Bristol Rovers 0-1 Colchester United
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 17 January 2026
Bristol Rovers suffered their first Sky Bet League Two defeat of 2026 after falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Colchester United at The Memorial Stadium.
Chances were few and far between across the match, with the game struggling to get going at any point. Samson Tovide created the only meaningful opportunity of the first half, but Luke Southwood pushed away his low strike.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with the visitors going close through Micah Mbick, who hit the post before Owura Edwards hit a superb effort from range to win the contest.
The Gas tried to respond in the latter stages of the match, with Ellis Harrison heading the ball to the left past the post and Isaac Hutchinson’s stoppage-time strike hitting the crossbar.
Steve Evans added Riley Harbottle and Kane Thompson-Sommers to the Pirates' squad on Friday afternoon and threw the pair straight into the side.
The Gas was in an end-to-end seven-goal thriller against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night, but the contest against Colchester could not reach the same heights.
It took until the 31st minute for either side to have a shot, with Mbick winning a free-kick on the edge of the box before hitting the wall with the following strike.
Danny Cowley's men then went close to going ahead before half-time. Tovide battled for the ball on the right side of the area and curled a low, left-footed attempt towards the bottom-left corner, but his goal-bound effort was tipped past the post by Southwood.
As the first half headed into added time, new signing Ryan de Havilland played a pass to Jack Sparkes, who whipped a dangerous cross just over Fabrizio Cavegn and out for a goal-bound.
Rovers had a bright start to the second half, but could not translate promise into chances, with Colchester inching even closer to breaking the deadlock. Kyreece Lisbie worked down the left and cut the ball across to Mbick, but his flicked attempt hit the post before the Pirates cleared the danger.
With the contest still all to play for, a moment of magic was always going to prove decisive, and Edwards provided it. The substitute raced inside from the left and whipped a fantastic attempt into the top corner, leaving Southwood no chance.
The Pirates looked for a leveller, but could not find one. Jack Sparkes twice found Ellis Harrison, but the striker flicked a header straight at Matt Macey before missing the target.
Isaac Hutchinson was brought on in the final stages and took a shot from range to try to equal the score, but his attempt kept rising before hitting the crossbar.
Bristol Rovers: Southwood, Senior (Balmer 59), Sparkes, Kilgour ©, Forde, Thomas (Hutchinson 78), Thompson-Sommers (Harrison 59), De Havilland, Conteh, Harbottle (Lockyer 66), Cavegn
Subs not used: Young, Mola, Howley
Bookings: Sparkes, Kilgour, Senior, Lockyer
Colchester United: Macey, Hunt, Iandolo (Terry 7), Tucker ©, Tovide (Gape 91), Payne (Gordon 91), Lisbie, (Edwards 73) Read, Araujo, Vincent-Young, Mbick
Subs not used: Smith, Williams, Goodwin
Bookings: Hunt, Mbick
Goals: Edwards
Referee: Ben Toner
Attendance: 7556 (603 away)
