ROVERS put on their best display for weeks, but were unable to find the goal to lift them out the drop zone in last night's clash with play-off chasing Bashley.
The Greens are now without a win in seven matches, although Duane Darby's men showed a marked improvement in their performance.
They were the better side for much of the contest, with Dean Curtis and Matt Birley both going close.
And despite seeing his side fail to score for the tenth time since the turn of the year, Darby admitted he was proud of his players.
The Rovers boss said: "The lads went out there, worked for one another and unfortunately lacked that goal.
"After this performance I was proud of every one of them. After the telling off they had on Saturday, they've reacted the right way and I don't think the fans can complain about what went on tonight (Tuesday), apart from lacking a goal.
"Now we have got to go to Cirencester and show what we have just shown. Anything less than that, I won't accept."
Darby made two changes from Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Cheshunt, with Daryl Burgess replacing Andy Jones in the centre of defence, while Chris Cornes took Dave Bridgwater's place in midfield.
Matt Birley had an early shot blocked by centre-back Gary Middleton after Patrick Peters took advantage of a mix-up.
Bashley's first chance fell to Pete Castle, who glanced a header at goal from Chris Ferrett's cross, but Karl Lewis gathered comfortably.
The visitors' David Elm was the first goalkeeper to face a real test, tipping a first-time Peters effort around the post.
Curtis should have given Rovers the lead on 33 minutes. Elm spilt his original effort, but after Peters ran over the rebound, the follow-up from Curtis was too high.
The Greens carried their momentum from the first-half into the second.
Birley continued to probe away at the Bashley defence and he forced Elm to turn a 30-yard shot around the post.
Ryan Moss squandered a golden chance to snatch victory for Bashley. He was one-on-one with Lewis after capitalising on a lucky ricochet, but he scuffed the finish.
ROVERS: Lewis, Duggan, C. Jones, Meakin-Richards, Knight, Burgess, Fitzpatrick, Cornes, Peters (Darby, 77 mins), Curtis (McPhee, 86 mins), Birley. Unused subs: McHale, Bridgwater, Shaw.
BASHLEY: Elm, Gazzard, Ferrett, Castle, Middleton (Sainsbury, 45 mins), Smith, Knowles, Davis, Moss, Gillespie, Town. Unused subs: Harper, Burch, Brock, Riley.
Referee: Mr S.Martin. Attendance: 303. |