Sport Discussed

In what has been a back and forth season for both of these clubs, Good Friday’s clash between Bristol Rovers and Salford City promises to be a thriller.

Both sides will be bidding for a win with the competition for league two playoff places heating up with each coming fixture. Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers side currently sit 6th in the league two table 3 spots ahead of City who just like Rovers have put together a top run of form in recent times. 7 wins from the last 8 have left the Northern side on a total of 65 points, 2 points off Friday’s opponents. A win for either side would be huge for either side in their chances of qualifying for playoffs.

The Salford boss Gary Bowyer will be aware of the strengths Rovers have in all areas of the pitch. One player that City will have to keep a watchful eye on will be 19 year old Elliot Anderson on loan from Premier League side Newcastle United. The Geordie currently has 5 goals and 2 assists since joining the club in January, an impressive return considering he plays in midfield. A key area in the game will be how Salford are able to deal with the loanee.

Rovers and City have both left it late in their attempt to achieve promotion from League Two and are arguably the most improved teams in the whole division. Barton’s men especially have come on leaps and bounds since the dawn of the new year and fans of the club or ‘gas heads’ will be hoping that they are able to keep this momentum running until the end of the season.

Salford’s signing of Matt Smith, a player that has competed at the championship on a regular basis, has been key in turning their season around and his 6 goals have come at crucial times for ‘The Ammies’. His presence at the memorial stadium will be very much known by the Bristol Rovers fans and they will be hoping that young centre back Connor Taylor, who has just been nominated for young player of the year, will be able to neutralise Smith for the majority of the afternoon.

The game has already sold out with home fans having already snatched up 9500 tickets. Salford have themselves sold around 400 tickets for the trip down South but it is like that a big factor in this game will be the atmosphere created by the sold out rovers crowd. Salford, who will not have played in front of crowds this big very often, will try to fall back on experiences such as playing in the Papa Johns trophy final last year at Wembley stadium to remain composed in front of what could be a hostile environment.

This game’s result will almost definitely prove vital in both club’s hopes for promotion this season and by Saturday morning it is likely that we will have a much better idea of what each team’s chances are.