Town's afternoon in Bristol ends in defeat against Bristol Rovers.
Town's afternoon at the Memorial Stadium ultimately ended in disappointment as Bristol Rovers secured a 2-1 win.
In a tightly contested and physical game, Joey Barton's men came out on top and secured all three points after goals from Luke Leahy and Brandon Hanlan.
It was the home side who broke the deadlock with one minute left in the half. Former Salop man Alex Rodman worked the ball well dribbled into the Town box to pick out Luke Leahy with a driven cross. The Gas number three had the simple task of tapping home from close range to earn the advantage.
With a similar run, Harry Chapman nearly calved out an opportunity for his team. The winger also worked the ball well into the box with a mazy run but his cross was well intercepted and the ball was cleared. His action was the last meaningful contribution of the first 45 as the home side took their lead into the break.
Brandon Hanlan doubled the home side's lead on the hour mark with a smart finish into the bottom far corner of the net. The forward carried the ball towards the box and guided an effort along the ground and past Matija Sarkic to net Joey Barton's side a second.
Town continued to fight and were challenging for every ball. However, the Rovers backline proved to be difficult to breakdown. The home side remained resolute and made it hard for Town to have a sustained period of pressure in the final third.
In the dying moments of the game, Town managed to find the back of the net. David Edwards beat his man and smartly played the ball across the box. Dan Udoh was in place to tap home to half the deficit.
Through no lack of effort from the Salop 11, the home side saw the game out with their one-goal advantage intact.
The teams:
Rovers: Joe Day (Jordi Van Stappershoeff, 90) Luke Leahy, Josh Grant, Zain Westbrook (Jack Baldwin, 88) Brandon Hanlan (Jonah Ayunga, 78), Sam Nicholson (Ali Kioki, 88), Luke McCormick, Alfie Kilgour, Cian Harries, Alex Rodman (Ed Upson, 88) George Williams.
Subs not used: James Daly, Cameron Hargreaves.
Salop: Matija Sarkic, Matthew Pennington, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Ro-Shaun Williams, Nathanael Ogbeta, Ollie Norburn, Josh Vela (David Davis, 87), Sean Goss (David Edwards, 75) Harry Chapman (Dan Udoh, 67) Curtis Main (Rekeil Pyke, 87)) Shaun Whalley.
Subs not used: Harry Burgoyne, Ryan Sears, Scott Golbourne.
Officials:
Referee: Paul Howard
Assistants: Justin Amey and Paul Lister
Fourth Official: John Busby
