blasts the ball well over. Could be 2-0! 02 Pickering again fails to prevent the cross but Kaminski collects comfortably. 11 We’ve done nothing of significant note yet! Buckley slides the ball down the channel to Gallagher but he’s offside. 12 Nyambe intercepts but the Town man continues his run and clatters into Nyambe’s head. He goes down to his knees as if he’s been hit by Mike Tyson. Nasty! 14 That’s the third or fourth long ball by Kaminski…..not one of them has been productive! 15 Gallagher wins the ball near the corner flag and lays it off nicely. Eventually a cross comes in from Travis and Sam is there to meet it but it’s a bit behind him and he heads over the bar. 16 O’Brien carries the ball forward and Nyambe intercepts his ball into the box but he stumbles and falls and O’Brien crashes the ball against the bar. It seems Nyambe hasn’t recovered from his head blow! I can’t mark him down for that. Rothwell hooks clear. 20 Yep, Nyambe off, Magloire on. Strange he hasn’t gone on as a straight full-back replacement for Nyambe. We’ve gone 3 at the back with Buckley as right wing-back. 21 Rothwell intercepts well and passes to Gallagher who simply runs it out of play! 22 Rothwell to Gallagher; it’s a straight-forward ball but Gallagher fails to control it and it’s back with Town 23 Buckley beats his marker on the wing and swings in a decent cross but the defender gets there first and Diaz fouls in the box. 25 Pickering blocks the attempted cross from the wing and it’s a corner. Very good defensive header away by Ayala. The ball comes back in and Carter gets there first and Travis boots clear. The ball comes into the box again but Kaminski collects confidently. 26 O’Brien dispossesses Buckley beautifully. He’s having a great game so far. Ayala cleans up eventually. 27 Long throw into our box but Magloire gets up well to head clear. 28 Carter is spending quite a bit of time in the attacking third! 31 Nice ball down the wing by Rothwell to Pickering but he’s held up. A bit more interplay and it goes to Diaz 25m out, he takes on the shot and it’s about a metre wide. Good effort though. 33 Buckley intercepts deep in Our half and launches a beautiful long pass to Diaz who controls expertly before laying off to an on-rushing Pickering just inside the box. Unfortunately it lacks half a metre of pace and Pickering can’t get a good contact. Goal-kick. 34 O’Brien making a fool of our defensive midfielders again. 35. Gallagher wins the ball and feeds Buckley who wanders into the middle of Rovers’ half. Koroma just muscles him off the ball far too easily and we’re in trouble. Thomas does Pickering all ends up and slides the ball square to Vallejo just outside the D and he blasts his shot into the net. Kaminski got something on it but should have done better I think. It all started with a lackadaisical Buckley strolling into trouble. 36 We should be level. Directly from the kick-off, a brilliant length of the field pass by Buckley finds Diaz, his defender falls over and he’s clear on goal but the ball gets under his feet, near the penalty spot, he loses the opportunity to shoot and the defence has time to get back. He does manage to slide the ball sideways to Dolan but his shot is blocked. 38 Pathetic short corner by Buckley to Rothwell who has nowhere to go. A rebound is collected nicely by Pickering but his shot from just outside the box goes 1m wide. 41 Lots of passes but we’re making no progress and don’t look threatening! 42 Gallagher passes to Buckley on the wing and he delivers a nice cross to Diaz near the penalty spot but the header is weak and too near the goalie. (+1 as he, at least, got into a good position). 43 There’s a big hole in the middle of our half and Town players are strolling through it with ease! A cross comes in and Ayala ducks under it for some reason? Magloire is beaten on the wing and another cross pings over…..too high fortunately. More Town possession but Travis eventually intercepts. Good run out of defence by Gallagher. More passes until we are inside the box and the ball is deflected straight up in the air. Diaz is under it but his control is poor and the ball bounces off him for a goal-kick. 45 Town throw near our byline. Magloire and Travis allow the attacker to cross far too easily. Pickering eventually puts it out for a corner. 50 Ayala heads an attempted clearance up in the air and Town attack. Sinoma gets in a hard shot but Kaminski saves well at his near post and gathers the bouncing ball. 51 O’Brien cuts us open again but a Town man air-kicks when directly in front of goal! Pickering to Diaz and a nice pass to Travis who puts Dolan in at the corner but he’s dispossessed. Two weak attempts at a tackle in midfield by Rothwell. 56 A thing of beauty. Rothwell is off on one of his runs from just inside Town’s half. He mesmerises the Huddersfield defenders and runs into the box. He squares the ball perfectly to Diaz’s feet. Ben beats the in-running defender and tucks the ball past the keeper brilliantly. Great goal……(+5 each!) 59 Well that didn’t last long. Town attack, Pickering runs out and over-commits, missing the ball leaving Thomas unmarked. His cross is met powerfully By Ward who crashes his header into the net. Man v boy there as Magloire was bullied out of the way and didn’t get off the ground. 62 Rothwell launches a lovely ball over the top from halfway. Diaz’s first touch takes him away from the defender on the left side of the box. Ben chases the ball into the box and he is scythed down near the penalty spot. Penalty kick! Diaz sidefoots it into the bottom right corner. The keeper got something on it but there was enough power to finish in the net. 68 Again Pickering fails to stop Thomas getting his low cross in but Carter clears. The ball reaches Gallagher who immediately heads it to O’Brien. He feeds Koroma but the shot is straight at Kaminski. 70 Buckley blocks a long low pass but Town retain possession. Gallagher backed out of the challenge there and O’Brien slides through a beautiful ball to Ward who smashes it from a tight angle. Kaminski blocks at his near post but Carter is needed to boot the rebound clear. 72 Kaminski throws to Gallagher on the wing but he wasn’t expecting it and he’s dispossessed. Town attack but Rothwell manages to put the ball in touch. 74 Rothwell off injured, Poveda on. 76 Nice ball from Carter to Poveda, Buckley is in space but Poveda is dispossessed and Magloire is beaten on the wing. Poveda chases back and wins the ball but then gives it away again near the box. The cross comes in and Carter heads to safety but it’s a corner. Ayala heads the corner clear from under the crossbar. The ball comes back and it’s panic time. Ayala kicks the ball away but back it comes and Ayala heads away again. Buckley collects just outside the box but he is brushed aside and dispossessed far too easily by the Town player. Magloire is easily beaten and the low cross comes in. Unbelievably it manages to pass through half a dozen players and the Town man is waiting in the centre of goal on the 6 yard box. It has to be a goal…..but no! Kaminski saves and Gallagher, who had previously slid in and missed the ball, is lying on his back and somehow manages to kick the ball over his head and away! The ball comes back in again and Kaminski turns the header over for a corner. Blimey, what a pantomime! 78 Dolan and Gallagher off, Khadra and Clarkson on. With Poveda these are strange lightweight subs for this type of game. 82 Quick feet from Khadra but to no great purpose. Eventually he feeds Poveda but he can’t keep it in and it goes for a goal-kick. 83 Clarkson loses the ball near Town’s D. It’s punted forward, Clarkson chases and magages to get a foot in but the ball is rolling for Huddersfield. Everyone is back-pedalling and out of position. The cross comes into the far post. It’s headed back to Ward who gleefully heads the ball into the net from close range. Everyone at sixes and sevens; it’s hard to apportion blame but it all started when Clarkson lost the ball in an attacking position. Ayala and Carter must take some blame as we were 5 against 1 at one stage and the goal came unchallnged through the middle of the box. 90 Clarkson’s corner is ordinary and is headed clear to Travis just outside the box and central. He tries to bend the ball in but it’s 1m wide. (+1 maybe). 93 Ayala heads forward and Buckley feeds Poveda on the wing with a neat pass. Poveda’s pass is mis-directed. Poor. 94 Buckley drives into the box and goes down. No penalty…..the Town players accuse him of diving. 95 Poveda loses the ball again.

