Hughes feels more at home at Bristol Rovers

It may be more than coincidence that four of the six goals Jeff Hughes has scored for Bristol Rovers have come away from home.

Coach Paul Trollope – and the winger himself – both acknowledge that his best performances since joining the club have been on opposition soil.

So if the Northern Irishman's latest strike – his second in as many games – and the impressive performance he turned in are a sign of things to come, there will be few complaints around the Memorial Stadium.

"By his own admission, Jeff probably hasn't produced his best form at home – although those who travel away will have seen him turn in some excellent performances," said Trollope.

"Sometimes his style is more suited to counter-attacking when we have a bit more space.

"He has the ability to make difficult things look very easy and sometimes people take him for granted.

"We knew when we signed him his goals would be important and we are still working with him to try and get the best out of him in home games. He is making progress and we were pleased with his contribution."

Hughes admits that the volley that gave the Pirates a deserved early lead, coming after excellent work by David Pipe to deliver the cross, wasn't the most convincing of strikes.

But he did well to get to the edge of the six-yard box to meet it and got enough on the ball to send it looping into the net.

"I just tried to get something on it and if I'd have hit it sweetly, it could have gone anywhere," admitted Hughes. "It was a good bad 'un!

"I've been trying to adjust my game and hopefully I can get better performances and a few more goals at home.

"I've got a bit more licence to get forward so I'm getting a few more scoring opportunities.

"I think I'm better going forwards so the way we play here suits me – and I think I'm benefiting from it."

Rovers made a lively start to the game and could have gone ahead earlier had Darryl Duffy managed to capitalise on a seventh-minute flick on by Rickie Lambert.

It sent the Scot clear, but Leeds keeper Casper Ankergren advanced quickly to smother the resulting shot.

Hughes' breakthrough gave the Pirates reward for their good early tempo, although Leeds got back into the game after 26 minutes when Chris Lines conceded possession to Jonathan Howson, who fed Robert Snodgrass on the visitors' right.

He got the better of Aaron Lescott and then delivered a destructive cross which allowed Luciano Becchio to rise and nod home his second goal in six days from point-blank range.

After that, the visitors gave a much better account of themselves – although they nearly went behind again early in the second half when Duffy sent a 20-yard effort just over the bar.

Snodgrass was a danger though, and proved it just before the hour with a textbook strike from a 25-yard free kick after Lines had fouled Jermaine Beckford. Hit left-footed, it beat the Pirates' defensive wall and found the top corner to give Steve Phillips little chance.

After that, the visitors looked as though they would see the game out fairly comfortably until Rovers made a clutch of substitutions, all of whom made an impact on proceedings.

That was certainly the case with Jo Kuffour, who began to torment the visitors' back line with his trickery and pace and was to conjure up a dramatic late leveller.

Ironically, Leeds could have put the outcome beyond doubt a few seconds earlier but Howson saw his snapshot fly just over the bar.

And as the ball went upfield from the resulting goal kick, Kuffour got the better of Richard Naylor before slamming home a fine right-footed strike for his seventh Rovers goal.

"When you concede late like that, it feels like a defeat," admitted Leeds boss Simon Grayson. "We should have won the game quite comfortably but lacked the ruthlessness and killer instinct we needed to finish things off.

"When the score is still at 2-1, anything can happen. But Bristol Rovers should have been dead and buried with 10 or 15 minutes to go."

That was slightly disingenuous for although Leeds had dominated parts of the second half in terms of possession, they had hardly peppered the Rovers goal.

Beckford, Rovers' tormentor in recent seasons, put a 30-yarder wide and saw another attempt take a deflection, but he seemed in a sulk after a first-half spat with the impressive Snodgrass and it showed in the striker's body language.

Duffy drew a stop from Ankergren with a header as Rovers pushed for the equaliser which finally arrived to send the majority of their biggest crowd of the season home happy.

The visitors certainly won when it came to vocal backing from the terraces – their terrific travelling fans never stopped making a racket – but their side's first away victory in two months continued to elude.

Bristol Rovers: Phillips, Ryan Green, Anthony, Elliott, Lescott (Jacobson 65), Pipe, Lines (Disley 73), Campbell, Hughes (Kuffour 63), Lambert, Duffy. Subs not used: St Louis-Hamilton, Hinton.

Leeds: Ankergren, Douglas, Marques, Naylor, Parker, Snodgrass, Kilkenny (Prutton 87), Howson, Delph, Becchio, Beckford. Subs not used: Lucas, Trundle, Michalik, Grella.