Bristol Rovers 1-1 Portsmouth
Pre-season, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 18 July 2026. 3pm KO
Bristol Rovers drew 1-1 against Portsmouth at the Memorial as Fabrizio Cavegn’s second-half strike was cancelled out by Brandon Downey late on.
The first half was a tight affair as both teams looked to keep the ball when they had it. Riley Harbottle struck the frame of the goal early on with an acrobatic effort and was also pivotal in his own box, preventing a certain goal with a heroic block.
Rovers looked confident going into the second half and were rewarded with the opening goal as some composure from Tommy Leigh started the move, as Joe Quigley would take over and find Cavegn, who took one touch before finding the bottom corner.
Pompey would respond late on with an equaliser from Downey after a good save from Luke Southwood dropped into the path of the attacker, who slotted in from close range.
It was a quiet opening to the game at The Mem, but it would be the visitors with the first opportunity of the match as Terry Devlin’s strike from outside the box flashed just over Brad Young’s goal.
Rovers would threaten as Quigley's header across the box allowed Harbottle to acrobatically send the ball towards the goal, forcing Nicolas Schmid in the Pompey goal to palm the effort into the frame of the goal.
A heroic block from Harbottle kept the score level going into the last ten minutes of the half as Eoin Kenny cut inside Ben Purrington and unleashed a goal-bound shot, but an outstretched leg from Harbottle would deny the visitors.
Both teams looked to break the deadlock late into the half, but neither side could find a decisive moment as the first half ended level against the Sky Bet Championship side.
Colby Bishop nearly opened the scoring early in the second period as his backheeled flick crashed off Young’s bar before Rovers countered as Macauley Southam-Hales drove down the right before delivering a cross for Shaq Forde to stab towards goal. However, his effort was too close to Nicolas Schmid.
It would be the Gas to open the scoring as Leigh brought down a long ball and played in Quigley, who laid the ball to Cavegn, and his touch and effort found the bottom corner.
Ollie Dewsbury did brilliantly on the left-hand side to separate himself from the Portsmouth defenders before playing in Bobby Kamwa, who beat his man, but his shot lacked the power to double Rovers’ advantage.
The visitors would level the score in the 77th minute after a save from Southwood rebounded into Downey, who slotted it into the net from close range. Kamwa would nearly regain the lead for the Pirates as he battled for a long ball against two defenders before unleashing an effort from distance that was tipped over the bar.
Bristol Rovers: Young (Southwood 70), Balmer (Moore 70), Mola (De Havilland 70), Forde (Howley 70), Quigley (Omochere 70), Purrington, Smallwood (McEachran 70), Southam-Hales (James 70), Leigh (Dewsbury 70), Harbottle (Kelly 70), Cavegn (Kamwa 70)
Goals: Cavegn
Portsmouth: Schmid (Killip 45), Williams (Sizer 61), Poole (Matthews 61), Shaugnessy (Dia 61), Swift (Bowat 61), Bishop (Le Roux 61), Segečić (Shein 61), Kenny (Ani 61), Devlin (Trialist A 45) (Chioma 86), Bailey (Agu 61), Blair (Downey 61)
Goals: Downey
Attendance: 2064 (574 away)
Referee: Sunny Gill
Paul Raynor: Another good workout against a top-quality team
Assistant Manager Raynor was pleased with Rovers' 1-1 draw against Sky Bet Championship side Portsmouth, with the Pirates more than matching their opponents in another tough pre-season test.
Portsmouth's direct style was different to Leicester's possession approach a few days ago, but Raynor was pleased with the way his side dealt with their opponents.
"Another good workout against a top-quality team. I think I said to you after the Leicester game, that Portsmouth will probably ask a few more questions, be a little bit more direct. Okay, they had, you know, a lot of possession, but they were a little bit more direct. They asked us more questions with crosses instead of like little sliding through-balls. I thought we answered those questions really, really well.
"Yeah, we’re building the fitness in the legs. The levels have been good. They’re really putting a shift in, they’re having to chase for long periods of the game, but that’s going to happen against Championship players. It’s all about building the minutes up. Some of the guys, I think Ben Purrington was the first one that got 90 today just because Jack Sparkes is still not quite 100 per cent. So, it’s all about building the minutes up.
"I think I’ve said through pre-season, when we get those opportunities, we need to be a little bit more clinical. I think we had a good chance in the first period from a corner. I’d like to see us take those chances, but hopefully that will come. The more finishing and the more crossing practice we can do later in pre-season, the better that will be as well.
"It was a good change-up in terms of opposition and the way they played. As I said, they asked us different questions, but I thought we had most of the answers if I’m honest. Great workout, pleased with all the boys. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like we’ve picked up any more injuries. Excellent afternoon’s work."
Fabrizio Cavegn: I think every pre-season game is good for everyone
Simply put, Cavegn just loves scoring goals. The Swiss striker lifted his arms in the air after finding the bottom corner against Portsmouth with a clinical finish outside the box and is certainly feeling the benefits after spending some time off.
After a successful first season in English football, Cavegn is getting his first pre-season at the Gas and is relishing every moment. Speaking to BRTV after the game, he was delighted to score another goal and is feeling good.
“Yeah, I think was a great game for us. A great pre-season game, just getting minutes. We just tried to play our game. We did well without the ball. We tried to defend every ball that they played, and I think we did well without the ball and then we can score.
“The ball to me went quick, I just took the first touch inside with my left foot. I knew it before I received the ball. I knew I wanted to go inside with my right foot, and I took it with the left foot with a good touch. It went in.
“We’ve had four games, and I think every game was a good game. It was just good to bring in a good feeling in the team. We’ve had few new lads. We get together as a team and I think every pre-season game is good for everyone.
“It's my first pre-season in England and I like it. I train every day and every game. You play a lot of games, and I like this. All the players like this. They play games, get minutes and the legs. A good feeling.”
