Rovers and out

Crewe escaped with a valuable point as the held on to a point despite late pressure from Bristol Rovers. Chris Dickson made his League debut and Ben Rix was recalled following David Vaughan's move to Spanish side Real Sociedad.

Rovers, playing their first home fixture back in League One were on a high and took the lead through Craig Disley just after the half hour mark. Billy Jones tangled with Pipe and he fed Lambert who passed it to Disley and he scored with a neat finish.

The lead for Rovers last just minutes, as Crewe responded in style. Tom Pope grabbed his first senior goal with a well taken finish to silence the partizan home crowd.

Shortly before half time we lost Chris McCready through injury and he was replaced by the summer capture from Liverpool Danny O'Donnell.

The 2nd half was all one way traffic as Bristol Rovers stepped up a gear as the looked for the wind. Excellent defending ensured that we left the Memorial Ground with a point.

The home team huffed and puffed but couldnt find a way through a well organised Crewe back line. A decent away performance, glad to hold out for a point. Next weekend sees League One leaders Leyton Orient travel to the Alexandra Stadium.

Gary Roberts

Another brilliant performance by Gary Roberts. Worked well throughout the game and was the catalyst for Tom Pope's goal. Much improved this season and deserves high praise for his form in the matches to date.
Played well under pressure and put in an assured performance. Good Handling Steady at the back but didnt offer much going forward. Helped out on the right by the excellent Gary Roberts. Dealt well with the physical and aerial battle with the Rovers attack. Replaced after suffering injury just before half-time. Decent in the first half, no mistakes of note. At fault for the Bristol Rovers goal. Let David Pipe skip past him and set Lambert free. Excellent all game. Covered Woodards and provided the drive from Midfield plus got the assist for Tom Pope's goal. Anchored the midfield well, added steal to the Alex engine room. Struggled in the conditions and failed to make an impact on the game but to his credit kept working. Played in a wider position and didnt look as good as he has done in the middle of the park. Hopefully will revert back to a central role next weekend. Worked hard but failed to create any decent chances on his debut. Felt the pace in the 2nd half and was replaced on the 73rd minute. Took his goal well and led the line well. Very raw but will get better with games.

Came on just before half time for McCready. He dealt with everything which Bristol Rovers threw at them.

Replaced a tiring Dickson and didnt make much impact as we spent most of the 2nd half protecting the 1-1 scoreline. Replaced Schumacher late on. Tactical substitution as we looked to see the game out.

Tactics spot on, well organised but lacked any attacking threat. Game was their for the taking but we seemed happy to take a point. Performed well in their opening home game. Very unlucky not to take all three points.

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