Bristol Rovers 0-0 Swindon Town
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 24 October 2026
Bristol Rovers ended their four-game losing run in Sky Bet League Two with a goalless draw against Swindon Town in the M4 derby.
Rovers started brightly and created several early chances through Shaq Forde and Fabrizio Cavegn, but a series of saves from Ripley kept the visitors level. The Robins also threatened before the break, with Matty Virtue missing a close-range chance and Aaron Drinan denied by Brad Young in a one-on-one.
The Gas continued their attacking intent after half-time, with Forde, Clinton Mola and Ciaran Kelly all going close as Kofi Balmer’s long throw played a key role in creating opportunities. Despite sustained pressure, the hosts struggled to find the finishing touch against a resilient Swindon defence.
Swindon almost snatched a late winner when Antwoine Hackford was played through, but Kelly produced a crucial last-ditch challenge to keep the scores level. Keenan Gough and Rovers pushed hard in the closing stages, yet Ripley stood firm as the match ended in a hard-fought draw at The Memorial Stadium.
Steve Evans made two changes to the team that lost to Salford City on Tuesday night, with Joe Quigley and Richie Smallwood replacing Ellis Harrison and Keenan Gough.
Rovers started fast; a looping throw from Balmer was cleared only as far as Forde, but his effort was saved. Moments later, Swindon had a golden opportunity as the ball was cut back to Virtue, who directed a close-range effort just wide of the right post.
Forde pinched the ball on the halfway line and drove forward before sending Cavegn in behind, who combined with Mola to create a shooting opportunity, but his effort was saved by Ripley.
Virtue then turned provider for Swidon and played a perfect ball through to Aaron Drinan. The forward found himself one-on-one with Brad Young, but his effort was straight at the Gas shot-stopper, who denied him. Tom James was next to have an effort denied by Ripley, unleashing a left-footed effort from outside the box that needed tipping over.
The Gas started the second half in the same fashion they started the first; Balmer fired a pass into Forde, whose close-range effort was blocked and fell to Mola, who fired wide.
The Pirates made two changes to try and force the issue, with Bobby Kamwa and Keenan Gough replacing Fabrizio Cavegn and Richie Smallwood. However, Kamwa's time on the pitch was short-lived, with the attacker forced off with an injury.
Balmer was involved again as he fired a cross into the middle for Kelly, but the defender was on the stretch and lifted his effort over. Swindon found themselves in behind late on as Drinan played the ball across to Antwoine Hackford, but a miraculous last-ditch challenge from Kelly denied the forward.
Gough battled his way through the Swindon defence to craft himself a chance to shoot, but Ripley managed to save again late on. Despite wave after wave of late pressure from the Gas, they could not find the goal to break the Swindon defence, as the points would be shared at The Mem.
Bristol Rovers: Young, James, Sparkes, Balmer, Kilgour, Mola, Forde, Quigley, Kelly, Smallwood (Gough 63), Cavegn (Kamwa 63) (Russel-Denny 71)
Unused Subs: Binns, Appiah, Purrington, Sanyaolu
Bookings: Smallwood, Balmer
Swindon Town: Ripley, Clark, Ball, Nichols (Hackford 64), Inwood (Kirkman 20), Snowdon (Hungbo 64), Majekodunmi, Drinan, Virtue (Debayo 84), Thomson, Butler
Unused Subs: Ward, McGregor, Millard
Bookings: Buttler
Attendance: 9897 (1354 away)
Referee: Seb Stockbridge
