Accrington Stanley 1-0 Bristol Rovers
Attendance: 2,027 (543)Accrington Stanley secured all three points with a 1-0 win at the Wham Stadium.
Sean McConville's second half cross beat everyone inside the Rovers penalty area and crept into the far corner of the goal.
Darrell Clarke made two changes to the side that drew with Plymouth Argyle at the Mem last week as Liam Lawrence was handed his first start for the club. Billy Bodin also came into the starting 11 as Rovers adopt a 4-4-2 formation with latest signing Rory Fallon taking a spot on the substitutes bench.
Rovers started well without actually testing Ross Etheridge in the Stanley goal and off of a counter attack the home side had the first chance of the game as Shay McCartan headed over Piero Mingoia's cross.
20 minutes passed before Rovers had their first real attempt on goal after a succession of Liam Lawrence corners, the final one was driven into the penalty area and met by the head of Rory Gaffney but the Irishman couldn't direct his header on target.
Neither side really created a great deal in the first half until the final five minutes where Adam Buxton tested Steve Mildenhall.
Initially the Stanley man whipped a cross in from the left hand side which the Rovers shot stopper watched fly over the crossbar before on the next chance cutting inside and letting fly but Mildenhall was equal to it, palming the ball away before gathering the loose ball at the second time of asking.
The second half started as the rain/hail stopped and it was Accrington who had the first chance of the half. Lee Brown fouled Piero Mingoia around 25-yards out but it was easy save for Steve Mildenhall from Adam Buxton's direct free kick.
Rovers first chance of the second half came on the hour mark as Matty Taylor picked out Liam Lawrence who fired his shot low but Ross Etheridge saved well then gathered before Taylor could latch onto the loose ball.
At the other end of the field moments later Steve Mildenhall kept Rovers level with a fantastic save from Sean McConville. Adam Buxton whipped a ball into the penalty area and McConville was there in the middle of the goal but Mildenhall reacted superbly to keep the game 0-0.
Liam Lawrence was finding himself in plenty of good positions on the Rovers left as he got on the end of a superb flowing move involving Rory Gaffney and Matty Taylor but Lawrence could only fire his shot into the arms of the keeper.
However almost instantly at the other end the home side were in front. Stanley's livewire for the game Sean MccConville found some space on the left hand side and his cross beat everyone including Steve Mildenhall and crept into the far corner of the goal.
With just over 25 minutes to play Darrell Clarke made all three of his substitutions as Cristian Montano, Jermaine Easter and Rory Fallon came on to replace Liam Lawrence, Billy Bodin and Rory Gaffney as Rovers searched for a point in this encounter between the two play-off rivals.
As Rovers continued to press in the closing stages, it was Accrington who should have doubled their lead. Piero Mingoia found himself in space on the right hand side before firing a low cross into the penalty area for Matt Crooks who fired over the crossbar from 4-yards out when it looked easier to score.
Rovers had a few half chances in the final five minutes as Jermaine Easter and Cristian Montano saw efforts blocked in the penalty area as Stanley saw the game out to secure all three points.
Next up for Rovers is the visit of AFC Wimbledon to the Memorial Stadium before Rovers take almost 3,000 supporters to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth.
Accrington: Etheridge, Pearson, Mingoha, McConville, Crooks, Wright, McCarten, Buxton, Conneely, Kee, Halliday.
Unused Substitutes: Mooney (GK), Brown, Davies, Procter, Gornell, Wakefield, Carver.
Rovers: Mildenhall; J. Clarke, Lockyer, Parkes, Brown; Bodin (Easter - 75), Mansell, Sinclair, Lawrence (Montano - 75); Taylor, Gaffney (Fallon - 75).
Unused Substitutes: Preston (GK), Leadbitter, McChrystal, Lines.