An away outing that began with a car crash saw a car crash tackle from Adam Virgo resulting in a first half red card and car crash goalkeeping from Michel Kuipers allowed Bristol Rovers to take a point at the Memorial Ground - yet it can still bizarrely be seen as an excellent result.

Thankfully, no Albion players were hurt in the collision that occurred on the M23 en route to Bristol on Friday, so they all strutted out in conditions that could best be described as hot enough to melt the fans packed onto the away terrace. Four minutes into the game and Virgo received his first yellow, and his marching orders came shortly after for a tackle that could well appear on a future edition of crime watch. It’s not often that major swearing occurs in these reports, but as captain of the team and one of the supposedly more experienced players, you have to question just what the fuck he was thinking?

Thankfully, this moment of madness didn’t cost the Albion too badly come the end of the game. Michel Kuipers was forced into several routine saves in the first half, and even though Nicky Forster was now left to lead the line alone following a tactical reshuffle, Rovers rarely showed just how they are flirting around the play off places in the table.

Into the second half, and the Albion looked a little more dangerous going forward. This was rewarded when Forster did bloody well to earn a corner after a good save from that Danish goalkeeper we had on-loan last season whose name I cannot remember. Unbelievably, the set piece not only beat the first man but also caused problems for the Gasheads defence - so much so that James Tunnicliffe was able to rise like a salmon and power it in with his head to give the Albion the lead and spark jubilant celebrations among the away fans.

The lead was short lived however, as Jo Kuffour equalised shortly after, Kuipers deciding to use the bizarre technique of diving over the top of the ball as it headed straight towards him. Given the benefit of the doubt at the time just incase their was a deflection, having looked back at it now it was just a mammoth cock up on behalf of the big Dutchman

A possible handball was missed in the box in the last minute by the referee which could have given the Albion all three points, but it wasn’t too be. A point when playing the majority of the game with only ten men is definitely a good one - but if Virgo hadn’t have totally lost his mind then maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t find ourselves back in the relegation zone.