Bristol Rovers 3-1 Crawley Town
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 11 April 2026
Bristol Rovers secured a sixth straight victory in Sky Bet League Two after overcoming Crawley Town with goals from Ellis Harrison, Mees Rijks and Yusuf Akhamrich.
The Pirates started brilliantly, Harrison scored his third goal in his last two games after some great forward play, before Rijks got his first for the Gas following a magical pass from Tommy Leigh to open up the defence.
Crawley improved in the second half, testing Brad Young before Louie Watson beat the shot-stopper with a clever finish from a tight angle on the left side of the box. The hosts were being put under pressure and went down to ten men in the final stages, with Tom Lockyer shown a straight red card after denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
The visitors pushed for a winner right to the death, but Rovers defended valiantly. A header from the back broke for winger Akhamrich, who went through and chipped the keeper to secure all three points.
The Gasheads at The Mem were treated before the fixture even started, with Chairman Hussain AlSaeed proudly confirming the permanent appointment of Steve Evans as the Men’s First Team Manager.
The Pirates started brightly, Rijks battled for the ball before delivering a cross to Harrison, who could only head over. In a fixture with little to separate the teams, Harrison broke the deadlock with a moment of quality. Kofi Balmer played an incisive pass through the Crawley defence, and Harrison held off his man before sliding the ball under Jacob Chapman.
It was not long until the Gas doubled their advantage. Leigh played a fantastic ball over the top of the Crawley defence for Joel Senior, who squared for Rijks to grab his first Rovers goal.
The hosts should have had a third before the interval after a Balmer long throw found Shaq Forde at the back post, but his lofted effort could not be smuggled over the line by Riley Harbottle.
Crawley looked to keep the ball with patient play in their own half but struggled to create many meaningful chances in the first half, coming closest when early substitution Dion Pereira cut inside onto his left before blazing an effort over.
The Red Devils started the second half well, Tobi Adeyemo forcing a top-class save from Brad Young from point-blank range early in the half. Rovers' first chance came from a set-piece scenario. Leigh’s whipped delivery found the head of Balmer, but the goalkeeper and linesman would deny him.
Harrison almost got his second as the hail began to rain down onto the pitch, Richie Smallwood digging out an excellent cross to find the forward, but his header was narrowly off target.
Forde nearly got in on the action as he blazed an effort over from close range following a long throw into the box. However, Crawley got the next goal as some neat play allowed Louie Watson to drive into the box and finish past Young.
Lockyer was sent off in the late stages as he was deemed to be the last man and stopped a clear opportunity for the visitors, but they could not convert the following chance. It looked inevitable that the visitors would find an equaliser as the game entered the final seconds. Akhamrich was sent through one-on-one and lifted the ball into the net to send The Mem into pandemonium.
Bristol Rovers: Young, Senior, Sparkes, Kilgour, Forde (Akhamrich 86), Balmer, Harrison (Quigley 77), Leigh, Harbottle (Lockyer 45), Rijks (Cavegn 86), Smallwood
Goals: Harrison, Rijks, Akhamrich
Bookings: Leigh
Red cards: Lockyer
Subs not used: Southwood, De Havilland, Thomas
Crawley Town: Chapman, Malone, Barker, Forster, Richards (Russell 71), McKirdy, A.Adeyemo (Lolos 59), Williams, Copley, T.Adeyemo (Watson 71), Gordon (Pereira 33)
Goals: Watson
Bookings: Lolos
Subs not used: Wollacott, Odimayo
Attendance: 7453 (322 away)
