Football – England – Conference Premier
Friday 19th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Bristol Rovers will be keen to make home advantage count in tonight’s clash with seventh placed Gateshead at the Memorial Stadium as the hosts look to keep in touch with league leaders Barnet.
Following a couple of goal-less stalemates on the road at Wrexham and Welling United respectively, Bristol Rovers will want to continue their good form on home turf of late as they go in search of a third home win on the trot – recent wins over Barnet 2-1 and Welling United 2-0 have lifted The Pirates into the top three and they’ll now want to reduce the deficit on Barnet.
Rovers’ overall home record stands at a solid 8-3-1 16/6 with their one defeat being against west country rivals Forest Green Rovers, but they’ll take heart from six clean sheets so far at the Memorial Ground along with notable earlier wins over Halifax Town and Woking along with draws against Grimsby Town and Kidderminster.
Gateshead have produced some mixed results of late with a win over Alfreton Town away, draws with Torquay United and Southport, along with defeats against Chester and Dover Athletic. You never quite know which Gateshead are going to turn up, but the northeast outfit have lost just twice away from home all season.
The Heed’s away record stands at 4-6-2 17/13 and they’ve drawn with five of the six top teams that they’ve played on their travels to date along with a defeat at Kidderminster. However, Gateshead have conceded in each of their last nine away matches and this may well hold the key in tonight’s encounter in Bristol.
To sum up, Bristol Rovers will want to make home advantage count and with a strong defensive record behind them, I’ll back the hosts with the round ball here as they might just edge this one perhaps 1-0.
Pick: Bristol Rovers AH0 @ 1.65 bet365
