It obviously wasn’t in the moment, given the intensity and hard work required to score four goals inside 45 first-half minutes, but Bristol Rovers probably won’t enjoy many more comfortable away days than what transpired at Cheltenham Town.
Through a combination of the Gas’ pressing, the finishing prowess of Aaron Collins and some schoolboy defending on the part of the hosts, the Gas effectively killed the contest off at the halfway stage.
It led to a strange atmosphere in the second half with the home fans almost remaining out of obligation rather than desire, while the 1,400 Gasheads could kick back and enjoy their day out in Gloucestershire, safe in the knowledge the three points were in the bag.
Amid the initial frenetic action and then subsequent formalities of the second half, here are some of the moments you may have missed…
A Walford welcome
The ever-changing football industry is such that invariably every match played by every team involves some kind of reunion; be it former teammates, players with coaches or even at director level.
Outside of the 90 minutes, and possibly the 15 minutes or so before kick-off, individuals are engaged with a whole host of familiar faces to them and it’s just part of what makes a matchday.
On Saturday, Rovers head of goalkeeping David Coles was seen chatting with Cheltenham director John Murphy, his manager when he was a player at Gloucester City in the 1990s. Coles later revealed that was the first time he’d seen him for more than 20 years.
Joey Barton, meanwhile, found a welcoming hug and warm embrace from a figure who you perhaps wouldn’t immediately place in a football context. At least if you’re not of a certain persuasion in terms of your soap habits or generation.
After full-time, as Barton and his staff were taking in the afterglow of the performance he was deep in conversation with Tom Watt who, to many, will be best remembered as Lofty, the much-loved barman of the Queen Vic in Eastenders from 1985 until 1988 and in sporadic appearances since.
Although an Arsenal fan, Watt lives in the Cotswolds and is a regular fixture at Cheltenham home games and has regularly hosted and helped out with events at the club. Much of his career post-Eastenders has been as a writer and broadcaster, penning nine football books, including ghost writing one by David Beckham, and working on documentaries for television and radio.
His relationship with Barton is understood to date back to his days as Fleetwood manager when Watt worked on an as-yet aired documentary on his time at Highbury Stadium, and the pair shared a good laugh and a catch-up on the touchline.
The wrong Taylor
Lots of nice things have been said and written about Caleb Taylor as the on-loan West Brom centre-back has caught the eye at Cheltenham Town this season under the guidance of Wade Elliott.
However, the 19-year-old received probably his toughest examination of the season so far as he had to deal with the physical threat of Ryan Loft, who pulled him all over the park, and then the agility and relentless running of Aaron Collins.
Loft and Taylor enjoyed a good old-fashioned tussle all game, while Taylor was at fault for Rovers’ fourth goal as he rose to head James Belshaw’s long pass downfield only to completely misjudge the flight of the ball, miss it, and effectively allow Collins a clean run on goal.
The second half then proved especially trying for the teenager as he was subjected to continual shouts of, “s***head, s***head” from the Rovers faithful situated in the away end, behind the goal he was now defending.
Initially it was thought those chants were being directed the way of Cheltenham boss Elliott, who enjoyed success with Bristol City as captain in the 2014/15 season and remains a revered figure south of the river, where he still lives.
But as the game developed it was clear that it was Taylor who was the subject of the jeers, which he must have found curious given he’s Midlands born and raised and although the son of former Birmingham and Watford defender Martin Taylor, his career never touched this part of the world.
However, what seems to have happened is that fans mixed up Caleb Taylor for James Taylor, a defender on a season-long loan from City, who was ruled out of Saturday’s game due to injury.
One to keep in mind for the return fixture on New Year’s Day…
Once a Gashead, always a Gashead
The release of Liam Sercombe in the summer of 2020 still rankles with certain sections of the Rovers support as the midfielder has gone on to enjoy further success at Cheltenham and remains very much a League One-quality midfielder.
With 127 appearances in blue and white to his name and a West Country lad who remains in the area, he still holds an affinity with the Rovers support with some small cheers in the away end when his name was read out on the Cheltenham teamsheet.
Even when the 32-year-old struck his second-half penalty, and largely refused to celebrate, Rovers fans had little to grumble at and the collective feeling was probably that if someone was going to score against them, then best it be Sercs.
As his name was read out on the PA as the designated sponsors’ man of the match, the travelling support showed their appreciation with applause and cheers, potentially even louder than the home support who had been beaten into submission.
Barton did drop a cheeky little detail into his post-match press conference over what he had claimed to hear from the former Gas midfielder as he returned down the tunnel at half-time. But that’s surely something we can all let slide and put down to the heat of the moment and his own disappointment at the scoreline.
Taking to Twitter on Saturday night, Sercombe made a point of noting his reception from the Gasheads: Not the result we wanted today but we have to stick together and go again. My youngest boy’s first football match watching me today. Have to thank all the Gasheads for the reception, honestly it’s much appreciated.”
A difference of opinion
Given they were stationed down the other end of the pitch and were busy basking in the sun and the glow of leading by such a substantial margin, Rovers fans probably weren’t overly concerned or, outside of the identity of the scorer, paying too much attention to events around the lone goal Cheltenham scored.
Paul Coutts was a little unfairly penalised for a shove on Ryan Jackson and referee Samuel Barrott pointed to the spot with Barton not overly pleased with the decision which he felt was more an act of charity and sympathy.
However, as Jackson got to his feet and the players set themselves for the spot-kick there was some confusion, or at least disagreement, as to who would be taking it with Cheltenham striker Dan Nlundulu insistent he should be the man to try and reduce the deficit but Sercombe, and many of his teammates insistent the ball should be in the hands of the midfielder.
It needed some frantic gestures on the touchline by Elliott to confirm that Sercombe would be the man to take the penalty, duly dispatching past James Belshaw and quickly retreating to halfway to resume the game.
Speaking after the match, Elliott insisted that the designated penalty-taker had been decided prior to the game, it was just that Nlundulu’s passion and desire got the better of him.
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