GOAL SHY: Nathan Lamey (above) had limited opportunities on Saturday, while Jermaine Clarke (below) had Rovers' best chance, firing wide in the first half. Ref: NT04681
THERE is an unnerving bout of stage fright sweeping through the Victoria Ground.
Without a win in front of their own fans, Rovers' search for home comforts is being undermined by defensive faux pas, which have now cost them seven goals in two games.
If Gloucester City exposed this worrying period of instability in Tuesday nights 4-1 drubbing, Hemel Hempstead delivered a gushing wound.
Of course, there is never a good time to lock horns with a table-topping side who are on a five game winning run.
The fact that the unbeaten league leaders had amassed an impressive 16 goals in their first six games would also have been of little comfort to Rod Brown.
He had just four days for the dust to settle from his team's latest hiccup, while fearful first signs of an orderly queue outside the treatment room are already emerging.
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Jamie Petty, John Snape and Gary Hay are nursing knocks, while Jermaine Clarke and Neil Davis are both playing through the pain barrier.
So it became all the more frustrating for the manager, to see his players providing hapless assistance in increasing Hemel Hempstead's hot goal streak.
They needed just 15 minutes to demonstrate their relentlessness in front of goal.
Rovers failed to clear their lines from Dean Cracknell's free kick and the visitors' skipper Paul Edgeworth found himself in space.
He opened his stance and comfortably volleyed past Karl Lewis and his left hand post.
But after handing a 'gimme' to their opponents, Rovers accepted two slices of luck in their favour.
Nathan Bowden-Hasse, who surged into the Greens half at every opportunity, burst past Wayne Dyer only to be bundled over in the box by the Rovers midfielder, but shouts for a penalty were waved away.
Minutes later it was the post that came to their rescue.
Paul Lloyd, deployed in an unfamiliar left midfield role in the absence of Petty and Kevin Banner, carelessly lost out to Ollie Burgess outside his own box.
With little room to shape himself for the shot, Burgess majestically swung a snap shot across goal with the outside of his right foot, only to see it return agonisingly off the woodwork.
But still incensed from seeing his penalty appeal turned down, Bowden-Hasse took sweet revenge by delivering the knockout blow in first half stoppage time.
Left free to roam inside the Rovers box, he got on the end of Cracknell's long throw and guided his header past Lewis to double his side's advantage.
In all fairness, the spectacle didn't revolve entirely around Hemel supremacy, but Rovers' crisis of confi dence at the back also appeared to be rubbing off at the top end of the pitch.
Their play lacked the same zest that carved Bedford wide open and left Team Bath chasing shadows.
It took them 56 minutes to hand Tudors custodian Ian Brown a piece of the action.
Dave Bridgwater's corner was only cleared as far as Sam Alsop.
He controlled brilliantly with his thigh and unleashed a testing half volley, which Brown parried away from danger.
It was a quiet afternoon for the 'keeper, who contentedly watched his back four make a "no-nonsense" stand to see off any Rovers threats.
The visitors' collective set a strong and decisive example to their counterparts, who were often caught in possession in key areas of the pitch.
Alsop was culpable of such an act 20 minutes from time to allow on-fire Drew Roberts to wrap up the points.
The midfielder was shrugged off the ball, 20 yards from goal, and Roberts cleverly exchanged passes with Cracknell, meeting his return to fire across Lewis.
The move best of all summed up the nervousness and uncertainty that has found prominence in Rovers' last two outings.
It is a baffling conundrum - such traits that were absent at both the Eyrie and Twerton Park are surfacing in more familiar surroundings.
Those who follow the Greens on their travels will testify that they look composed and assured away from home.
However, these defensive frailties need to be addressed quickly if the Victoria Ground is to become home sweet home again.
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