At times, it resembled a professional promotion with bodies on the deck, cross words aplenty, no shortage of drama and pantomime villains playing to the crowd. In the end, it finished with disappointment as Bristol Rovers were pegged back in the 99th minute to draw 2-2 with Fleetwood Town at the Mem on Saturday.
The Gas had done brilliantly to come from behind against a resolute Fleetwood team that led at half time through Shaun Rooney – the least popular man in BS7 on Saturday – with Rovers boss Joey Barton mustering a Plan B that changed the flow in the second half. Led by a dynamic front two in Josh Coburn and Aaron Collins, they both scored to put Rovers in the lead and between the two of them they created enough chances to win four or five games.
Opportunities to seal a deserved victory went begging and the tension levels increased as the final whistle neared, with seven minutes of added time to be played and the visitors heaving the ball into a packed penalty area in search of an equaliser. In the midst of the drama, Barton was sent to the stands; referee Robert Madden produced a straight red card, presumably for something the Rovers boss said.
Still, Rovers were holding on and a team that has been good at seeing out wins over the past 12 months closed in on another memorable victory on home soil. But that man Rooney was not finished, heading home two minutes beyond the allotted injury time.
Admittedly, there were a couple of substitutions after the 90th minute to be accounted for, but it was a galling end to another promising afternoon for Rovers. A team that concedes less than a goal per game in the league were shoved onto the back foot and although the inconsistent officiating of Mr Madden will exacerbate frustration, the Gas will wake up on Sunday knowing they let this one slip with the volume of chances they created.
But the Gas continue to trend upwards. They have been beaten just once in their past eight League One games and they are increasingly fearsome opponents on home turf; Gasheads can be optimistic for the weeks ahead.
Barton's tactical tweak changes the game
Rovers have had a habit of making sluggish starts on home turf this season before being transformed when attacking the Thatchers End in the second half. Undoubtedly, that played a part in Saturday's turnaround but Barton deserves plenty of credit, too.
He has stressed the importance of being tactically flexible and he showed the malleable nature of his team by pivoting to a back three at the break. In the first half, he had seen his team suffer wide areas with Fleetwood's wing-backs causing concern. Both were involved in the opener, with Danny Andrew's cross leading to the chance that Rooney took in style.
A back four has served Rovers well of late, but by bringing on James Connolly for right-back James Gibbons and moving Scott Sinclair to right-wing back, the balance of power was flipped. All of a sudden, a Rovers team that struggled to make an impression in the final third had Fleetwood on the ropes.
Coburn relished the chance to play with a partner in Collins and the two dovetailed to great effect, creating chances for each other. Collins got his seventh assist of the season for the equaliser. Newport may be his hometown but he is also an honorary citizen of the left channel at the Mem. In that space, he was too speedy for Toto Nsiala and he delivered the cross required for Coburn to score his fourth goal of the campaign.
Collins would later score one of his own, showing a new talent with a towering header above Josh Earl to leave goalkeeper Jay Lynch with no chance, but they were not the only two players who grew into the game. Sinclair thrived as a wing-back, stretching the Fleetwood defence, while Sam Finley and Antony Evans benefitted from the high and wide wing-backs to get into the kind of positions where they produce their best moments on the ball.
And the defence was largely untroubled, too, with James Belshaw given little to do other than collect the ball out of his net twice. The tactical changes from the coaching staff transformed the game, but they did not get the result they deserved.
It had to be him on a niggly afternoon
Despite Rovers' dominance in the second half, Fleetwood still carried a threat. And if there was going to be one man who would come up with their equaliser, it was Shaun Rooney.
This was always going to be a niggly game with the sub-plots running between the teams, but Rooney was the antagoniser in chief. He set the tone twice early doors, annoying Gasheads by kicking the ball into the stands twice, long after the ball had gone out of play in the right corner.
And when he scored his opening goal – a fine finish albeit the defending from Rovers in the build-up left plenty to be desired – he headed straight back for that corner of the Thatchers End to continue his wind-up act.
