Bristol Rovers 2-1 Cheltenham: Aaron Collins on scoresheet as Pirates bounce back with victory

Aaron Collins was on the scoresheet again as Bristol Rovers started the new year with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Cheltenham at the Memorial Stadium.

Looking to bounce back from successive losses, Joey Barton's side took the lead after 25 minutes when Collins clipped home a delightful Sam Finley through ball for his 13th league goal of the campaign.

Collins then turned provider as Rovers made it 2-0 six minutes before the break.

The Welshman beat two defenders before prodding through for strike partner Josh Coburn to lash in, and the Pirates thought it was three a minute later as the same two combined, with the same result, except for an offside flag.

Cheltenham, who had trailed 4-0 at half-time in their home fixture against Rovers earlier this season, will feel they should have had something to show for their first-half efforts with Dan N'Lundulu heading into the side-netting early on and Liam Sercombe clipping the post with a long-range strike just before half-time.

However, they continued to push at the start of the second half and Alfie May, having just hooked a shot at goal, made it 2-1 when he collected James Connolly's errant pass and smashed the ball high into the net after 48 minutes.

May had the chance to level soon after but his chip over James Belshaw drifted wide, and Rovers were able to hold on to their lead.

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