By Monika Parnarauskaite
The last time Bristol Rovers lost on their home ground in league play, Charlton Athletic made it hurt, ramming home five goals. Since that cold November day, no League One club has come away form Memorial Stadium with a victory. Rovers are are hopeful to extend their unbeaten streak at home to eight matches against Scunthorpe United at Memorial Stadium.
Last weekend, the Rovers took on Port Vale, in a game that was out-matched by violence from supporters. Despite that the game went on, and ended with a score of 1-1. The Pirates didn’t get off to the best start, following an own goal by Bob Harris in the 54th minute. Billy Bodin rectified his teammates mistake 24 minutes later, putting Bristol Rovers back in the game, although, Port Vale came close to winning in the last couple of minutes, but Callum Guy was unable to get the ball past Joe Lumley.
Scunthorpe, had a much similar result, drawing away against promotion rivals, Sheffield United. Scunthorpe were first to score, with Paddy Madden making it 1-0 in the first 47 minutes. It didn’t take long for Sheffield to fire back,scoring just two minutes later. By the 51st minute, Scunthorpe were down one, as loan, Harry Toffolo was sent off for his eager challenge on Kieron Freeman. With just three minutes to go, Madden was sure he had it in the bag for his team, with what could’ve been a winning goal, but unfortunately the goal post was not having it.
Currently, Scunthorpe sit just five points of the promotion spot in the league table whilst the Rovers are down in 11th place, owners of four successive draws.
It will be the first time since August, that these two teams will come head-to-head once again. Last time around, saw the Rovers make a poor return to League One for the first time in five years, as they lost against The Iron with a score of 3-1. But, with their current home track record, the Pirates could be in for a chance of returning the favour.
Scunthorpe United took to Twitter, with a chain of tweets showcasing Murray Wallace’s thoughts ahead of the game this weekend:
💬 Murray Wallace's thoughts ahead of Bristol Rovers: “We’ve had another full week to prepare for this one after the Sheffield United game." pic.twitter.com/UIP8FFmsgk
— Scunthorpe United FC (@SUFCOfficial) February 23, 2017
💬 MW: “They’ve got really good home form, so it’ll be another tough game – just like any game away from home in this league."
— Scunthorpe United FC (@SUFCOfficial) February 23, 2017
💬 MW: “Given the way the game went (last week against Sheffield United) and going down to ten men, to get a draw was a good result.”
— Scunthorpe United FC (@SUFCOfficial) February 23, 2017