My favourite veteran story is Ferguson admitting that he had let Kevin Moran go too early after he had given a masterclass for Rovers v Man U. Apparently Kenny offered him a coaching opportunity at the end of his career. https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/kevin-moran-reveals-how-kenny-22091209

If you go to Rovers TV, Match Centre,…..you will see the “watch Live” button.

4.45 am start for me this time!

I just registered for ifollow for free on the Huddersfield site. It gives me access to full replays of Huddersfield’s previous games……so I assume I’ll be able to watch the Rovers game within 24 hours of the finish. I’m on my ipad and didn’t use the app. It’s a bit of a maze to get to the replays…..you need to find the RESULTS page to access the option…… If you want to watch live via ifollow you will, of course, have to pay.

I was amazed at how assured he looked. I think Ayala’s influence is having a big effect on the youngsters. He never shuts up! I should have given him an extra big blue star for that aspect of his game. (I did think about it.) This is a benefit that could be long lasting….that’s the beauty of it.

Sorry about that DeeCee; technology sometimes isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I hope you got something out of it.

Thanks Tyrone, I will take that as a compliment for sure. The mention of Alf and the Last Sports made me smile. I used to run to the Boulevard to get an early copy of the Last Sports. The vendor repeated the doublet….”Last Sports” …..(then in a lower tone)……”Telegraph”. I devoured every word with pleasure. Even back then I used to write up my own reports of the game….I guess nothing much has changed.

