On a cold and frosty night at Burroughs Park Blues slumped to their second defeat of the season in a game which saw them dominate the opening and closing ten minutes of the match, but sandwiched in between, although enjoying a share of possession, their approach lacked intensity, was lateral and without a goal threat. Maybe the playing surface could be offered as a mitigating reason for the sluggish display but Rovers negated that by hitting long balls up to Martin Tuohy allowing him to flick the ball on to his wide men. To illustrate Blues performance Tim Brown in the home goal had only two shots on target to deal with throughout the 90 minutes - both of which were gathered comfortably. To compound matters the Rovers goal came about through an uncharacteristic mistake by the usually reliable Geoff Okonkwo with a weak defensive header presenting an opportunity for Charlie Morris.

The early signs were promising, Blues making a high tempo start to the evening where they fizzed the ball around at pace leaving Rovers chasing shadows - Joe Paxman and Danny Gould worked the flanks well with Anointed Chukwu and David Knight aggressive in and around the box, but despite the early pressure the home goal was not unduly threatened.

Rovers looked to counter attack launching the ball forward to target man Tuohy who could have put his team in front when he wriggled clear down the flank cutting inside and sliding his effort wide of the far post. The chance signalled a revival, the hosts now saw more of the ball playing percentage football getting the ball forward early and causing Okonkwo and Clark some worrying moments.

The contrast in approach between the teams was apparent, Blues stuck to their passing game but the build up play now lacked momentum, challenges became tentative, unlike Rovers who countered, shutting down space and winning the second ball.

It was not surprising then when Rovers made the breakthrough on the half hour mark - once again a long ball to the edge of the box forced Okonkwo under pressure into a weak headed clearance where the unpoliced Morris picked up the loose ball firing past Danny Sambridge's dive into the bottom corner.

The goal stunned Blues momentarily into action. Gould set off on a weaving run riding a number of challenges into the heart of the home defence, but then failed to hit the target when he ballooned the ball over and wide. Gould then was provider when he fed Chukwu, turning his marker his effort on target lacked venom allowing Brown to gather comfortably.

HT 0-1

Clearly Blues if they were going to signal a revival needed to intensify their efforts, improve their passing and work keeper Brown , unfortunately for the opening minutes of the half that didn't happen. They lost their shape, the ball was played sideways or back when what was required was someone to take responsibility and run at and commit the Rovers defence. Frustration crept into their game, it became frantic trying to force the ball, passes were overhit and again efforts on goal lacked accuracy .

Content to hold on to their advantage Rovers set out to frustrate, resorting at times to time wasting, going to ground at the slightest touch and screaming and surrounding the official at every opportunity, unfortunately Blues became embroiled and for a time it became a feisty affair.

As the game wore on and the clock ticked down Blues struggled to create an opening, their main threat came from an increasing number of free kicks in and around the Rovers box. Knight on another day would find the back of the net or test the keeper from these situations but apart from one effort straight into the arms of Brown he failed to hit the target.

Rovers threats to Blues goal dissipated as the half wore on - coming under more and more pressure forcing them to get numbers behind the ball as Blues in the final ten minutes started playing again with real menace and pace . Now the home goal was leading a charmed life, defenders threw their bodies at the ball blocking a number of efforts intent to keep their goal intact, but despite all this Brown was still not called on to make a save.

Puzzlingly the referee signalled just four minutes of additional time despite minutes lost when the ball mysteriously failed to appear on a number of occasions, but in truth Blues had ample opportunity to win this game in normal time had they maintained their early domination and tested Brown.

A disappointing evening and performance, however it's only the second defeat in ten and maybe a wake up call highlighting that if you're not at your best you will get punished. There's no easy game in the league this season and Rovers a team languishing at the wrong end of the table will undoubtedly win more than they lose.

Next up is another tough game at Barking, lets hope Blues can put this one behind them and get back to winning ways.

Sambridge, Sammons, Joynes, Okonkwo, Clark, Moncur(Watts 80), Paxman (Brown 56),Hahn, Chukwu (Gordon70) Knight, Gould

Subs not used:McQueen, Oyenuga