Twerton thriller paves way for

THE defining moment of the 1989-90 season was one match: Bristol Rovers versus Bristol City at Twerton Park on the evening of May 2. Should the Robins be on song, the Third Division title would be theirs. If the Gas produced a match-winning perfor mance, promotion at least would be in the bag for them.

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This re-arranged derby match had originally been set for February 3, when City had four straight wins behind them while Rovers had two draws and two defeats in their previous four league matches.

Rovers were now in a far better vein of form than their neighbours, with just one defeat in their last 20 league games. In contrast, City had spluttered of late, with two draws and a defeat.

A record Twerton Park crowd of 9,813 were packed into the tiny home that Rovers shared with Bath City.

The advantage went to the home side just past the midway point of the first half. Their leading scorer, David Mehew, crossed the ball into the box and found the muscular Devon White, pictured left, who fired past Ronnie Sinclair in the City goal.

Gerry Francis' side clearly had their opponents on the back foot at the break, and they piled on the pressure after the restart.

Carl Saunders nodded wide of Sinclair's goal, while City's David Rennie had his header saved by Brian Parkin.

Saunders, enjoying his first season with Rovers following a Pounds 70,000 move from Stoke City, set up White to claim his 12th goal of the season and put the home side firmly in the box seat.

The game was put way beyond any City fightback when Ian Holloway converted a penalty on 62 minutes after a handball from Andy Llewellyn on the line.

Despite unrest among the City fans Clip on charms that briefly threatened to cause an abandonment, Rovers won 3-0 to secure Division Two football for the first time since 1980-81.

The result also meant that Rovers had completed the season without a single home defeat in the league.

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Both clubs still had one match to play, though, and on the following Saturday, May 5, Rovers crowned an extraordinary season by beating Blackpool 3-0 at Bloomfield Road.

The title was theirs and Vaughan Jones became only the second Rovers captain to lift the Division Three Championship trophy, emulating Ray Warren in 1953.

While the Pirates were squashing the Tangerines, Joe Jordan's City team got over their Twerton disappointment by thumping Walsall 4-0 at Ashton Gate to clinch their own promotion.

There was just a matter of a day-out at Wembley for Rovers, as they faced Tranmere Rovers in the Leyland Daf Trophy final.

In front of more than 53,000 fans, Rovers failed to follow up their title success as goals from Ian Muir and Jim Steele secured a 2-1 win for the Birkenhead outfit. White scored for Rovers.

The double promotion for the Bristol clubs was repeated in 2006- 07, but not in such dramatic fashion.

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