Despite a good performance in the first game Rovers were made to fight hard for their 5-3 overall victory.
The first game saw Rovers start very well and take the lead in the 2nd minute when Ben O'Brien was left with a simple tap in from Aaron Mansfield's corner. Rovers continued to dominate the game by playing some excellent football throughout the team but not convert the several chances they created. Brad Lewis and O'Brien both had shots well saved and other efforts go wide so they went in with a 1-0 lead at half time.
The second half started again with Rovers pushing forward and a good run past 3 players by George Cole saw his cross side footed home by Mansfield in put Rovers 2 up. Only a couple of minutes later a good move saw a blocked shot come back to Cole on the edge of the box and he drove the ball into the top of the net to give Rovers a 3-0 lead. After this Mangotsfield had a rare attack which saw Rovers keeper Samuel Johnson who previously had little to do tip the ball over from a well struck shot. With Rovers now becoming to a little casual a defensive error allowed Mangotsfield to break and score a simple goal to reduce the arrears. In response to this Rovers upped their game and a good pass from Lewis saw O'Brien's shot blocked only for Mansfield to score Rovers fourth goal from the rebound. In the last few minutes Rovers had the better of the play but could not break down the hard working Mangotsfield defence so they finished with a 4-1 victory.
It was noticeable in the second game that Mangotsfield had put out a stronger side than the one that played the first game. However it was Rovers who created the first of few chances in the first half when a good run and cross by Ben Alexander saw Alex Skuse put his shot wide. Alexander was also unlucky when a good move saw him turn and hit a shot that went across the goal to safety. With this game being a much closer affair Mangotsfield were unlucky not to take the lead when a good run down the left ended with Ryan Rowe bringing off a good save so the sides went in all square at half time.
In the first couple of minutes of the second half Rovers pushed forward but they were reduced to taking long shots which did not trouble the Mangotsfield goalkeeper. It was Mangotsfield though who broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when a shot from the left bounced in front of Rowe and found the corner of the net. The next few minutes were evenly contested with neither side creating a chance which was mainly due to both sides defending well coupled with some poor passing. In the 30th minute Rovers had a couple of chances which saw Danny Ball's shot well saved and Ricky Kirby missing from close range after Alexander's shot had been parried by the goalkeeper. Alexander and Morgan Wager both missed further chances before Rovers eventually got back in the game when Alexander collected the ball from a poor goal kick to score with a fierce shot past the Mangotsfield goalkeeper. Within a minute though Mangotsfield went forward and scored their second from close range. Mangotsfield continued to press in the last couple of minutes but a break by Rovers saw Kirby run through on goal but his shot was well saved to preserve Mangotsfield lead which they held until the end of the game. |