Concentrating on the League

DUE to a bit of a family crisis I couldn't go to our Carling Cup first-round tie against Watford.
I wasn't too bothered.
And nor, it seems, were many of my fellow gasheads as there were less than 5,000 at the Mem to watch our thrilling penalty shoot-out win over the Championship club.
By all accounts it was a great game and Rovers gave as good as they got.
But perhaps this is a bit of a reflection on the optimism surrounding Paul Buckle's new team who, at the moment, have given we gasheads a surprisingly upbeat feeling following the disastrous episode of last season.
When things have habitually gone badly for the Gas, fans have always flocked to these cup ties in the hope that they can give us a glimmer of light in an often dark and ominous season.
Even when we've had particularly poor sides we have always managed to raise ourselves for the big one-off ties, which was as bad a reflection on our past players as it was good for the club's bank balance.
We have in previous years been known as cup giantkillers, the shock of our victories being all the greater the worse we are doing in the league.
Call it arrogance, confidence, belief or whatever, but on this occasion I thought Rovers would overcome Watford. And probably on penalties.
I knew we had the spirit and the skill to give them a good test but - even if we lost - I wouldn't have been that bothered.
Because this year I can borrow that cliche popular with all managers and say: "We are concentrating on the league."
Nothing else matters.
Yes, a Cup run is a nice distraction as long as it doesn't become TOO distracting.
As long as it doesn't result in too many injuries (three of our number picked up knocks, the most serious being young Cian Bolger).
And as long as our players don't take too much out of themselves and find our league form suffers as a consequence.
Because I think this team is capable of being more than one-hit wonders.
They are capable of being 46-hit wonders.
And sealing the promotion that all Rovers fans will savour long after memories of our cup exploits have died away.
I hope I am right.
Don't get me wrong, though.
Last year's team couldn't even raise themselves for one-off cup ties.
We lost 6-1 at League new boys Oxford in the Carling Cup and 2-1 at non-league Darlington in the FA Cup.
Both results were shameful.
I would like to say we were concentrating on the league then, too.
But the truth is we couldn't concentrate on anything for longer than five minutes.
So well done, Paul Buckle. And well done, Rovers.

The victory can be savoured all the more because our struggling neighbours across the City lost to their League Two opponents Swindon 1-0 at home. Unlike some other Premier and Championship clubs, they played a pretty full-strength line-up too.
So while we can have a little chuckle at their expense, for once the old joke "Both Bristols are out of the Cup" doesn't apply.