Dickson delights on debut for Bristol Rovers

Brentford 1 Bristol Rovers 3: The good news for Bristol Rovers – and the ominous news for the rest of League One – is that Chris Dickson is only likely to get better.

It's hard to remember the last time a player made such an impact for the Pirates on his debut.

Within the opening 45 minutes, the on-loan Charlton marksman had shown the pace and power boss Paul Trollope had highlighted on his arrival by latching on to two balls over the top and scoring two goals.

But almost as exciting was the brilliant return pass that allowed Aaron Lescott the chance to round off a superb move by stroking home the third goal, which effectively put a hugely entertaining game out of Brentford's reach.

By the hour mark, Dickson was shot – or at least, he looked as though he had been by a mystery sniper in Row Z.

Hit by a crippling attack of cramp in both calves, the 24-year-old seized up to such an extent that he was unable even to hobble to the touchline without assistance from close friend and strike partner Jo Kuffour.

By then he had already secured instant hero status with the army of fans packing the away end at Griffin Park – and three more valuable points for the team.

"I would have liked to have stayed on and got a hat-trick but I hadn't played for quite a while and my body started crumbling," said Dickson, who has managed only a handful of reserve-team outings for the Addicks since pre-season.

"I said to the physio before the game I needed to do some work on my calves because otherwise they were going to go 'ping' – and that's what happened. But at least I'd got my goals beforehand and the team won.

"I wanted to make an impression straight away. I'd done some talking so I guess it was time to do some walking!

"I'm naturally a confident character and I like to try and make that infectious right the way through the team. But obviously when you score a couple of goals, it makes you want to score more and more.

"I felt by coming here I could benefit the club and they could benefit me, and that paid dividends today. This is a club that's moving forward and going places."

Gasheads seem to relish their trips to this part of west London – and not only because Griffin Park has a pub on each corner.

In their last four visits, the Pirates have banged in no fewer than 15 goals and at times before the break, it looked very much as though the Bees might be stung by a scoreline similar to the 6-2 mauling they suffered the last time they hosted Rovers in August 2000.

Brentford had started in robust fashion, banging balls forward and launching a series of long throws towards Rovers' six-yard box.

But with less than 10 minutes gone, Dickson seized on a pass from Kuffour, outfoxed the hapless Alan Bennett and fired home his first goal from the angle of the six-yard box.

The second came in similar fashion, Carl Regan supplying the ball forward and Dickson conjuring up a fine lob after he had spotted Bees' keeper Lewis Price well off his line.

The third was simply a delight to behold, with Lescott the initiator and finisher as Jeff Hughes and Dickson played their part in a terrific flowing move down the left.

The damage could have been even greater by the break. In the final moments of the half, Dickson looked set to score his third, only for a defender to deflect Mark Wright's excellent cross away for a corner just as the marksman looked destined to convert.

From the resulting flag-kick, Danny Coles let fly with a fierce shot that Price blocked on his line.

Yet Rovers had not had things all their own way, for Mikkel Andersen had needed to make two fine saves to thwart Charlie MacDonald – the second one an admirable reflex reaction to tip the ball away from the striker while the Danish keeper was already on the ground.

And the home side certainly looked much more of a threat in the second period.

One of the talking points of the afternoon came after 53 minutes when Steve Kabba tumbled as Andersen came rushing out of his box to make a challenge. But referee Steve Hooper judged that the Dane was not the visitors' last man and opted for a yellow card rather than a red.

Sam Saunders smashed the free-kick against the Pirates' defensive wall and in a scramble from the resulting corner, Andersen again did well to emerge with the ball in his hands.

There was nothing Andersen could do to stop the tremendous 25-yard volley that MacDonald unleashed just before the hour to give the Bees a glimmer of hope, but Rovers defended superbly to thwart what the home side could throw at them for the rest of the game.

Andersen rounded off another impressive display by making a good save from Saunders' powerful angled shot after 72 minutes.

Dickson had recovered sufficiently to rejoin his Bristol Rovers team-mates for hugs and high-fives as they left the field to a rapturous reception from the vociferous away contingent.

"The fans were terrific," he said. "I'd been told about them and heard they travelled big – they travelled very big today.

"They were right behind us all the way through the game."