What Bristol Rovers did in home draw with Lincoln City that proved they're making progress

It's possibly a phrase that doesn't get used enough in football these days but Bristol Rovers' 1-1 draw at home to Lincoln City can certainly be classed as 'a good point'.

The Imps were, and still are, sat pretty in the play-off positions having evolved into one of League One's most efficient teams under Michael Skubala over the past year. The Gas felt their wrath back in March when they were thumped 5-0 at the LNER Stadium but Saturday's draw at the Mem was anything but a one-sided affair.

On the face of it, the two teams were evenly matched for the vast majority of the contest and, if one side possibly edged it, most, you would think, would have argued in Rovers' favour.

It certainly wasn't perfect and there is still a great deal more to come from this group but a month ago they may well have lost that game as Jack Moylan's second half equaliser cancelled out a cracking Shaq Forde opener in the first half.

With that considered, here are some of the stand out talking points on the back of the score draw...

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Can you name a more popular goalscorer?

That is written as a rhetorical question but feel free to put any answers in the comments below. A great deal of the build-up to the game related to the excellent work of some supporters to put together anti-racism flags to hang over the West Stand following the intolerable abuse faced by Shaq Forde and some of his teammates over the course of this season so far.

Forde's case was at the forefront given that it was the most public on the back of sharing messages he'd received on social media following his red card at Reading a fortnight ago. However, and this isn't easy to write, but there have been other cases this season that just haven't been as public.

The red card was daft and naive, we've said that already, but what the forward faced and what some of his teammates have also gone through this term is despicable and it was pleasing to see so many supporters unite to bring home that message that there is no place for racism or any form of discrimination in our game.

Having served his suspension in the FA Cup last weekend, Forde was back in the starting line up and showed why, injecting the moment of quality the game needed after a largely drab opening half hour. The 20-year-old knicked the ball off of Reeco Hackett, drove towards goal and then curled a good finish into the bottom corner to hand Rovers the lead. It had to be him.

It can't have been an easy couple of weeks for the young forward but that was exactly how he should have responded and, right now, he's the Gas' most exciting attacking player.

Set piece progress but still room for improvement

When Matt Taylor highlighted in his pre-match press conference that Lincoln were the best team in the Football League for attacking set pieces, many Gasheads would have gulped at the thought. Rovers have improved at defending set pieces but there has still been too many goals conceded from corners and free-kicks.

However, Saturday was the best the Gas have defended from dead ball scenarios with all six corners from the Imps dealt with as well as any other deliveries into the box.

Taylor was quick to offer praise towards that feat but also highlighted that now he wants to see more from an offensive point of view. Rovers also had six corners plus a number of free-kicks from deep but none of them resulted in any clear-cut opportunities. In fact, one of the last kicks of the game was a Gas corner where, with a bit more quality, we could have been talking about a dramatic winning goal.

Bryant Bilongo's winner on the opening day against Northampton Town is the stand-out set piece moment so far this season but, as the Rovers manager said, set pieces make up 30 per cent of goals and so it's clearly an extra notch he wants to add to Rovers' belt.

Very little to seperate the sides

Sometimes, games are just incredibly equal. Lincoln looked slightly more dangerous than their hosts, particularly on the break, in the opening half hour but the Gas had produced some tidy passages of play, they just needed to be more potent higher up the pitch.

You thought that the Forde goal would spark the game into life which it did to some extent with Connor Taylor's heroics denying Jovon Makama in a one v one situation. It also raised the decibel levels from the home crowd with the hope that there might be a chance to double their advantage before the break.

The second goal never came though despite the Gas starting the second half the stronger of the two teams but even when Lincoln scored their equaliser, they were still very much in the game.

The point was made to Matt Taylor post-match that perhaps a month ago that game would've been lost, with the wounds of Wycombe still healing, and he agreed. Rovers didn't crumble and, as they say, if you can't win the game make sure you don't lose it.

On the face of it, the numbers prove it was an extremely tight game. Possession was 54 per cent to 46 in the Gas' favour, both sides had four shots off target with the Imps getting three on target while Rovers' only accurate effort being the goal. Additionally, there were six corners each, 36 aerial duels won to 33 in the hosts' favour and the Imps edged the touches in the opposition box tally with 19 compared to the Gas' 15. A draw was the fair result.

Progress is being made

Perhaps not at the pace as some would like, but progress is evidently being made by this team. As mentioned above, Rovers would have likely lost that game not too long ago.

Naturally, there are still notable areas for improvement but that is to be expected with this group. The argument that they're still gelling and getting to know each other naturally doesn't have as much substance as it did early on in the campaign but they're clearly a better team than they were heading into October.

Home form was always going to play a significant part in how well the Gas do this campaign and had to be improved upon after last season. So far, so good and there are still two good opportunities to collect points in BS7 this month with home games against Crawley Town and Blackpool either side of a trip to in-form Mansfield Town.

You never want to peak at this stage of the campaign so the idea that there's still room for improvement and progress to be made is exciting given that there are still 32 league matches to be played. We are still waiting for that stand out streak of form but a few more wins this month will set Taylor's men up nicely going into what looks to be a particularly tough festive period.

It's impossible to ignore the fact that there are still a number of fans still wanting a change in the dugout but, at the same time, there is still a significant chunk of others recognising the fact that progress is being made. Again, perhaps not at the rate most would like but who wants a team that's at their best point a quarter of the way into the season?

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