Match Preview - Rovers v Cheltenham Town

31 December 2022

The Gas start 2023 by welcoming Cheltenham Town to BS7!

Manager Preview

Joey Barton has said that Cheltenham will provide a much tougher test this time around and that his side will be looking to start tomorrow's game on 'the front foot' after late drama snatched the points from Rovers in our previous game against Exeter City;

“We won comfortably at their place earlier this season but they’ve picked up their form and will be a different proposition for us at home where we’re expected to win. Like I said after the Exeter game, we can’t continue to need to score two, three, four goals to win games and we know we need to tighten up at the back. It was good to get minutes into Lofty, Sam and Harry and our own form hasn’t exactly been bad, so we’ll be going out on the front foot and look to get the Gasheads behind us. When that happens, no-one enjoys having to face us at The Mem.”

Previous Encounter

Form Guide

Cheltenham Town currently sit in 16th place in the League One standings, with 28 points from their 22 league games this season. In their last outing, the Robins picked up three points against Shrewsbury Town in a game which saw Charlie Raglan and former Rovers captain Luke Leahy receive their marching orders. Across their last five league games, Cheltenham have won three and lost twice with their two losses coming against Plymouth and Forest Green Rovers.

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How to Watch

Our New Year's Day clash against Cheltenham Town is available to stream live on iFollow!

Match passes cost £10 with most of the revenue generated coming back to the football club.

If you would like to purchase a match pass, please click HERE.

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Ref Watch

Ollie Yates is the referee for our 2023 opener at The Mem on Sunday afternoon. Referee Yates has taken charge of seven games in League One up to this point in the season. Across those seven games, referee Yates awards an average of 23.71 fouls per game. Yates has shown 31 yellow cards across those seven games with an average of 4.43 per game. He is yet to produce a red card in League One.

Betting Preview

EFL sponsors SkyBet have priced Rovers at 5/6 for the win on New Year's Day. A 2-0 scoreline in favour of the Gas can be backed at 8/1. On the goalscorer markets, Aaron Collins is at 5/1 to open the scoring at The Mem whilst Scott Sinclair can be backed at 3/1 to score anytime throughout Sunday's clash.

*Odds correct at the time of writing. Please bet responsibly. To bet with SkyBet, please click HERE.

Match Reports

Match Report - Rovers 2-1 Cheltenham Town

1 January 2023

A winning start to 2023 for Rovers!

Two first-half strikes from Aaron Collins and Josh Coburn ensured all three points for Rovers on New Year's Day.

Joey Barton made three changes to the side that started our last game against Exeter City. In came Scott Sinclair, James Connolly and Harry Anderson with Luca Hoole, Ryan Loft and Lewis Gordon.

Prior to kick-off, there was a minute's applause for Brazil and football legend Pele who sadly passed away on Thursday evening at the age of 82.

The first clear chance of the tie fell to Sam Finley after Harry Anderson had done well to pick out his run on the edge of the box. Finley hit his shot first time but couldn't keep his effort on target. Rovers opened the scoring on the 25-minute mark. A delicious through ball from Sam Finley played in Aaron Collins, who took a touch and calmly slotted the ball past Luke Southwood to put the Gas one to the good.

The Gas doubled their lead shortly before the half-time interval. Collins played a reverse pass into the path of Josh Coburn on the right. His low shot squirmed under Southwood, who was not able to get enough on the strike much to the delight of the 9,649 Gasheads in attendance.

Coburn had the ball in the back of the net yet again shortly before the half-time interval. The Rovers striker was adjudged to be offside and the goal was ruled out.

Cheltenham looked to respond following their most recent setback. Former Rovers captain, Liam Sercombe unleashed a venomous effort from 25-yards-out which crashed against the post to keep Belshaw's clean-sheet intact.

Cheltenham had their goal shortly after the restart. A lapse in concentration from James Connolly presented Alfie May with a glorious opportunity which he did not squander, firing hard and high past Belshaw and had the visitors within one goal of Rovers.

Rovers were forced into an early second-half change after Lewis Gibson was forced off through an injury. On came Luca Hoole to slot in at the back for Rovers. An injury to Cheltenham's Lewis Freestone saw the defender stretched off the pitch. As a result of the lengthy break in play, nine added minutes were shown by the fourth official.

Buoyed by the nine additional minutes, Cheltenham started to throw everything at Rovers in search of the equaliser. Rovers were able to weather the storm however and claimed all three points to start 2023 in the best possible way.

Rovers are next in action on Saturday, 7th January against Cambridge United (3pm KO).

Rovers: James Belshaw, James Connolly, Sam Finley, Scott Sinclair, Aaron Collins, Paul Coutts (c), Lewis Gibson, Harry Anderson, Antony Evans, Bobby Thomas, Josh Coburn.

Subs: Anssi Jaakkola, John Marquis, Ryan Loft, James Gibbons, Glenn Whelan, Luke McCormick, Luca Hoole.

Cheltenham Town: Luke Southwood, Ryan Broom, Sean Long (c), Caleb Taylor, Lewis Freestone, Ben Williams, Taylor Perry, Liam Sercombe, James Olayinka, Dan Nlundulu, Alfie May.

Subs: Shaun Macdonald, Tom Bradbury, Will Ferry, Charlie Brown, Elliot Bonds, Christian Norton, Ryan Jackson.

Referee: Ollie Yates

Attendance: 9,649