New Rovers article - The Late Late Show

BRISTOL ROVERS BLOG: G is for Gas - 'The Late Late Show'

By Martin Bull

Anyone growing up in the 1980's may just remember the explosion in television that happened during that era, with Channel 4 usually the front runner when bringing us unusual TV, the infamous red triangle films and peculiar foreign sports. As a curious teen I was happy to watch anything slightly different. The Republic of Ireland didn't even have TV until 1961 and although its flagship talk show 'The Late Late Show' was hardly that exotic it was quirky when compared to the standard fare we were served up by the other three channels.

This was still the era when talk shows were conducted in a regimented fashion by grey haired old men in unpleasant polyester suits and receding hairlines. Gay Byrne was the 'The Late Late Show' presenter for almost 40 years, and taken merely at face value could be seen as the epitome of conservative Ireland. However, the topics the show tackled were often ground breaking for Irish TV and it was once branded 'a dirty programme that should be abolished altogether'.

It may be the world's second longest-running talk show, but the only moment we all remember from half a century of broadcasting is Boyzone's first ever TV appearance in 1993, involving terrifyingly fast homoerotic gyrations and undertaken before they had even recorded one note of music. Byrne milked it for all it was worth, revelling in proclaiming that they had "no talent whatsoever; they don't sing, they don't write music, they don't play instruments", then winding up the 'performance' by sarcastically telling them, "we look forward to hearing from you when you are famous". More encouragingly the show also gave Sinead O'Connor, U2 and The Strypes their first introduction to TV.

Find it on the RTE archive or YouTube, but be sure you are alone when you watch it. It is that bizarre and you may not be able to explain it to your loved ones.

Rovers' late late shows have not been quite so startling, but let's be honest, if it wasn't for late late goals this season we'd be on five points and in the relegation zone.  Don't get me wrong though, there is nothing improper about goals from 80 minutes and onwards; indeed it is quite the opposite.  Late goals show a spirit and a fitness that other teams may not possess.

They represent a never-say-die attitude and a vital ability to physically and mentally compete to the final whistle, and the character trait is especially valuable when battering a team like Yeovil Town and coming up against a seemingly impenetrable goalie, yet still managing to keep calm and slot a crucial goal home in the dying stages. Stuart Sinclair's winner in the fourth minute of added time at his home club, Luton Town, was a genuinely lovely move and owed as much to The Beard's fitness and willingness to run and run as anything else. And as much as I'm on record for hating the 'super sub' label given to Ellis Harrison, yet again he pulled something out of the bag as a sub, and even later in added time could have bagged a winner against Plymouth Argyle .

All of the above is just as valid as an early goal, or the performance of a player who races out of the blocks and then fades. Although it may be anxiety inducing as a fan, it is handy to know that we have a squad who are genuinely capable of giving us some hope until the last whistle.

It is also encouraging to see that this is quite a new trait and something that must have been successfully nurtured behind the scenes. Although we often showed resilience last season, successfully coming back from a deficit seven times, we rarely needed an important late goal, with the only two examples of note this year being the Ellis Harrison's 83rd minute winner to kill off a stubborn Braintree Town outfit in February and the best comeback of the season at the Shay in March, with Lee Brown's fizzer and Ellis Harrison's van Basten-esque goal of the season rescuing a late point on a pitch devoid of grass, but heavy on goals.

Long may the late, late show continue, although if you are reading this Mr. Clarke a couple of early, early shows would also be appreciated by my cardiologist.

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Martin Bull became a Gashead in 1989 and immediately fell in love with Twerton Park, standing near G pillar. In 2006 he wrote, photographed and published the first independent book about the artist Banksy. Having been exiled for much of his past, away games have always been special for him; so much so that with 40 other fans has published a new book about them - www.awaythegas.org.uk