Bristol Rovers verdict: Matt Taylor suffer loan heartbreak*

The talking points following Bristol Rovers’ 1-0 victory over Exeter City, which gave them their first clean sheet under Matt Taylor

Although Bristol Rovers’ 1-0 victory over Exeter City on Saturday afternoon wasn’t always attractive, the Gas persevered to record their first clean sheet under Matt Taylor’s leadership. There won’t be many more satisfying wins this season than that one.

The Rovers manager, who is somewhat of a legend in that region of Devon due to his role in Exeter’s recent success, was greeted with hugs and handshakes from staff members before and after the game, but he would have been anxious to see his new team win and would have gone back to his old haunts with great anticipation. Taylor acknowledged that the 1-0 loss at the Mem in the rematch 11 days earlier “hurt” and that there was a noticeable difference in the players’ performances.

Though it was by no means a classic match, it will be remembered for a goal straight out of a scrapbook. After 15 minutes, rookie Brandon Aguilera scored a magnificent finish against the run of play to give the visitors the lead. Nevertheless, the Gas performed admirably for the rest of the first half after that, displaying a toughness to their play that we haven’t seen nearly enough this season.

Naturally, more about Aguilera and Rovers’ newfound adeptness at the dark arts will be revealed, but this triumph, coupled with their 3-1 success over Oxford United the previous weekend, has been the ideal way to brush off four consecutive league defeats before going into a three-game week with two home matches against sides in and around the bottom end of the League One table in Fleetwood Town and Burton Albion.

It’s clear that the Pirates are depending on a lot of different things to have a successful season finale, but for the time being, everything is in place, which should help Taylor’s team stay on course to have the best possible campaign finale.

But concentrating on this particular game, here are some highlights from a pleasant afternoon spent driving the M5.