Bristol Rovers came from behind to beat National League side Yeovil Town 2-1 in their fourth friendly of pre-season

Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter

16:53, 19 Jul 2025

Bristol Rovers take on National League side Yeovil Town at Huish Park in their fourth pre-season friendly(Image: Dan Hargraves/Bristol Live)

Bristol Rovers came from behind to record a third win out of four pre-season friendlies on Saturday afternoon, winning 2-1 against National League side Yeovil Town at Huish Park in a match dedicated to Gas and Glovers legend Marcus Stewart.

All profits raised from the game will be donated to Stewart, who is bravely fighting motor neurone disease.

Darrell Clarke named a much-changed starting line up from Wednesday evening’s 1-0 win at Bath City. In fact, Bryant Bilongo was the only player who started both matches.

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Kofi Shaw, who was on loan at Yeovil last season, and Isaac Hutchinson had Rovers’ first efforts on goal, the former blocked out for a corner and the latter straight into the face of a Yeovil defender.

It was the Glovers who broke the deadlock though as a corner was misjudged by Gas goalkeeper Brad Young, with footage showing that the ball came off of his gloves when attempting a punch.

Yeovil should have made it 2-0 soon after as a trialist beat the offside trap to race into a one-on-one position but fired an effort wide of the target.

Micah Anthony then forced a decent save from another Glovers trialist in between the sticks before Yeovil won a series of set-pieces before the end of the first half.

After a disappointing first 45 minutes, Rovers showed an almost immediate response as Shaw drifted into space and unleashed a cracking strike, equalising back at his former loan club.

That kicked the Gas into gear with Bryant Bilongo going close to putting them into the lead soon after. A perfectly weighted pass from Luke Thomas set the left-back up for a clean strike on goal, but his effort was narrowly wide of the far post.

Thomas was then on the end of a lovely team move to put Rovers into the lead. Anthony threaded through Shaw who produced a pinpoint cross for the unmarked forward to tap home at the back-post.

Yeovil’s best chance to at least test substitute goalkeeper Jed Ward in the second half came when former Rovers academy striker Harvey Greenslade beat Taylor Moore in a footrace before the Gas defender pulled the now-Yeovil forward down just before he entered the penalty area for a free-kick.

The Pirates could have added a third goal as Bilongo forced a decent save with a low volley following a corner routine.

Rovers now have less than two weeks until the start of the 2025/26 League Two season, with two more friendlies scheduled next week against Championship opposition.

The Gas will host Coventry City, who were beaten by Sunderland in last season’s play-offs, on Wednesday evening before making the relatively short trip to Oxford United next Saturday. Clarke’s side will then host Harrogate Town on the opening day (August 2).

Bristol Rovers XI: Brad Young (off for Jed Ward 46’); Joel Senior, Taylor Moore, Dan Ellison, Bryant Bilongo; Josh McEachran (off for Ryan Howley 46’(off for Kamil Conteh 73’)), Isaac Hutchinson, Kofi Shaw; Luke Thomas (off for Jack Sparkes 63’), Micah Anthony (off for Ruel Sotiriou 63’), Ollie Dewsbury

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