Bristol Rovers heroes, villains and the unfolding of events of opening day loss to Forest Green

Bristol Rovers suffered defeat on the opening day of the season as they lost late on to Forest Green Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

Jordan Moore-Taylor opened the scoring with a 55-minute header for the Green Army but Aaron Collins equalised for the Gas 15 minutes later.

The away side had the points wrapped up with two minutes to go however, when what looked like a Regan Henry cross found the top corner, sending the away fans into raptures and extending Rovers’ wait for an opening day win to 11 years.

The Gas’ wait for an opening day win extends to almost 11 years, whilst it is nearing 21 years since they won at home on the same event.

Their unbeaten home record has been lost  however having tasted defeat at the Memorial Stadium for the first time since December 2021.

Joey Barton handed out debuts to all three new additions with James Gibbons, John Marquis and Jordan Rossiter all getting starts. Zain Westbrooke was given his first league start since May 2021 with Sam Finley absent. Anthony Evans was named as captain for the first time in the absence of the suspended Paul Coutts.

It was the hosts who started the match and had controlled possession but the opposition caused the majority of problems between the two sides.

Forest Green had the vast majority of the first-half chances with a free header from Baily Cargill forcing James Belshaw to tip it over the bar. A goal-line clearance from James Gibbons then came on later in the half with the defence making a number of last-ditch blocks. Jamille Matt also had an opportunity to secure but was denied by the goalkeeper.

The flurry of late chances left Rovers wanting to hear the sound of the half-time whistle so they could regroup in the dressing room.

The second half started the same as the first, lots of possession from the home side, but failing to cultivate that into any clear cut chances. However it was the away side who took the advantage when a corner met the head of Jordan Moore-Taylor, leaving the Rovers bench furious about a possible offside in the lead up to the corner.

With just under 25 minutes to go, a double change and a formation changed shifted the flow of the match, with Bristol Rovers going two up top and Aaron Collins dropping deeper, this had an instant impact when good work from Harvey Saunders found the ball drop to former Forest Green striker Collins, making no mistake in placing the ball past Luke McGee.

The three points would be heading back to Nailsworth however when a Reagan Hendry cross/shot somehow found the top corner with two minutes to go, stunning the home crowd.

Heroes

• James Belshaw : He showed once again why the Bristol Rovers fans love him so much, with a host of incredible saves, denying Jamille Matt and Kyle McAllister in the first-half
• Harvey Saunders: Changed the game completely when he came on the pitch, and it was his hard work that led to the equaliser when he chased down a lost ball to find Aaron Collins in the box.

Villains

• Robert Lewis: The referee introduced himself as a villain to the home faithful, when he missed what looked like an elbow on John Marquis early on. The away side looked to frustrate the Gas with a host of fouls in the first half, with the home crowd making their thoughts clear on Lewis’ performance.

• Bailey Cargill: He seemed to take a particular dislike to John Marquis, with the centre half using every available opportunity to let the debutant know he was there, leading to boos and jeers from the passionate home crowd.
• Regan Hendry: It was ultimately Hendry who won the points for the away side when the midfielder found the top corner with two minutes to go, also choosing to celebrate in front of the home fans, which as you can imagine went down well.