After a humbling defeat to Nailsea on Tuesday evening in the Somerset Cup, Rovers would have been looking to put in a much improved performance against one of their local rivals.

The early minutes though didn’t inspire too much hope as the visitors took most of the possession. They probed forward and arguably could have have a penalty in the 15th minute when Joe Beardwell tangled with a defender, both ending up on the turf. The referee immediately waived away any protests.

Manor Farm managed to create several chances but their shots were routine stops for Archie Matthews in the Rovers’ net.

It took until the 21st minute for Rovers to create their first chance as Martin Lenihan sent Brandon Bak clear but the ball wouldn’t quite sit and the extra time taken to get his shot away enabled a defender to get in and block the shot.

The visitors continued to look the more dangerous but Rovers did slowly manage to drag themselves into the game. Cameron Allen had a shot deflected over the bar in the 25th minute but nothing came from the corner.

A few minutes later, Martin Lenihan timed a perfect tackle on Corey Evans but the Farm player seemed to react leaving blood coming from Lenihan’s shin. Evans was shown a straight red after a melee of anger between the players.

The second began much more level which was surprising as Rovers should have now had the upper hand. But Manor Farm continued to push and again forced a save from Archie Matthews before Rovers had a shot of their own.

The breakthrough came in the 60th minute as, from a throw in, Tom Symons worked some space in the right and launched in a cross that found Tom
Bradley at the back post. He twisted his body round to reach round a defender and seemed to turn the ball in off his heel.

The goal buoyed the hosts and soon afterwards, Tom Symons had a strike of his own but the keeper just managed to claw it away.

Now Rovers began to get on top of the game but Manor Farm still looked dangerous on the break. As the game got close to the finish the nerves were beginning to tell in the supporters and they nearly had something to fear as, from a corner, the hosts had to throw everything behind the ball as the ball pinged around the box.

But Rovers did hold out and took their first three points of the season much to the supporters delight!

With his clean sheet and a very solid performance in the Rovers net, Archie Matthews was our Man of the Match.