On Tuesday night, we welcome Bristol Rovers to Rodney Parade in a crunch tie in this season’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy. The Severnside Derby has thrown up some classic encounters over the years, and to get Exiles in the mood for Tuesday’s clash, we are revisiting a dominant 4-1 win away at the Memorial Stadium from 2015.
The 2015/16 campaign was our third back in the Football League, and we experienced our toughest start to a season yet. After 13 games, we found ourselves at the bottom of the table, having only registered two wins in the opening months, both away from home at Carlisle and Wycombe.
The Rovers had just completed a return to the league and was sitting in mid-table after a mixed start to the season. Even the most optimistic of Exiles would not have been expecting that day’s encounter to go down how it did.
Tom Parkes headed in an own goal in the 13th minute to give us the lead, but the hosts bounced back immediately. Billy Bodin stunned the crowd with an audacious volley less than 90 seconds after we scored, making it 1-1. Despite some chances, the game would go into the break level.
Just seven minutes into the second half, a calamitous error from Lee Nicholls in the Rovers' goal allowed Zak Ansah to tap the ball into an empty net right in front of the away fans, putting us 2-1 up.
Ansah would give the fans even more reason to cheer just five minutes later. He picked up the ball outside the box and fired a delightful shot into the top right-hand corner to make it 3-1.
We were in fine-attacking form, and it seemed as if a goal-of-the-day competition was brewing among the players. Tommy O'Sullivan served up his entry 15 minutes from time. He picked up the ball on the left-hand side of the box, firing a rocket past a helpless Nicholls to put us 4-1 up and lift us off the bottom of the League Two table.
Secure your tickets for tomorrow evening's (7.45pm) clash here.