Update I wrote to the club to complain along the lines indicated in my previous posts. Here is the gist. They repeated the obvious stuff…..ifollow has been replaced by Rovers TV (implying that the service obviously won’t be the same). The fees are repeated. They sent me a link to the live streaming offered! They said they were aware of the replay issue and are working on a resolution. (Apparently Waggott said the same at the recent Fans Forum). They then said that highlights are available on YouTube! Comments I made about the misleading nature of the Rovers TV promotional material have been “forwarded”. Dunno who to. No mention of the time zone problems here in Oz. No mention of the increased fee/reduced level of service. I wrote back informing them of the excellent service offered by Cardiff City TV for FREE via the same streaming company as Rovers TV (streamamg). I’m not confident anything will change. Nobody seems to give a damn.

PLAYER WATCH v Cardiff City Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Individual Incidents (stars) and Overall Contribution (numerical score) Kaminski *** *** 3 Nyambe ******** 15 Lenihan **************** ** 26 Ayala **************** *** 26 Pickering ********** ******* 8 Travis ********* 14 Rothwell ************* **** 16 Buckley ******************* *** 27 Dolan ********** 22 Diaz. *************** *** 30 Gallagher **************** ******** 23 Carter ********* 18 Khadra ** ** 1 Edun ** * 3 Highlights and Lowlights 01 Long ball over the top from Ayala almost puts Diaz in…..the goalie just gets there first. A repeat of the first minute v Barnsley. (Buckley was the provider then.) Pickering takes a throw, receives the return and drives to the box. He lays off to Dolan who returns nicely to Pickering who centers to Gallagher but he is well marked and hooks it over the bar. 03. Great chase back and persistence from Dolan as he wins the ball, near the corner, and clears. 04 Travis wins the ball, Gallagher to Rothwell to Diaz who turns inside 2 defenders and lets a shot go from 20m but it’s saved comfortably. Nice move. 06. Ayala muscles the Cardiff man into touch about 5m from the goal line. It will be the first long throw by Cardiff. 07 Ohhhh! The City man beats 3 or 4 Rovers in the air, on the edge of the goalmouth. It hits a startled Kaminski and The rebound is straight to Morrison. Kaminski gets his arm to his header but it’s going in until Nyambe heads off the line. A goal-saving clearance! (Worth +5). Kaminski should have punched the throw I think. 13 Lovely long ball from Lenihan for Gallagher to chase. He’s away from his man and shoots from the right corner of the box but it’s weak and nearer the corner flag than the goal. 14. A quick free-kick catches us napping and a nice cross into the box is cut out neatly by Ayala. 19 Pickering is out-jumped but Ayala cleans up in the box. 23. Buckley collects the ball in the centre of Rovers half and releases an exquisite ball over the defence. Gallagher is steaming goalwards, the ball comes over his head and he controls it beautifully without letting it bounce. One more touch takes the ball to the edge of the box and he buries it in the net. Great goal! 30 Dolan takes on his fullback, runs to the line and wins a corner. Good cross by Rothwell and it’s that man Ayala again but this time his header hits the bar! Buckley returns nicely into the box but there’s a foul. Hot stuff. 31 A long headed clearance from Lenihan reaches Dolan on the wing. He takes on his man again and beats him, releasing the perfect cross into the box for an unmarked, charging Diaz to shin home on the volley from around the penalty spot. Another wonderful goal. 33 Gallagher picks up the ball, runs back and forth and, full of confidence, unleashes a shot from well outside the box but it’s just wide. 35. I like this new Gallagher, he picks up from a throw, charges towards goal, shoots from the edge of the box but it’s deflected to the keeper. 41 Rothwell goes on one of his runs, beating men here and there, a bit of luck maybe but he’s in the box and crosses dangerously but Cardiff defend well and eventually Buckley puts the ball well over the bar. 45 Oh calamity! Hard to describe this…..you have to see it! Diaz picks up the ball on halfway. He drives forward but his pass is deflected by one defender into second one and the ball rolls magically into Diaz’s path. He's Still not fully in control as he enters the goalmouth, there’s the keeper and a defender in front of him but he dummies them both by mis-kicking…….the tortoise paced shot beats the keeper and the panicked defender kicks the ball against Diaz and it’s a goal. Diaz will never score another like that if he plays till he’s 90! 47 Newly introduced Giles gets past Pickering easily and his cross beats Ayala but Lenihan is covering the near post, thank God! 52 Buckley collects a clearance on his chest and lays off nicely to Pickering who plays a long, delightful ball down the wing to Diaz. He crosses from the left corner of the box and Sam rises high to nod back across goal. Dolan is too quick for the defender, leaving him in his dust as he controls with his chest and slips the ball past the keeper. 55 Lenihan off, Carter on. A precaution I hope! 57 That man Giles again leaves Pickering for dead and reaches the goal line but a charging Rothwell sweeps the ball out for a corner. Giles delivers a beautiful cross and Morrison heads home. Not sure who we can blame there. 64. Dolan off, Khadra on. Dolan laps up the adulation as he takes the longest possible route to the changing rooms! 66 That’s 2 good defensive headers from Carter. Great stuff. Dolan leaves the pitchside having shaken hands with everyone in the ground. 67 Oh my! Giles does Pickering again and his cross is beautiful. Harris meets the ball perfectly but Kaminski tips it over the bar brilliantly. Khadra could have been better and Ayala was slow to react. 68. Excellent clearing header from the corner by Carter. 69 Khadra, on the wing slips the ball square to Gallagher, he takes it on and drives into the box but he’s dispossessed by a good sliding tackle. 71 Rothwell plays a nice ball to Khadra on the wing but he overruns it and it goes out of play. 74 Giles gets in another cross that Ayala has to deal with…..he blasts Khadra for his lack of urgency. It’s a corner. Carter blocks a powerful header with his chest, and the rebound is hit over the bar. Carter has been excellent since he came on. 76 Giles attacks down the wing, reaches the goal line and Ayala can’t prevent the cross. Giles again takes the corner but Ayala heads clear. Gallagher nearly gives the ball away near the box but fortunately the move fizzles out. 82 Edun on, Rothwell off. 83 Edun’s attempted clearance is intercepted but the danger passes. 84. Giles can’t beat Pickering this time but it’s a City throw. 85 Carter gets a foot in to break down an attack and Buckley launches one of those over the top balls for Diaz to chase and he gets a powerful shot away but it’s comfortably blocked at the near post. 86 Buckley’s pass is too long and Diaz gives the ball away to set up a Cardiff attack. Pickering is done again on the wing and a great cross comes in. Carter wins the header well but it’s a corner. Giles takes it and Carter heads clear. 88 Travis passes to Diaz in the City half and he heads towards the right edge of the box. He releases sideways to Gallagher in the D. He has his back to goal and 2 men on him. He swivels and gets a decent shot in. The keeper palms it away and Buckley runs in but loses out to the defender. It spins to Khadra and the keeper has a rush of blood and clatters Khadra to the ground. Penalty. The camera concentrates on Diaz. He looks fully focused. Beautiful penalty, low to the left and the keeper goes the wrong way. 90 Nice ball from Edun to Buckley who threads a neat ball down the line for Khadra to chase. He stumbles in the box but lays off to Edun who squares the ball to Gallagher on the penalty spot. He tries to side-foot it home but hits the defender. A disappointing end. Constructive criticism welcomed.

