Bristol Rovers recorded their first back to back wins of the season by beating Bradford 2-1 at the Memorial Stadium this afternoon.

Lee Brown opened the scoring on six minutes, before Eliot Richards put Rovers 2-0 up in the second half.

Bradford had Rob Kozluk sent off for a second bookable offense on 65 minutes, but David Syers pulled one back for the visitors shortly after.

Rovers came under some pressure in the second half, but defended well to take the well earned three points.

Bradford were denied a solid penalty claim in the dying minutes which angered their manager and fans, but Rovers also saw an appeal for a spot kick waved away in the first half.

The win makes it two wins out of two for Mark McGhee and means that Rovers are now undefeated in four matches.

McGhee was forced to make two changes to the line up for today's game, with Matt Gill returning to captain the side after playing 75 minutes of the reserve game in midweek.

He replaced the injured Joe Anyinsah, with Michael Smith coming in to replace Gary Sawyer, who had also picked up an injury, at left back.

It was a great start to the game for Rovers, Brown found himself unmarked and fired the ball left footed into the back of the net.

Then followed a blow for Rovers as Danny Woodards was forced to leave the field with a groin problem. He was replaced by Scott McGleish, which saw Michael Smith moved to right back, Brown move to left back and McGleish join the front line.

For the visitors Craig Fagan volleyed a shot from the edge of the area, which went wide, before Marcel Seip had a long range effort which didn't trouble Michael Poke.

There were not many clear cut chances in the first half, but Chris Zebroski had a shot straight at the keeper before Rovers felt they should have received a penalty.

Richards appeared to be tripped in the box, but Chris Sarginson waved the appeal away.

Rovers had two more efforts before the break with Andy Dorman seeing his right footed shot tipped round the bar by Jon McLaughlin, before the Bantams keeper punched away an attempt from Matt Gill.

Bradford looked the brighter side at the start of the second half, but Rovers doubled their lead after 10 minutes.
The visitors lost possession, and Richards broke free and shot from the centre of the penalty area.

Richards could have made it two minutes later when Zebroski picked up the ball in midfield and fed it wide to Stanley, who crossed the ball in for the young striker who shot just wide.

Bradford then got themselves back into the game, with David Syers claiming the goal after a volley from Andrew Davies.

Richards, Rovers man of the match, then had two more chances to make Rovers lead more comfortable. His first shot produced a reaction save from the Bradford keeper, before he hit the post with a follow up shot.

As the game drew to a close Michael Poke produced a fantastic save to deny Andrew Davies' header.

Bradford then had their penalty claim denied after a challenge from Zebroski on Kyle Reid.

Team: Michael Poke, Danny Woodards (Scott McGleish), Cian Bolger, Aaron Downes, Michael Smith, Matt Gill, Craig Stanley, Andy Dorman, Lee Brown, Eliot Richards, Chris Zebroski

Substitutes: Ben Swallow, Kayne McLaggon, Byron Anthony, Lance Cronin

Bradford City: Jon McLaughlin, Rob Kozluk, Lee Bullock (Charlie Taylor), Andrew Davies, Marcel Seip, David Syers, Will Atkinson (Kyle Reid), Ricky Ravenhill, Nahki Wells (Dean Smalley), James Hanson, Craig Fagan

Substitutes: Matt Duke, Ritchie Jones.

Referee: Mr C Sarginson