Bristol Rovers 5-3 Newport County
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 22 August 2026
Bristol Rovers came from behind to win a five-goal thriller against Newport County in the Severnside derby.
Rovers conceded inside 20 seconds as Harrison Biggins broke through to open the scoring, but they responded with sustained pressure and chances for Shaq Forde, Tommy Leigh and Fabrizio Cavegn. The Pirates' persistence paid off when Bobby Kamwa’s driving run and cross led to Ben Purrington heading home the equaliser before the break.
The Gas took control after half‑time, with Cavegn finishing a slick one‑two and Kyle Cameron’s own goal extending the lead to 3-1. The Exiles hit back through Shaquille Gwengwe, but Kamwa restored the cushion with a superb curling strike from the edge of the box.
County kept fighting and pulled another back through Cole Jarvis in added time, but Rovers finished the contest at the death. With Newport’s goalkeeper forward, Cavegn broke away and rolled the ball into an empty net to seal a wild victory.
The Gas found themselves behind within 20 seconds as a long ball fell kindly, allowing Biggins to get in behind and stroke the ball past Brad Young in the opening moments.
Forde had Rovers’ first chance, spinning on the edge of the box but dragging his effort narrowly wide. Leigh flashed a half volley wide shortly after as a clearance fell to him. Cavegn was next to come close, forcing a save from Jordan Wright after he got in behind.
Forde looked dangerous again as he drove at the County defence, cutting inside and hitting a shot, but Wright gathered the effort. Kenan Gough released Cavegn in behind again with a fantastic ball, but again the effort did not beat Wright.
Shaquile Gwengwe then ran in behind and cut past Kofi Balmer, but his effort went wide. Kamwa stuck the bar in the 42nd minute after a deflection fell kindly for the winger. Rovers finally netted the equaliser they deserved as Kamwa nutmegged a Newport defender and drove into the box before digging out a ball that deflected onto the crossbar and onto the head of Purrington to level the score.
The Pirates nearly took the lead early in the second half, with Cavegn and Gough both going close as the gas-built momentum. Rovers took the lead soon after a fantastic one-two between Cavegn and Tom James sent the Swiss forward to shimmy past a defender and smash the ball home to give the Gas the lead.
Clinton Mola nearly extended the advantage as his spin and shot from outside the box forced a flying save from Wright. However, the Gas added a third soon after. Kofi Balmer's long throw-in landed in the box before Cameron poked it into his own net under pressure from Cavegn.
The Exiles refused to go away. Gwengwe broke in behind again, but this time he lifted his shot over Young and into the net to cut Rovers’ lead to one. The visitors looked to have gained some momentum, but the Pirates scored again in spectacular style.
Young launched the ball down the left to Kamwa, who collected possession and drove inside before whipping a perfect effort into the top right corner, celebrating in front of the travelling Newport fans.
Cole Jarvis powered in a header for Newport to reduce the deficit to one once again and give Newport a chance heading into stoppage time. The Exiles committed men forward to get a leveller but conceded again in the final moments. With the goalkeeper in Rovers' box, the ball was cleared up to Cavegn, who had a simple finish to complete the scoring.
Bristol Rovers: Young, James (Smallwood 85), Balmer, Mola, Forde (Russel-Denny 85), Kamwa (Aitchison 79), Purrington, Gough, Leigh (Harrison 87), Harbottle, Cavegn
Subs not used: Binns, Kelly, Quigley
Goals: Purrington, Cavegn X2, Jenkins OG, Kamwa
Bookings: Mola, Kamwa
Newport County: Wright, Evans (Sassi 74), Davies (Smith 74), Cameron, Jenkins, Brennan, Gwengwe, Biggins (Patten 90), Bamba (Jarvis 85), Norman, Doidge (Merritt 74)
Subs not used: Turner, Thomas
Goals: Biggins, Gwengwe, Jarvis
Bookings: Brennan
