Rovers show great spirit after Sinclair’s early sending-off
John Evely reports on Bristol Rovers’ FA Cup draw at The Hive
BRISTOL Rovers’ players were left wondering how they were not celebrating victory at the final whistle after playing out an entertaining 1-1 draw with lower-league Barnet.
What should have been a routine procession into the second round of the FA Cup for Bristol Rovers quickly got a lot more complicated in just the seventh minute.
On a pitch which at least half-adozen players slipped on, Rovers midfielder Stuart Sinclair lost his footing in an early tackle and ended up performing a two-footed lunge on Barnet’s Wesley Fonguck.
With the crowd at The Hive chanting for his dismissal, referee Robert Lewis took his time, surrounded by players from both sides, before giving Sinclair his marching orders.
The Gas struggled to organise themselves and the National League side, despite playing two divisions below the Pirates, took advantage.
Twice Rovers goalkeeper Adam Smith, who was handed his first start since August because of an agreement in Jack Bonham’s loan agreement from Brentford which says he cannot play in the FA Cup, made excellent stops to save his side, but in the 16th minute Craig Robson was on the spot to head home a deep cross for The Bees.
And their dominance did not end there.
Rovers manager Darrell Clarke wasted no time in making changes and after 21 minutes hooked off the ineffective Stefan Payne and Daniel Leadbitter, bringing on creative threats Kyle Bennett and Sam Matthews.
Both men made an impact for the travelling side and, shortly after the half-hour mark, the game