They certainly rode their luck at times, but Bristol Rovers were still good value for their 3-1 win over Barnsley on Saturday afternoon, securing a much-needed first home win for Inigo Calderon.

Failure to win would have extended the Gas’ winless run at home in the league beyond three months with their 1-0 success over Shrewsbury Town on October 22 their most recent going into the weekend.

Going into the game there had been concerns that a two-week break in the league schedule alongside a deflating 3-0 defeat at Ipswich Town in the FA Cup would have halted momentum built after the 1-0 win at Cambridge United. However, although Barnsley will be scratching their heads as to how Rovers have once again earned a scalp over them, the victory and display proved that those concerns weren’t necessary.

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Similarly to the FA Cup success at Oakwell in November, Rovers were reliant on their goalkeeper to pull off a string of good saves while the Reds were also wasteful in front of goal. A flat start from the hosts saw Barnsley go close to breaking the deadlock on a couple of occasions with Luca Connell finding the back of the net but immediately saw the goal disallowed.

However, the Gas grew in confidence and, unlike the cup tie, looked a threat in attack. Scott Sinclair squandered two good chances before the winger saw an effort clip the crossbar with the ball staying in play. Grant Ward received it and produced a perfect cross for Gatlin O’Donkor to head home the opener four minutes before half-time.

Securing a second via Isaac Hutchinson following some good work from James Wilson of all people early in the second half was crucial timing but Barnsley were still very much in the contest.

A couple of missed chances later and they had a goal back through Josh Earl before squandering another few opportunities with a ghastly miss from Jon Russell the stand out.

What the Gas haven’t done enough this season is killing off games when they’ve been in the lead and so adding a third through substitute Ruel Sotiriou was very welcome indeed.

It’s an important three points but the fact that it came against a play-off chasing side who had won four in a row coming into the clash makes it even more impressive with the Calderon era certainly under way now.

Here are the stand out talking points after an extremely satisfying afternoon at the Mem…

Three popular goalscorers

It’s not been easy for a number of the 16 summer arrivals in their first handful of months at Bristol Rovers. However, forwards in particular have come under scrutiny with goals severely lacking.

Gatlin O’Donkor, Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou are all players who fall into that category, particularly the latter two who were invested significantly in on long-term contracts. Therefore, it was incredibly pleasing to see the trio on the scoresheet.

Hutchinson has been unlucky to see two goals disallowed in the past month, particularly against Cambridge, and that had been coming. As for O’Donkor and Sotiriou, neither had truly ignited their Rovers careers with just one goal each going into Saturday.

O’Donkor was given the nod ahead of Chris Martin to lead the line and the 20-year-old Oxford United loanee certainly took that opportunity with good positioning and a bullet header for the opening goal. Meanwhile Sotiriou found himself on the bench after a string of starts under Inigo Calderon but was in the right place at the right time for his strike.

There’s no denying that those goals are huge moments in each of the trio’s Gas tenures and will hopefully be the start of continued success after respective tricky starts to their times in BS7.

James Wilson assists surprise all

To see a centre-back pick up an assist is one thing but for James Wilson to pick up two is even more rare. Reading that statement with no knowledge of how the game played out, the assumption would be that the goals came from set-pieces and the big Rovers defender got flick-ons on corners or free-kicks. However, the nature of the assists make them even more incredible.

Admittedly, it wasn’t the first time that Wilson has been played through in a one-v-one position this season which was the case in the build-up to Isaac Hutchinson’s goal after good play from Grant Ward, who was excellent throughout. The defender did enough to force a save from Ben Killip but did superbly with the rebound, holding onto the ball and squaring to Hutchinson to score.

The 35-year-old picked up the ball once again high up the right flank late on, cutting back to Ruel Sotiriou for an even easier finish and a goal of significant importance.

For it to happen once is one thing but twice suggests it was no coincidence. However, Inigo Calderon wouldn’t take responsibility for the centre-back propping up with a brace of assists.

“I could say yes,” the Rovers head coach smiled. “I could say that's part of the tactics, but it's not. For me it's more the passion. I'm not there with the control. They have to do [it] because then there was a situation that he stepped up in the press and that's something I really want, the centre backs to be aggressive, especially when we press, because for me, it's key to be high on the pitch, to press higher.”

Barnsley’s story of the season

For anyone who’s kept tabs on Darrell Clarke’s side’s campaign, missed chances have held them back from being even higher in the league table.

Four wins in a row seemed to suggest that they had shaken off said bad habit, which was crystal clear for all to see in the FA Cup tie at Oakwell. However, that wasn’t the case as a mixture of squandering sitters and eight saves from Josh Griffiths made it the latest outing in a bizarre campaign for the Tykes where they’ve ended up scratching their heads in regards to the result.

The stats prove that Rovers rode their luck at times with their visitors creating an xG of 2.51 to their 2.04 while producing a whopping 25 shots to the Gas’ 11. However, something this team hasn’t done enough this term is be clinical and Inigo Calderon’s men were certainly that.

For Barnsley, it was another frustrating afternoon against Rovers but they were still given more of a game than the November FA Cup clash with the Gas offering next to nothing in attack that day.

Table makes for better reading

By no means are Rovers out of danger but the table certainly makes for slightly better reading after they created a seven-point gap between themselves and the bottom four.

The Gas’ victory alongside a Northampton Town defeat to Lincoln City, Crawley Town dropping points in a home draw with Burton Albion and Peterborough United drawing 0-0 against Leyton Orient saw them climb up to 18th.

A couple more wins should see any relegation fears eradicated but the key now will be to build on back-to-back victories; 2022 was the last time they won three in a row.

With 23 matches remaining in the league schedule, there’s no reason why Rovers should be having to look over their shoulder for the remainder of the campaign but they will only change the narrative themselves. Upcoming matches against Wigan, Charlton and Peterborough certainly gives them opportunities to cover further ground in the league table within the next fortnight.

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