ROVERS RES 1

BRADFORD CITY RES 0

FRENCH defender Romain Faure played a full 90 minutes at Christie Park last night as Rovers reserves beat Bradford thanks to a solitary strike from Steve Foster.

Faure is currently on trial with Rovers from Nationwide Conference club Scarborough.

And reserve boss Terry Darracott will sit down with Graeme Souness next week to discuss the teenager's future after he helped Rovers keep a clean sheet.

"It's not easy to come in and play amongst a group of strangers but he did okay in what were awful conditions," said Darracott.

"He got caught in possession a few times in the first half but we'll have a chat about him and see what we come up with."

With most of the senior squad either on international duty or away in Dubai, Darracott had to call on a host of Academy players with Martin Taylor the only first team player on duty.

But they more than held their own against a City side featuring former Rover Billy McKinlay. The match itself took time to warm up in bitterly cold conditions.

But it was Rovers who turned up the heat midway through the first half when Foster had a shot deflected over before Lee Hardy then fired into the side-netting following dangerous crosses from Liam Blakeman .

Eventually, they were rewarded for that pressure with the killer goal six minutes before the break.

Foster beat City keeper Jamie Atwell to a clever through ball from Jonathan Douglas before clipping home a neat finish into the unguarded net.

In a low key second half, Douglas could have increased Rovers' lead but fired wide following a dazzling run from the impressive Blakeman which took him past a posse of defenders on the byeline.

"I was very pleased with the result because the majority of the lads were from the Academy," said Darracott.

"I thought we were the better side in the first half and, although they came more into it after the break, our keeper only made one save all night."

Rovers: Bingham, McNamee, Murray, Dunning, Taylor (Martin), Faure, Blakeman, O'Brien, Foster (Walters), Douglas, Hardy (Morgan). Not used: Taylor (Michael), Robinson, Woodhead.