Bristol Rovers 2-0 Colchester United
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Tuesday 1 September 2026
Bristol Rovers made it three straight wins in Sky Bet League Two after a 2-0 victory over Colchester United at The Memorial Stadium.
Rovers started brightly with Bobby Kamwa repeatedly threatening the Colchester defence and creating chances for Clinton Mola, Tommy Leigh and Fabrizio Cavegn before Tom James struck a superb left‑footed volley to give them the lead. The U's briefly thought they’d equalised from a corner, but the referee ruled it out for a foul.
Rovers continued to dominate as Kamwa and Richie Smallwood forced strong saves, while Cavegn nearly added a second early in the restart. Colchester pushed back through long‑range efforts from Moses Sesay, but Brad Young stayed sharp to keep them out.
Late drama saw Ellis Harrison have a goal ruled out for offside before Rovers finally sealed the win in stoppage time. Leigh broke in behind and squared for Harrison, who swept home unmarked to secure the victory.
Kamwa nearly got in on goal in the early stages, bursting past a defender before looking to go around Thimothee Lo-Tutala, but the goalkeeper was able to claim it. Cavegn then put the Colchester defence under pressure, and the ball fell to Mola, who found Kamwa, but his shot was blocked.
Leigh went close as some great play down the left-hand side saw Kamwa roll the ball to Leigh on the edge of the area, but his effort was fired over. Rovers’ goal came moments later as a clearance fell to James on the edge and he struck a left-footed volley to score for the second match running.
Colchester thought they found the equaliser from a corner as Ellis Iandolo headed it in, but the referee had blown up for a foul in the box. Kamwa was a constant threat on the flank, taking on his man and blasting a left-footed effort into the side netting.
Richie Smallwood nearly doubled the advantage as Kamwa found him with a cutback just inside the box, but his blasted effort was palmed up and collected by the shot-stopper.
Cavegn nearly got on the scoresheet right at the start of the second half as Clinton Mola’s long-range effort was parried into his path, but his effort was too weak to beat Lo-Tutala.
Sesay almost levelled the score for the U’s, driving a strike from outside the box just wide of the post. Rovers kept piling on the pressure, and Smallwood saw a strike cleared off the line in the 67th minute.
Young was called into action as another strike from Sesay from outside the box forced him into a strong parry. Harrison was a threat when he entered the pitch, picking up a loose ball from a blocked shot and firing an effort towards goal that was saved.
The hosts thought they had sealed it in the 91st minute as Harrison slammed the ball into the net, but he was deemed to be in an offside position. They had doubled the lead minutes later as Leigh was sent in behind by James, and his excellent low cross found an unmarked Ellis Harrison, who swept the ball home to secure the victory.
Bristol Rovers: Young, James, Balmer (Kelly 43), Mola, Forde, Kamwa (Aitchison 76), Purrington, Smallwood, Leigh, Harbottle, Cavegn (Harrison 66)
Unused Subs: Binns, Sanyaolu, Russel-Denny, Quigley
Goals: James, Harrison
Bookings: James, Leigh
Colchester United: Lo-Tulata, Hunt (Chiwome 85), Iandolo, Tucker, Digby (Sesay 45), Anderson, Payne, Williams (Kouassi 61), Ragget, Terry (Vincent Young 45), Thorn (Ihionvien 69)
Unused Subs: Smith, Kuffour Jr
Bookings: Tucker
Attendance: 7663 (225 Away)
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
