Report by SJG

LEAGUE DIVISION THREE

BRISTOL ROVERS vs WIGAN ATHLETIC

3^rd March 1990

PIRATES AHOY AS ABJECT LATICS ARE HUMBLED.

Any confidence that may have been gained by Brian Hamilton’s side following their win against Fulham disappeared in the first frantic ten minutes of the game at Twerton Park in Bath.

Saunders was tripped just outside the Latics box in the third minute and Jones’ craftily flighted freekick was driven against the bar danger zone by Alexander and MEHEW was first to react to the rebound, bundling the ball home from close-range.

On nine minutes Pilling was penalised for an alleged foul and Jones combined well with White to allow SAUNDERS to grab his first goal of a productive afternoon.

The remainder of the first period was well contested, Parkinson fired in a ferocious drive that flew agonisingly wide of the Rovers goal, then Mehew had a pot shot that rattled the Wigan bar before being ushered to safety.

Half Time; Bristol Rovers 2-0 Wigan Athletic.

The second half began in similar fashion to the first when SAUNDERS latched onto a through ball and extended the Bristol advantage.

Hamilton quickly went to the bench and replaced Rogerson with the more attack minded CARBERRY and this had some success as in the 72^nd minute the wing man took advantage of some poor defending to finish and reduce the deficit.

Any thoughts of a Latics revival were immediately quashed as SAUNDERS completed his hat trick barely three minutes later.

Heads dropped and Bristol were unrelenting in their pursuit of more goals.

On 77 minutes ALEXANDER added a fifth and then in the dying minutes HOLLOWAY added his name to the list of scorers.

Bristol certainly produced a fine display of footballing skill and could easily have added to their tally as Hughes, Atherton and Johnson all could claim to have performed to a reasonable standard, but the midfield which clearly missed the tigerish presence of Rimmer, was over-run and failed to compete effectively.

It is worthy of note that the game was played at Twerton Park in Bath (some 12 miles outside Bristol). The Pirates had left Eastville and for ten years from 1986-1996 they shared the ground with Bath City, a non-league outfit.

Full Time; Bristol Rovers 6-1 Wigan Athletic.

Scorers; Carberry (72); Mehew (3), Saunders (9), (46), (75), Alexander (77), Holloway (86);

Attendance; 5,169

Teams; WIGAN (4-5-1) --- Hughes; Senior, Tankard, Atherton, Johnson; Parkinson, Pilling, Thompson, Rogerson; Griffiths, Daley; Subs; --- Carberry (for Rogerson), Page (for Griffiths);

BRISTOL ROVERS (4-4-2) --- Parkin; Alexander, Twentyman, Yates, Mehew; Jones, Holloway, Reece, Purnell; White, Saunders; Subs; --- Sealy (for Saunders), Ferney (for Purnell);

Referee; Mr J. E. Martin (Alton, Hampshire).