Director of Football Lennie Lawrence took charge of the reserve side this afternoon as they ran out 2-0 winners against a very experienced Cheltenham side.

First Team Coach Paul Trollope was on the sidelines as well and the management duo were impressed by the performance of the club's second string.

"That's the best they have played all season," Lennie told bristolrovers.co.uk "and every player was a plus of some description."

The experience of defender Steve Elliott and midfielder Richard Langley helped an otherwise young side through a hectic opening period.

"Obviously it helped having Steve Elliott on the comeback trail for the first hour, and  it was also a big help having Richard Langley in the side.

"Other that, that our side consisted of young players and they did very well against a very, very experienced Cheltenham team containing a number of players with first team experience who find themselves in that situation because of the amount of loan players at the club.

"Whilst the side benefited from the experience of Steve and Richard, especially during the opening twenty minutes, they went on to play very well and caused Cheltenham a number of problems. We scored two goals but most importantly, in my opinion, we kept a clean sheet against a very good side.

"There was a real resilience about us in the final twenty minutes against players that are stronger and, in some cases, quicker.
"We compensated for that by playing quick football and moved the ball around them. Our front players were lively and it was a good, solid, all round performance. They have done well in pervious games, but today they were very good."

Steve Elliott's first game back after injury proved to be a success and triallist Richard Langley impressed, in spite of being short on match fitness.

"It was good to see Steve Elliott come through an hour with no reaction to his injury. It turned out to be a perfect game for him, because he was kept very busy in the opening twenty minutes and got in a number of headed clearances and a number of blocks.

"Richard did well, and we will have a look at him during the rest of this week. He's a talented boy, but he was put for a long time through injury, and is now on the comeback trail.

"It's a while since he's been involved at first team level, but I had him with me at Cardiff and know what he's capable of. He's a talented lad, but we'll have to wait and see how it all shapes up."