Carayol’s Rovers held at home by United

Gambia-hopeful Mustapha Carayol’s English League Two side Bristol Rovers earned a point in a hard fought draw against Oxford United at the Memorial Stadium.

There were few clear cut chances throughout the game, but Carayol’s Rovers defended well, with goalkeeper Michael Poke picking up a well-deserved man of the match award.

Mark McGhee has said that he wants to make his team hard to beat, and that was evident this afternoon. The game was played on a very heavy pitch because of the morning's rain, and it caused Mark McGhee to change his tactics.

The manager made three changes to the side that lost against Shrewsbury on Tuesday night. Chris Zebroski came back from suspension to replace Matt Harrold and Andy Dorman and Matt Lund came into the side to replace Craig Stanley and Eliot Richards.

Oxford nearly took the lead after just two minutes, when James Constable took a shot from the left, which was tipped round the post by Poke. Zebroksi and Anyinsah both worked hard up front on the heavy pitch and a good exchange in the box between the two forwards unfortunately came to nothing.

Zebroski then had a shot from the edge of the box that fizzed wide of the right hand upright. Rovers had a shout for a penalty turned down when Danny Woodards appeared to be brought down by former Gas keeper Ryan Clarke. Scott Rendell, who was on loan at Rovers earlier in the season, saw a shot cleared off the line by Cian Bolger as the half wore on.

Oxford put Rovers under a spell of pressure towards the end of the second half, but the home side soaked it up well and defended resolutely. And as the half drew to a close, Lee Brown was on hand to clear a shot from Peter Leven off the line.

Poke was called into action again shortly into the second half, when he caught a shot from Mehdi Kerrouche. Rendell should then have done better when he was given time to get a shot away, but it went harmlessly wide. The busy Poke was called upon again to make a fantastic save Liam Davis, whose left foot shot had to be tipped round the post.

Rovers then brought on Mustapha Carayol to replace Andy Dorman, and he was involved in a good chance from Rovers to take the lead. Muzzy Carayol crossed the ball in to Zebroski who laid the ball back to Brown on the edge of the box, and his shot was narrowly wide of the post.

Rovers then brought on more fresh legs up front, with Eliot Richards coming on to replace Joe Anyinsah. Zebroski then had a shot that went narrowly wide, as Rovers sought to take all three points out of the game. Oxford substitute Oli Johnson had a shot that went high and wide, before Rovers had their own spell of pressure in the dying minutes.

But with both sides defending well, the 0-0 draw was probably the correct result for Carayol’s Rovers. They are now 16 in the 24-team-table with 37 points and up next for them, is an away trip to Rotherham United.