Robins beaten in final pre-season game!
Cheltenham Town were beaten 3-0 by Bristol Rovers in the final game of pre-season at a sunny Memorial Stadium.
An early goal from Ellis Harrison and a goal just before half time by Chris Lines saw Rovers 2-0 up at the break.
A much changed Cheltenham side came out and gave it a go after the interval but Matty Taylor's strike put any hopes of a comeback to bed,
Gary Johnson and his team will now turn their attention to next weekend's League Two opening game against Leyton Orient.
Bristol Rovers took the lead after seven minutes when a mix up between Josh Lelan and Max O’Learly saw Harrison tap the ball into an empty net.
Five minutes later, good work from Ryan Broom down the right hand side gifted Harrison space inside the box, but his shot was dragged wide.
With 15 minutes on the clock Dan Holman ran onto a Harry Pell through ball, but even though the striker took it round Puddy his shot hit the side netting.
It was an end-to-end game as Taylor had a tame header saved by O’Leary after Jordan Cranston broke with pace but completely missed the ball when he tried to get a shot on goal.
Midway through the half Holman had another good chance to equalise as Cranston put a fantastic cross on a plate for the striker, but his header was straight at Will Puddy.
In the 39th minute Rovers doubled their lead as Ellis Harrison crossed the ball into Lines, who tucked the ball into the bottom right corner.
After the break it was Rovers who got the first goal as Tom Lockyer’s through ball found Taylor, who brought the ball down and put it through O’Leary’s legs.
Just after the hour mark, substitute goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall made a fantastic save from Daniel O’Shaughnessy’s powerful header.
With 70 minutes gone a nice move by the Robins saw the ball for to Amari-Morgan Smith on the edge of the box, but his curling effort was straight at Mildenhall.
A flurry of substitutions from both sides killed what was an exciting game as Rovers held on to the 3-0 win despite late pressure from Cheltenham.
Cheltenham Town Line-Up: M O’Leary, J Jennings, D O’Shaughnessy, J Lelan (K Storer, 45), J Cranston (B Waters, 72), J Barthram (J Rowe, 45), A Hall, H Pell (D Whitehead, 45), J Dayton (A Morgan-Smith 45), D Wright, D Holman (J Lymn, 79).
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Bristol Rovers Line-Up: W Puddy (S Mildenhall, 45), L Brown (D Greenslade, 60), J Clarke (A Kilgour, 60), T Lockyer (M McChrystal, 60), P Hartley (J Gosling, 60), R Broom, S Sinclair (B Bodin, 60), L Lawrence (C Lines, 33), O Clarke (J Easter, 60), E Harrison (R Gaffney, 45), M Taylor (L James, 60).