Bristol Rovers player ratings v Portsmouth - ‘Bad day at the office’ - with 5/10 sent off

It was two 2-0 losses in a week for Joey Barton’s side, as oncemore the Gas failed to take their chances and fell to a Colby Bishop goal in each half.
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Bristol Rovers suffered their second defeat of the week as Colby Bishop scored in both halves in a 2-0 win at the Memorial Stadium for Portsmouth.

Portsmouth took the lead on the 20 minute mark. Colby Bishop was found in behind the Rovers defence with a strong suspicion of offside, the flag that most inside the Memorial Stadium were looking for was never raised and the striker’s effort fired low off both posts and into the back of the net.

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Coaches Glenn Whelan and Andy Mangan were both booked in the aftermath due to their protests to the officials, but the goal stood and the Gas found themselves a goal down.

Rovers had a golden opportunity to level the score just before the break when Aaron Collins found John Marquis just inside the penalty area, but to sum up a poor first half performance the striker snatched at the chance and the ball flew high above Macey’s goal.

The away side were awarded a penalty after the hour mark and given the chane to seemingly wrap up the game. Connor Ogilvie’s effort was spilled by Belshaw, and Calum Macdonald pulled back the onrushing Paddy Lane. James Bell pointed to the spot and Bishop stepped up, sending Belshaw the wrong way.

The Gas hadn’t given up yet though, and Macey was forced into two great saves more or less straight after eachother from the head of Luca Hoole and the bending free kick of Scott Sinclair, before Finley volleyed over from the edge of the box.

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It went from bad to worse for Barton’s side, as Jarell Quansah was shown a straight red card just before injury time after a challenge on Joe Morrell.

James Belshaw - 6

The ‘keeper do little about Bishop’s opener, with the ball hitting both posts before ending up in the net. He spilled Bishop’s original effort in the second half, which led to Macdonald pulling back the oncoming Lane.

Lewis Gordon - 6 (Calum Macdonald)

Gordon seemed to struggle with Paddy Lane in the opening stages, with Pompey’s opener being played throught he space between Gordon and Gibson. Was substituted at half-time in a tactical switch.

Lewis Gibson - 6

Taking the armband this afternoon, Gibson had a great opportunity to score in the first half but his header was straight at Macey, was dominant in the air

Jarell Quansah - 5

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Looked calm and composed on the ball, and had two great opportunities from set pieces to get that first professional goal that continues to illudes him. Was shown a straight red card late on for a challenge on Joe Morrell, compounding a bad day at the office for his side.

Luca Hoole - 6

Hoole engineered himself some space down the right flank on multiple occaisons, with the overlap working well for Joey Barton’s side however the Welshman was often lacking the final bit of quality in his crosses to pick out someone in the middle.

Lamare Bogarde - 6

Struggled to get on the ball as much as he has in recent times, tried to make things happen going forward but it seemingly wasn’t his side’s day.

Grant Ward - 6 (Sam Finley 74’)

Battled well in a busy midfield, however failed to make the same impact that he did against Wycombe on Tuesday.

Antony Evans - 6 (Ryan Loft 74’)

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It was an unfamiliar position for Evans, playing on the right of what looked to be a 4-4-2, the midfielder had a lot of defending to do in the second half and kept the score down just after the break when he slid in at the back post, denying Bishop a tap in.

Aaron Collins - 6

Looked lively, but lacked the final pass or shot to get his side a goal.

John Marquis - 5 (Scott Sinclair 45’)

The striker struggled against his old side, highlighted in the first half when he was played through by Collins, skying his half-volley high above the South stand. His torrid time was ended early when he was swapped for Scott Sinclair at the break.

Josh Coburn - 6

The Middlesbrough loanee was grabbed at every opportunity by a Pompey defender, yet still gave his side a platform to build on when they went long

Substitutes:

Calum Macdonald: 6

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Macdonald pulled back Lane inside the penalty area, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Almost redeemed himself when his incredible half-volley pass found Luca Hoole alone at the back post with the Welshman unfortunately heading straight at Macey.

Scott Sinclair: 6

Was bright after coming on, and forced a good save from Macey with his free kick.

Sam Finley: 6

Made his return after two games out with illness, volleyed over from the edge of the box when the ball fell to him kindly.

Ryan Loft: 6

Put pressure on the Pompey defence as Loft usually does after coming on, however continues to lack the cutting edge .

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