Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Bristol Rovers
Sky Bet League Two, The Croud Meadow, Thursday 1 January 2026
Fabrizio Cavegn scored a stellar second-half hat-trick to help Bristol Rovers beat Shrewsbury Town 3-0 in Sky Bet League Two.
After a first half with chances few and far between, with John Marquis hitting the post, the Pirates took control in the second half thanks to Cavegn's brilliance.
He made the most of a defensive mistake from Will Boyle to score from close range before getting his second soon after, latching onto Shaq Forde's low cross to finish.
He then claimed his hat-trick on the counter in the final moments. This time, Joel Senior raced down the wing and found the striker, who made no mistake to score his first career hat-trick.
Rovers were looking to start 2026 with a victory on New Year's Day and showed the first flash of quality after a quiet start from both teams. Jack Sparkes broke down the left and flashed a low cross towards Shaq Forde, but he lifted his effort over before the flag went up for offside.
The momentum shifted towards the Pirates, and they thought they had a penalty when Cavegn was brought down in the box, but the striker was in an offside position from Alfie Kilgour's header across the goal.
Salop then went close to scoring against the run of play in the next attack, moments later. Former Rovers forward Marquis raced through the Pirates' defence and was one-on-one with Luke Southwood, beating the goalkeeper but hitting the outside of the left post.
The Pirates came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and went close to breaking the deadlock through Forde, who drifted inside off the right after getting on the end of Lockyer's pass before bending a low shot towards the bottom corner that Will Brook pushed away.
However, it was not long until the Gas found an opening. Luke Southwood's direct ball up the pitch was poorly headed back to Brook by Boyle, with Cavegn getting there before the goalkeeper and slotting the ball into an open net.
Cavegn almost doubled his and Rovers' tally moments later, rushing around the goalkeeper and thumping the outside of the post before securing his place. Forde provided a sharp cross from the right to Cavegn, who collected the ball well before slamming it in from close range.
As the match moved into stoppage time, Cavegn struck his hat-trick on the counter, racing down the left and finishing Joel Senior's clever ball into the box to help Rovers claim all three points and an emphatic away triumph.
