The Glovers opened the scoring after 23 minutes when Rovers goalkeeper Brad Young struggled to deal with a Brett McGavin corner, punching the ball into his own net

Mark Cooper’s side went into the break with a 1-0 lead, but were quickly pegged back level after 48 minutes when former Town loanee Kofi Shaw fired it past Trialist in goal.

Shaw turned provider fourteen minutes later, playing a fast ball across goal for Luke Thomas, who blasted the visitors in front from close range, securing the victory for the League Two side.

Darrell Clarke’s Rovers occupied the majority of the ball in the opening stages of the game, but couldn’t put together a chance to trouble the Town defence early on.

Some smart play from Harvey Greenslade saw Yeovil create their first attacking move of the game after seven minutes, with the striker dropping deep to receive a ball, pulling in a defender, and sending Trialist in space down the right-hand side.

Trialist was subsequently fouled by Bryant Bilongo, giving McGavin a wide free kick in an attacking position, which Rovers keeper Brad Young punched clear.

Four minutes later, the visitors went close through former Yeovil loanee Shaw, who found a pocket of space and rolled the dice by hitting a low attempt from the edge of the penalty area.

Shaw’s strike, which took a deflection and travelled out for a corner, was the closest that Clarke’s side came to a goal in the opening 45 minutes.

Yeovil then began to grow a foothold in the game, going forward once more when a teasing cross from Trialist on the right-hand side was headed behind by Dan Ellison after 22 minutes.

The resulting corner saw Town take the lead, as Young struggled to deal with a looping McGavin corner, seeing his attempt to punch the ball end up bouncing into the net.

The Glovers came close to doubling their lead just before the hour mark when Trialist slid past the left of the Pirates’ defence and found himself in a one-on-one opportunity with Young, but he hammered the shot into the side netting after 29 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Yeovil nearly doubled their lead again when Young struggled to track the dip of another McGavin corner, jumping to get a hand to hit the goalwards heading ball onto the bar, and keeping the score at 1-0 at the break.

Half Time: Yeovil Town 1-0 Bristol Rovers

The visitors started the second half with more intensity, and three minutes into the period, they had pulled level as Shaw was allowed time on the ball to move to a central position and blast an attempt into the back of the net from just outside the penalty area.

Bilongo came close to adding a second shortly after, moving inside from the left and firing an attempt goalwards, but his effort fizzed just wide of the far post.

After 61 minutes, Yeovil put together a promising attack, when the newly introduced Trialist spotted Greenslade making a run down the right-hand side. 

Greenslade then got himself into the position to float a cross in for an onrushing Aaron Jarvis at the back post, but Jed Ward, the visitors’ substitute goalkeeper, jumped in front of the striker and claimed the cross.

After grabbing the cross, Ward quickly started a Bristol Rovers attack, and within a minute, Clarke’s side had taken the lead on the break.

Continuing to cause chaos for the Town defence, Shaw was found by Micah Anthony on the left-hand side and managed to drive a low cross for Thomas to fire in from close range.

Town’s best move of the half came with 9 minutes of regular time to go, when some combination play between Greenslade and Josh Sims saw the latter slip past Rovers defender Taylor Moore and receive the ball in space in the box. 

But before Sims could move his head up to assess his options, now that he was in the penalty area, Moore had recovered and slid in perfectly to put the ball out for a corner.

From the resulting corner, Yeovil would cause problems from a set-piece again, with Finn Cousin Dawson connecting with the delivery and heading goalwards, but his header, which was put behind from another corner, was the closest the Glovers came to scoring an equaliser.

Final Score: Yeovil Town 1-2 Bristol Rovers

Scorers:
Yeovil Town – Own Goal (23’)
Bristol Rovers – Kofi Shaw (48’), Luke Thomas (62’)