Joey Barton, the manager of the Rovers, made 8 changes from the passionate match against Lincoln Town on Saturday at the Mem. Joshua Grant, who scored on Saturday, started with Luke McCormick, James Gibbons, and Harvey Vale.
Bristol Rovers would defeat Cheltenham Town at the Memorial Stadium in their opening EFL Trophy game with a superb first-half effort. After a strong finish, Aaron Collins scored again, and Gibbons and Evans also contributed.
Aaron Collins passed a lovely outside-of-the-boot ball to McCormick in the first 45 seconds of play. McCormick appeared to bother the defense by combining with Harvey Vale, but the opportunity ended with a goal kick for Cheltenham.
With a beautiful outswinging cross from Jevani Brown, who had just been let through down the right flank, Rovers would take the lead after just 9 minutes. James Gibbons was diving when the brilliantly raised cross reached him, and his header went clean past Max Harris.
For the second time that night, Rovers had the ball in the back of the net, but John Marquis’ effort was disallowed because he was a little too anxious to slip behind the Cheltenham line and put the ball past Harris.
Cheltenham broke down the hosts’ right side, and Rob Street’s fizzed cross found an unguarded Aidan Keena at the back post. However, Keena’s shot rippled into the side netting, giving the hosts a major let-off.
Just over the halfway point, Antony Evans made the decision that he wanted to get involved and took it upon himself to shoot from 20 yards out that Harris watched find the back of the net and extend Rovers’ lead.
Collins had time to cut inside from the left and lash a strike goalward thanks to a series of passes from Lamare Bogarde and Collins, but his effort at the far post went just a hair wide.
Another brilliant move by the Rovers forwards saw Aaron Collins receive the ball 10 yards from goal and smash it into the roof of the net with a calm touch, leaving the opposition in disbelief.
Gibbons’ unlucky own goal gave the Robins some optimism five minutes into the second half. It was a fantastic finish, though, as he was able to volley past Belshaw and cut the deficit to two goals.
When Jovan Malcom received the ball wide and attempted to deliver a looping cross toward the head of Keena, who made good touch, Belshaw easily recovered the ball. At that point, the visitors’ fortune started to turn.
Scott Sinclair, a substitute, made an immediate impact when he won a free kick in front of the Thatchers End and the next effort deflected off of Street and into the goal.
Midway through the second half, Luke Thomas—another substitute—danced down the wing toward the byline. When he had to turn back to the edge of the 18-yard box for support, Ryan Woods was waiting to shoot at Harris, but the goalkeeper was up to the task.
When Sinclair struck the bottom corner after an excellent sequence of play for Rovers, they were unfortunate to have five when the linesman raised his flag for offside.
Rovers climbed to the top of Group H after the referee blew the final horn, and they will now start preparing for their trip to Shrewsbury in 11 days.
James Belshaw, Josh Grant, John Marquis, Connor Taylor, Harvey Vale, Jevani Brown (Lewis Gordon), Antony Evans (Sam Finley), Lamare Bogarde, Luke McCormick (Ryan Woods), and James Gibbons (Scott Sinclair) are all members of Bristol Rovers.
Max Harris, Ben Williams, Tom Bradbury (Jovan Malcom), Liam Sercombe, Will Goodwin (Grant Horton (Freddy Willcox)), Aidan Keena, Rob Street, Will Ferry, Daniel Adshead, and Josh Williams are all members of Cheltenham Town. Sean Long (Ellis Chapman) is the substitute for Sean Long.
