North 2, Rovers 0

IT IS hard to come up with any exciting adjectives to describe North’s 2-0 defeat of Rovers in the first round of the Jeremie Cup last night. The words ‘bog standard’ and ‘run-of-the-mill’ spring to mind as a below par North took care of a hard-working and energetic Rovers side. First half goals from Simon Tostevin and Stuart Polson did the job for North.

What was noticeable was the bitter chill at Northfield. It seems the seeds of winter have been planted and it is still only August.

‘It wasn’t our best performance but we did enough to win,’ said North boss Mick Le Prevost.

‘We can play better than that. We could have had a few more goals but at the end of the day we’ve got to keep mixing the team around at the moment.

‘Fair play to Rovers, they battled hard. We were looking a bit tired for some reason, but we’re through.’

What has become obvious in Le Prevost’s short time in charge at North, is that he likes his team to get the ball to their wingers and use the width of the pitch. That did not happen last night as the chocolate-and-blues’ passing was not as crisp as it usually is.

Maybe that could be down to Rovers’ insistence of chasing everything down and pressurising their opposite numbers.

After North had a couple of early chances that came to nothing, it was the visitors who began to look that they might cause an upset as they kept hassling.

But it was the home side who got the important opener, when Rovers old boy Tostevin, in his first match against his former club since his summer move to Northfield, had all the time of the world to pick his spot when he was free in the area. Rovers’ defence felt it was offside.

Then a minute before half time, North veteran defender Polson popped up at a long free kick to put the ball in from close range.

In the second half the match dropped another level in entertainment, although it was enlivened by a couple of shots from Dave Rihoy and Jon Loaring, but they came to nothing.

‘I wasn’t too pleased with our first-half performance,’ said Rovers coach Martyn Dorey.

‘We were really sloppy for the first 20 minutes, but after that I think the effort was excellent.

‘Unfortunately, we conceded a second goal at a really bad time, but the lads stuck at it and I’m really proud of them.

‘Tonight’s performance has encouraged me greatly for the rest of the season.’