Bristol Rovers 1-1 Lincoln City
Sky Bet League One, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 9 November 2024
Bristol Rovers were held to an entertaining 1-1 draw against Lincoln City at The Memorial Stadium.
Shaq Forde’s first home goal for the Gas - a fantastic, curling finish from the edge of the area - gave Rovers the deserved advantage at half-time after Luke McCormick had twice gone close.
The home side looked to extend their lead as Jamie Lindsay fired over, but the Imps pegged the Pirates back on 65 minutes when substitute Jack Moylan forced in the leveller after a good stint of possession.
Both teams pushed to claim all three points in an engaging affair but the contest concluded with the spoils shared.
The first hints of the winter chills hit The Memorial Stadium in the first league home fixture of the month. After an impeccably observed period of remembrance, both sides found chances limited in the opening exchanges in BS7.
The returning McCormick, on his first league start since the trip to Barnsley at the start of September, saw an early chance go over the bar. The No23 also met a whipped delivery by Clinton Mola, but his header was always skewing wide of the woodwork.
Lincoln were also struggling with opportunities on goal as the determined Rovers defence kept the Imps at bay. On the occasion Michael Skubala’s men broke through, on the half-an-hour mark, captain James Wilson did superbly to cover and block the channel.
Breaking the deadlock was always going to take a moment of both desire and quality, and so it came ten minutes before the interval. Forde did the dirty work first, winning possession in the Lincoln third, before driving at goal and narrowing the angle. His curling effort, from the edge of the area, evaded the fingertips of goalkeeper Wickens and found the bottom corner.
A rapturous cheer greeted the goal; one merited for a player who has faced his own hardships in recent weeks.
There was still time in the first half for Lincoln to pose a problem on Josh Griffiths’ goal. Jovon Makama thought he had done the difficult bit when he forced the ball around the Rovers shot-stopper, but Connor Taylor followed his man and made a superb challenge to deny what seemed to be a certain equaliser.
The Gas kept pushing in the second half and came close to a second seven minutes in, when Taylor Moore found Jamie Lindsay on the edge of the area. The Scotsman’s effort was over the bar.
Just a few moments later Isaac Hutchinson was involved, finding Chris Martin with a threaded pass. The striker was in prime position to double Rovers’ lead but could not get his shot away.
Lincoln, seeking a way back into the game, made their first change on the hour mark and it was the introduced man Moylan who made the desired impact. The attacker forced his way into the penalty area and drove a low, powerful effort on target, one which found its way into the back of the Rovers net.
Looking to restore the lead, Matt Taylor introduced Michael Forbes, Grant Ward, Bryant Bilongo and Ruel Sotiriou into the fray. Lincoln’s Freddie Draper - another substitute - had a free header saved by Griffiths.
But there were to be no further goals in the enticing outing; a share of the points the very least deserved by an industrious Bristol Rovers side.
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Moore, Wilson ©, Mola, Taylor, Martin (Bilongo 78), Hutchinson, Conteh, McCormick (Forbes 71), Forde (Sotiriou 86), Lindsay (Ward 78)
Subs not used: Sousa, Sinclair, Garrett
Goals: Forde 35,
Booked: Wilson, Moore, Martin, Forde
Lincoln City: Wickens, Darikwa, Montsma, Hackett, Hamilton (McKieran 86), McGrandles, O’Connor ©, Jefferies (Moylan 59), House (Draper 67), Roughan, Makama (Cadamateri 66)
Subs not used: Pardington (GK), Ring, Duffy
Goals: Moylan 65
Booked: Moyan
Referee: Dale Baines
Attendance: 7,264
