Bristol Rovers vs Accrington
EFL League One
Memorial Stadium
The hosts headed into the game in desperate need of a win to overturn their fortunes. Their opponents had broken their losing streak in the previous game. They hoped to keep the wins coming.
The contest in all honesty was an underwhelming one. Not many chances were created and the ones that were created ended up being wasted.
Pritchard scored the only goal of the contest in the 54th minute. This was enough for the away side to steal three points.
Bristol Rovers vs Accrington: Match report
Rovers: James Belshaw, Lewis Gordon, Alfie Kilgour, Sam Finley, Aaron Collins, Paul Coutts, Ryan Loft, Harry Anderson, Trevor Clarke, Luke McCormick, Bobby Thomas.
Substitutes: Anssi Jaakkola, John Marquis, Harvey Saunders, Antony Evans, Glenn Whelan, Jordan Rossiter, Sylvester Jasper.
Stanley: Lukas Jensen, Mitch Clark, Ryan Astley, Liam Coyle, Shaun Whalley, Tommy Leigh, Joe Pritchard, Sean McConville, Harvey Rodgers, Seamus Conneely, Doug Tharme.
Substitutes: Toby Savin, Ethan Hamilton, Nathan Delfouneso, Bailey Sloane, Dan Martin, Baba Fernandes
Referee: Lee Swabey
Attendance: 8,906 (153 away).
Managers’ reaction
Bristol Rovers manager, Joey Barton: “We did not do enough to deserve to win the contest at home.
“One might argue if they did enough, as I say, there is not much between the two teams.
“Our ball boy takes a quick ball to their player, they take a quick corner and we’re off, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot in that regard.”
John Coleman, Accrington Stanley manager: “He got a little tired towards the end. He is still coming through an injury – after 15 minutes he had started to fade dramatically.
“But you know what you get from Joe. He likes to look up. He’s so inventive, he’s so quick to react and he’s got a good shot with both feet.
“Especially after an incredible ball from Tommy Leigh to send him through on the penalty spot.
“Thankfully he got his just reward with his effort today and he got the winner.”