I love a happy message board as much as anyone but I’ve been a Rovers fan for a long time. do you remember last September? We hammered Wycombe 5-0. Armstrong was Mom on ‘whoscored’ with a whopping 9.5 rating after scoring a hat-trick. Next up, a trip to Forest and a 4-0 win. Johnson was Mom with a 9.4 rating and 2 goals. The board was bouncing. I remember one comment……something like “I don’t think Dack will get his place back!” Sadly, it was pretty much downhill from there (apart from a 4-0 Coventry win). It amazes me that certain players can rise from uninterested, garbage one game to fully switched on handful the next (Gallagher anyone?) As always I remain optimistic (age cannot cure me apparently) and I like the way we played on Saturday. If we can maintain the togetherness and the young players continue to develop it could be an enjoyable season. Fingers crossed.

Do yourself a favour and watch the full game……or the extended highlights ……for free with no sign-up required at Cardiffcityfc.com.uk

I think there’s one man largely responsible for our change in fortunes: Ayala. Not only is he a hard, no-nonsense defender and a formidable set-piece target but most of all he’s organised the back four. He’s constantly barking orders and directing the younger players. Those around him are learning fast and the improvements are already starting to show. He could be the best investment we’ve made in a long while.

I may have more good news. Some may remember that I complained bitterly that my 170 pound international “pass” for Rovers TV did not include extended highlights or full match replays. Well Cardiffcityfc.com.au run their own tv service (via the same mob as Rovers tv……streamamg) and they provide FULL MATCH REPLAYS FOR FREE. From the Cardiff site: I tried it out on their last couple of matches and it worked perfectly, I didn’t even have to subscribe! So, the Rovers match should be available by about noon tomorrow at cardiffcityfc.com.uk I forgot to say that “extended highlights” are available too.