Well that was fun!

So the Orient game was the first one I have managed to get to all season.  This is due to a bizarre combination of bad luck which has resulted in my failure to make it to 4 matches that I'd originally intended to get to - never been so long into the season before attending my first game.  First thing to say is how great the atmosphere was in and around the ground - as good as I've seen it in years. I went in the clubhouse because I couldn't get tickets for West Enclosure - I've never known that happen before on anything other than an all-ticket game. Years since I've been in the Clubhouse and it was great to be there on a day when we numbered nearly 10K and the place was buzzing like that.

I thought it was a terrific game of League 2 football as well. There was a real tempo to the game and I felt that Orient played pretty much as well as we did and probably were the better side in certain aspects of the game. But the key difference was the quality of our play in the final 3rd of the pitch. I felt they had more possession in the middle of the park but didn't really turn that into that many clear cut chances.  We were never comfortable though and it was because they played well not because of any deficiencies in the way we played. I won't give a match report because most people were there and others have provided this but I would give a couple of observations from not having seen us play all year;

1. OK, it was only 1 game but I can't understand why Mildenhall has been side-lined all season. That was a very, very assured performance. He was confident and calm. He claimed the ball really well and he made a match turning save at the start of the 2nd half.

2. Gaffney looked like the player this team has been missing. Again, it could well have been the game of his life but the role he played in holding the ball up, bringing others into play and generally being a strong presence up front is exactly what has been needed. Plus the finishing was superb and he looked like he'd run through a brick wall for you. I sense he was having one of those days where everything goes right but nonetheless he seems like the final piece in the forward puzzle for me.

3. I was very impressed with Montano. The workrate was excellent - he got up and down the wing very well and generally ran his socks off. The final ball wasn't always there but I liked the fact that he was constantly available and hugged the touchline. It's interesting to me that Clarke seems to like to play 4-4-2 with 2 genuine attacking wingers - standard practice these days is to have 1 attacking winger and 1 all purpose midfielder to tuck inside and cover defensively.

4. Thought Lockyer - Parkes was a good centre back pairing. Lockyer seemed a bit heftier in the upper body than I remember - he looked more like a potential centre-half to me than he has in the past.

5.  Leadbetter looked excellent from start to finish at both ends of the pitch.

6.  I loved Taylor's control and snapshot on target when he came on.  Thought that was almost as high quality as Gaffney's finish earlier and indicative of a player who is brimming with confidence.

7. Only downside is that I thought Easter was dreadful - miscontrolled all the time, made poor decisions, didn't link with anyone etc.

Overall I have to say I'm pretty excited - I thought we were pretty good and we deservedly a beat a handy looking side.  I'm sure there'll be hick-ups along the way. But I give huge credit to Darrell Clarke because we look like a very decent League 2 outfit that can give anyone a game and thoroughly deserving of our place in the table.  Most fun I've had at a Rovers game in a long time.