Natalie Bassingthwaighte - Not For You

Natalie Bassingthwaighte - 1000 Stars [Official Video]

Natalie Bassingthwaighte - Someday Soon

An Amazing Upturn in Form

Well I have to admit that I feared we may face a relegation battle when I left the Mem on Boxing Day after watching us lose 2-1 to 10 man MK Dons. However our form and results since then has been superb and we now find ourselves in the top half the table and with an outside chance of making the play off's.

It started with an improved performance at Northampton and a rather fortunate win at Leyton Orient. That result kick started a great run which has seen us Win 7, Draw 5 and lose just 2 of our last 14 games. Included in that run were thumping wins away from home against Hereford and Walsall.

Our away form has been particularly impressive and if we can reproduce that at home a play off place is not out of the question. 7 of our remaining 10 games are at the Mem. Summer signings that started the season slowly are now on top form and we have most of our injured players back and available for selection.

Today’s game against second place Peterborough will probably tell us whether a top 6 finish is realistic but even if we fall short we are improving every year and I'm confident that will continue into the 2009/2010 campaign.

Leyton Orient - Match Review

ORIENT 1- 2 ROVERS

MATCH STATS

GOALS:
Orient 1
Rovers 2

POSSESSION:
Orient 58%
Rovers 42%

SHOTS ON TARGET:
Orient 5
Rovers 3

SHOTS OFF TARGET:
Orient 6
Rovers 6

CORNERS:
Orient 8
Rovers 1

At last it's time for my first match review and what better way to start than with Rovers second away win of the season. It was by no means our best performance on the road but on this occasion the result was far more important and I'm delighted we managed to come away with all 3 points.

The first half was a fairly tight affair with neither side having any clear sights of goal. Rovers came closest to taking a lead into the break when a thunderous free kick from Lambert whistled inches past the post and they had another opening when Kuffour latched on to a long ball forward and held off the defender before firing just wide.

At half time I was fairly optimistic we would come away with at least a draw and felt that if either side was going to win is was likely to be us.

The start of the second half saw Orient step up the tempo and enjoy their best spell of the match. Rovers conceded a number of corners and it was from one of these that the O's top scorer Adam Boyd headed in the first goal of the game in the 56th minute.

At this point all optimism had drained away as we found ourselves a goal down and on the back foot.

However things levelled out a bit after that and in the 74th minute good play by Kuffour down the right set up a shooting opportunity for Lambert. A stroke of good fortune saw his strike deflected into the path of Hughes who was left with a simple tap in.

Just 5 minutes later and the Gas travelling army were in dreamland when substitute Duffy nicked the ball off their last defender to run through and score what proved to be the winner.

Did we deserve it? Probably not but the result was vital and quite possibly the most important win off the season so far. A defeat would have left us just 3 points off the drop and just 1 ahead of Orient. As it is we have a 7 point cushion between us and the relegation zone.

The team appeared a bit rusty after 3 weeks without a game but this win should give them a boost and hopefully lead to an improved display against Colchester next weekend.

RATINGS
(7) PHILLIPS
(6) GREEN
(7) LESCOTT
(7) HINTON
(7) ELLIOTT
(5) DISLEY
(6) HUGHES
(6) CAMPBELL
(5) LINES
(6) KUFFOUR
(5) LAMBERT

Leyton Orient - Match Preview

OPPOSITION ANALYSIS
League Position: 21
Form (Last 7 Games): Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 5
Top Scorer: Boyd (10)

PREVIEW
For once it seems like we might be playing a side at the perfect time because Orient are on a run of 7 games without a win and haven't picked up 3 points at Brisbane Road since beating Hartlepool back on November 1st.

Of course our away form is even worse with our solitary win on the road coming at Colchester on October 4th.

The O's have found goals hard to come by this season and are currently the second lowest scorers in league 1. Despite this they have one of the leagues top scorers in Adam Boyd who has already found the net 10 times.

They do have a decent defence and have actually conceded less than many sides in the top half of the table. Earlier in the season they went on a run of 5 games without letting in a single goal.

As mentioned in earlier previews Rovers form is not much better having only won 1 of our last 10 outings so both sides will be looking at this as a great opportunity to get back to winning ways.

We played very poorly there last year and were probably fortunate to only lose 3-1 so I'm hoping for a far better performance this time around.

We are lying just a few places and 4 points ahead of Orient so it's a bit of a 6 pointer and will no doubt be a fiercely contested match. I'd love to see us take all 3 points but I have a feeling it will be a low scoring draw.

BLOG PREDICTION: ORIENT 1-1 ROVERS

Yeovil Match Postponed

Todays match against Yeovil has been called off after a morning pitch inspection.

It's no great surprise considering the recent weather but it means Rovers will have been nearly 3 weeks without a game when they travel to Leyton Orient next Saturday.

A new date for the Yeovil clash has yet to be arranged.