Rovers' players, too, were on the receiving end of his antics, and no doubt it would have been a sweet bonus for all those of a blue and white persuasion had Rooney ended up on the losing side.
But the reality is he was probably Fleetwood's best player on Saturday. The Scot was a consistent threat at wing-back in the first half and although he was muted in the second half, it seemed inevitable he would be the man to score if Scott Brown's side were to find an equaliser.
And when Luca Hoole sold himself a tad cheaply, biting on Andrew's dummy to allow him space to measure his cross, Rooney ghosted in off the right flank unmarked and glanced an unstoppable header into the bottom corner before being mobbed by the away end. It just had to be him.
Collins' scary truth
When he arrived in the bowels of the West Stand to fulfil his post-match media duties, Collins was clearly frustrated. He had added two more goal contributions to his tally for the season (10 goals, seven assists), but he knew he left a couple out there on Saturday.
At times, he is proving an unplayable matchup for League One defences with his speed, trickery and scoring instinct, but the reality is there is still plenty of room for improvement in the 25-year-old's game, who admits he needs to be more clinical.
But he is already the joint-most productive player in the division, with his haul of 17 goal involvements matched by Exeter City's Jevani Brown, although four of the Jamaican's goals this season have come from the penalty spot.
The fact that Collins is this good already and he has the potential to be even more productive is a scary one for opposition defences. In his chat with the press, he lifted the lid on the time he is spending working with first-team coach Andy Mangan at the training ground on one-on-one situations akin to the ones he did not capitalise on against Fleetwood.
If he can sharpen up in that area, his already hugely impressive numbers can only increase because of the sheer volume of chances he creates for himself as well as others. It is almost a year to the day since his first Rovers goal and the development in his game since is incredible, but it is not finished yet.
Points mean prizes
Rovers are playing well and they are showing their potential to be a good team. Their performances against promotion-chasing Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday last month were a good barometer for where they are in the food chain.
But that is not necessarily translating to the league table at the moment, with good performances not always being rewarded with three points. Despite giving a good account of themselves in three of the past four games, they have added only three points to the total.
Still, they are in a decent position, seven points clear of the bottom four, especially with the poor start to the season in mind, but in recent weeks the Gas have shown in the moments they get on a roll that they have the potential to be better than a bottom-half team.
Next up in the league are the visit of Peterborough United and a trip to Bolton Wanderers, with a couple of cup ties sandwiched in between. Posh and the Trotters. Although both failed to win on Saturday, they hold places in the top seven and it is another chance for Rovers to show the levels they are capable of.
But points are what really matter and the Gas. Drawing is a helluva lot better than losing, but the conclusion to Saturday's game will sting, and they will doubtless feel that they are better than a team that has 21 points from 17 games.
Too many soft goals
One reason behind Rovers' points tally is a defensive record of 33 goals conceded in 17 games, far too many, and the concession of soft goals has cost them several times at the Mem this season.
With Rovers' aggressive approach, high-scoring games can be par for the course, but they can definitely become more solid as the campaign reaches the midway point, with fleeting sloppiness and momentary lapses undermining otherwise good performances.
Both goals on Saturday stemmed from an obvious source: the left foot of Danny Andrew. He delivered the cross for both of Fleetwood's strikes, with the first leading to panic in the box before Rooney pounced in the phase. The cross could have been stopped at source, it could have been cleared better by Lewis Gibson and Lewis Gordon could have done more to stop Rooney from getting his shot off.
For the second, there was not much wrong with Harvey Saunders making a tactical foul on halfway as Fleetwood tried to break forward, but when it was played into the corner, Luca Hoole was naive and was fooled by Andrew's dummy and with the space he bought he mustered a cross for the unmarked to head home deep into stoppage time.
With a young defence – that has also produced match-winning displays in other games – it is inevitable there will be errors, but they are learning that you cannot defend well for just 75-80 minutes. They have to be alive to the threat of the opposition from first whistle to last.
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