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  • Kick-off: 19:45
  • Venue: Whaddon Road Ground
  • Attendance: 4546
  • Referee: Bratt, S

Live Commentary

90mins

That's it, it's all over, the referee has blown the final whistle.

90mins

The referee has booked Ashley Vincent.

79mins

Bristol Rovers are replacing Danny Coles with Craig Hinton.

77mins

Rickie Lambert is booked for unsporting behaviour.

71mins

Aaron Lescott is being taken off, Darryl Duffy has come on in his place.

70mins

Chris Lines is replaced by Craig Disley.

64mins

The referee has booked Josh Low.

62mins

Lloyd Owusu is replaced by Michael Townsend.

62mins

Cheltenham are replacing Scott Murray with Ashley Vincent.

61mins

Dave Bird is replaced by Craig Armstrong.

53mins

Gavin Caines goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour.

50mins

Goal!! Bristol Rovers have scored with Rickie Lambert putting it in the back of the net.

46mins

The second half is under way with the score currently at 2 v 0.

45mins

The ref has blown his whistle for half time.

38mins

Scott Murray goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour.

30mins

Goal!! Cheltenham have scored with Barry Hayles putting it in the back of the net.

28mins

Steve Elliott is booked for unsporting behaviour.

19mins

Goal!! Barry Hayles scores for Cheltenham.

0mins

It's 7:45pm on Tuesday, September 16th, the match has kicked off.

Match Report

New manager Martin Allen got off to a winning start as Cheltenham Town lifted themselves off the bottom of the League One table.

Former Bristol Rovers striker Barry Hayles struck twice in the first half to put the Robins in control, but they had to defend strongly in the second half in order to collect three much needed points.

Cheltenham launched themselves into the task from the start and spent the first 45 minutes playing at a tempo that Rovers were unable to match.

Hayles ran onto a pass from Alex Russell before shooting wide and although Rovers went close with a Rickie Lambert header from a Chris Lines corner, the home side took the lead with 19 minutes played.

The goal resulted from a slick move, Russell playing a one-two with Lloyd Owusu before threading a pass through for Hayles to beat goalkeeper Steve Phillips from a tight angle.

The lead was doubled 12 minutes later when a corner was cleared only as far as Russell wide on the right. He showed presence of mind to switch the play right to the other side of the field, where defender Shane Duff headed down for Hayles to flip the ball beyond Phillips.

Rovers almost struck back from a goalmouth scramble just before half-time and they went on to dominate long periods of the second half.

They pulled a goal back five minutes after the re-start when Cheltenham 's new loan signing, Scott Murray, gave the ball away in midfield. Jeff Hughes got away down the left and crossed for Lambert to score with a well-struck half-volley from the edge of the penalty area.

Duff was forced to throw himself in front of a shot from Jo Kuffour and Allen made a bold decision to switch to five at the back with half an hour left to stem the tide.

The tactics worked and Rovers were restricted to only a couple more good chances, with Kuffour blasting over the bar and Lambert seeing an injury-time shot held by goalkeeper Higgs.

Cheltenham Town

Bristol Rovers

Corners

38

Fouls

2013

Goal attempts

515

Shots off target

17

Offsides

51

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