Bristol Rovers 0-4 Milton Keynes Dons
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 11 October 2025
Bristol Rovers lost 4-0 to Milton Keynes Dons at The Memorial Stadium in Sky Bet League Two.
The Gas were looking to collect their second win of the week after a 1-0 victory over Cheltenham Town in the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday, but struggled to find a way into the contest.
The visitors gained the lead eight minutes into the contest when Alex Gilbey's low cross was inadvertently turned into Rovers' net by Alfie Kilgour. The Pirates found it difficult to get any efforts on the Dons' goal, with the away side netting three late goals to complete a convincing scoreline.
Laurence Maguire, Alex Gilbey and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy all netted with less than ten minutes left on the clock to help Paul Warne's men to their third straight Sky Bet League Two win, with Rovers losing for the second successive weekend in the fourth tier.
Darrell Clarke made two changes to the side that lost to Walsall. Brad Young started his first league game at The Memorial Stadium in Luke Southwood’s absence on international duty, and Clinton Mola came on for Bryant Bilongo.
The incoming shot-stopper was involved straight away. He was swift off his line to prevent an early chance for Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, whose control let him down. However, the visitors scored soon after. Gilbey flashed a ball across Rovers' penalty area, and it flicked off Kilgour into the net.
The Gas looked to get level, with Macauley Southam-Hales teasing a cross into the heart of the box after a clever free-kick routine, but Alfie Chang could not get on the end of it. Rovers then had their only shot on target towards the end of a quiet first half, but Ellis Harrison directed his close-range header straight at Craig MacGillivray.
The early stages of the second half saw very few chances for either side as MK looked to hold onto their slim advantage. Harrison had appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Scott Oldham when he felt he was pulled down in the area.
Defenders Alfie Kilgour and Kasper Łopata both saw efforts blocked in the latter stages of the half before the visitors scored three quick goals towards the end of the contest.
An MK free-kick from the left was unintentionally headed into the heart of the box by Ruel Sotiriou, with Maguire reacting the quickest to convert from close range.
Warne's men then scored from another set-piece soon after. Liam Kelly thought quickly and drove a low pass into Gilbey, who fired a low drive past the reach of Young.
The visitors then netted a fourth in stoppage time. Racing away on the counter, Jonathan Leko sent a low cross towards Hepburn-Murphy, who scored clinically with a first-time finish into the corner.
Bristol Rovers: Young, Sparkes, Kilgour, Mola (Sotiriou 53), Thomas, Harrison, McEachran, Southam-Hales (Senior 53, Bilongo 76), Chang (Conteh 79), Cavegn, Łopata
Subs not used: Negru, Moore, Howley
Booked: Southam-Hales, Łopata
MK Dons: MacGilivray, Kelly (Leko 90), Gilbey, Mendez-Laing (Hepburn-Murphy 84), Paterson (Crowley 90), Offord, Nemane (Thompson 90), Collar, Ekpiteta, Mellish, Maguire
Subs not used: Trueman, Sanders
Goals: Kilgour (OG), Maguire, Gilbey, Hepburn-Murphy
Booked: Ekpiteta, Gilbey
Referee: Scott Oldham
Attendance: 7996 (529 away)
