Bristol Rovers stretched their unbeaten run in Sky Bet League Two to six matches after a 1-1 draw with Colchester United at the JobServe Community Stadium.
A frantic start to the game saw the home side have most of the chances in the early stages, with Luke Southwood forced into a couple of smart saves from Kyreece Libsie and Teddy Bishop.
However, the Gas showed their defensive strength before scoring against the run of play through Fabrizio Cavegn, who slammed his left-footed strike into the back of the net after being played in by fellow summer addition Alfie Chang to give Rovers the advantage.
Colchester would cancel out Cavegn’s opener through Micah Mbick after some slick football allowed Jack Payne to cut the ball back for the striker, who finished into a relatively unguarded net. Chances were then few and far between, with the fixture ending level.
The momentum was with the hosts in the opening stages of the game; Southwood was forced into an early save when Kyreece Libsie broke through on goal after a misplaced header by Alfie Kilgour.
Another chance fell to Colchester as Bishop collected the ball into the box before spinning and getting an effort away, forcing another smart save out of Rovers' shot-stopper.
The first opportunity for the Gas saw Luke Thomas bundled over outside the box before a whipped free kick from Jack Sparkes was narrowly missed by an arriving Kacper Łopata.
The U's continued to put the pressure on without seriously challenging Southwood before Cavegn netted for the second successive fixture after scoring against Barrow last time out. Chang picked up the ball in the pocket before slipping in Cavegn with a fantastic ball, and the Swiss striker smashed the ball past Tom Smith in goal to give Rovers the lead against the run of play.
The second half began similarly to the first, as Southwood was once again tested early by Kyreece Lisbie, who drove down the right side of the box before drilling a low shot across the goal; however, the goalkeeper got down quickly to save.
Colchester then levelled eight minutes after the restart. Jack Payne broke down the left and laid a cutback across to Micah Mbick, who gave Southwood no chance with his finish from close range to score his first goal for the hosts.
A cagey second half saw both sides struggle to create clear-cut chances after the equaliser, with referee Abigail Bryne needing to get involved, often preventing the game from flowing freely.
Lisbie continued to carry most of the Colchester threat as he broke through again late on, but his cutback evaded any players in a blue and white shirt.
Heading into the final moments, Rovers had a half-chance to net a late winner when Jack Sparkes curled a cross towards substitute Ellis Harrison, who replaced Promise Omochere towards the end of the first half, but he flicked his header wide. The Pirates' four-game winning run ended, but Head Coach Darrell Clarke will be pleased to have collected seven points from their last three away fixtures.
Colchester United: Smith, Tucker, Anderson ( Gordon 77), Bishop (Harevy 77), Payne, Lisbie, Read, Araujo, Powell, Vincent-Young, Mbick (Tovide 77)
Bookings: Smith
Goals: Mbick
Bristol Rovers: Southwood, Sparkes, Kilgour, Omochere (Harrison 43), Thomas (Issaka 80), Mceachran, Southam-Hales, Chang (Cotterill 55), Cavegn (Dewsbury 55), Łopata
Bookings: Thomas, Harrison, Cotterill, Łopata , Mceachran
Goals: Cavegn
Official: Abigail Bryne
