The stand-out talking points after Bristol Rovers recorded their first victory of the season by beating Cambridge United 1-0 at home
Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter
07:00, 24 Aug 2025
Dan Hargraves is the Bristol Rovers reporter for Bristol Live. He joined the title in July 2023 having previously worked for Reach PLC as a freelance football writer in April 2022 while a journalism student at the University of Derby.
He has also reported on a number of football matches across European competition, the Premier League and EFL and covered the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. In his role as covering the Gas, he wants to leave no stone unturned and cover every angle of the football club for Gasheads’ enjoyment.
Ellis Harrison’s first half goal was enough for Bristol Rovers to secure their first win of the season against Cambridge United(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
At the fifth attempt, Bristol Rovers have finally kickstarted their League Two campaign after picking up their first win of the season, beating Cambridge United 1-0 at home on Saturday afternoon.
The Us are a familiar opponent to the Gas, having spent the previous three seasons together in League One before being relegated alongside each other last term. They were also 2-0 victors in north Bristol less than a fortnight prior in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
There was a clear contrast between Rovers’ performances on that night and on Saturday afternoon as Darrell Clarke’s men were forced to battle for 100 minutes with Ellis Harrison’s first half goal enough for the three points.
It’s the first win for Clarke since his return to BS7 and there was a nice moment post-match where he clapped the Thatcher’s End and was then encouraged to give a trio of fist pumps, as is now customary for managers it seems.
However, as the Gas head coach has reiterated numerous times already, he didn’t come back for sentimental reasons and there is still a hell of a lot of work to be done before the Pirates get anywhere near where they want to be.
Having had to wait since March 11 to celebrate a competitive win, the fans deserve to enjoy their Saturday night. Here are some of the stand out talking points from win number one…
READ MORE: ‘For the fans’ – Darrell Clarke reacts to Bristol Rovers’ first win of the season over CambridgeREAD MORE: Bristol Rovers 1-0 Cambridge United recap: Ellis Harrison goal enough to hand Gas first winA painful streak finally ended
This will be the last we mention of Bristol Rovers’ woeful end to last season where they lost nine and drew one of their final 10 matches on the way to relegation.
Since a 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers, Rovers had played 15 competitive matches, losing 13. Of course, that was over the span of different campaigns, but the point is Gasheads have had to wait too long to see a win again.
Home form has also been pretty poor in 2025 so everything about Saturday was extremely satisfying. Now we can look forward.
Back-to-back clean sheets
As well as the victory, back-to-back clean sheets is also something to celebrate. Admittedly, it’s frustrating that Bristol Rovers haven’t ended their week with six points but they’ve laid solid ground as well as stopping the rot.
Perhaps surprisingly considering how disappointing 2025 has been from a footballing perspective for the football club, their last back-to-back clean sheets weren’t that long ago. They also came in the form of a 0-0 draw followed by a 1-0 win, against Shrewsbury Town and Huddersfield Town back in March.
The partnership of Alfie Kilgour and Kacper Lopata has worked a treat so far with Darrell Clarke calling the pair “warriors”. Jack Sparkes, Macauley Southam-Hales and substitute Joel Senior also did well defensively.
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Ellis Harrison back scoring goals for Bristol Rovers
As well as Darrell Clarke’s celebrations with the Thatcher’s End after the game, Ellis Harrison’s goal added to a nostalgic feel about Bristol Rovers’ win.
The 31-year-old came through the youth set up in BS7 and went on to play over 200 games for the first team before departing for Ipswich Town in 2018. Over seven years later and he was back scoring at the Mem in blue-and white quarters.
He may not prove to be Rovers’ main source of goals this season, but he had had two opportunities before to his smart finish and has certainly made himself available in other matches this season.
For anyone who likes a stat, Harrison’s last home goal for the Gas was scored on February 24, 2018 in a 1-1 draw against Scunthorpe United.
Bristol Rovers players celebrate Ellis Harrison’s opening goal against Cambridge United(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)25 per cent more to come from the Gas
Darrell Clarke confessed that he thought Bristol Rovers’ performance against Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night was actually better than Saturday’s as they drew 0-0 at home to the Latics despite a number of good chances that evening.
The point assistant head coach Jon Stead made post-match, and then by Clarke when previewing Saturday, was that this group are at 75 per cent still in terms of their output and ability.
Rovers have a handful of players whose minutes and fitness are still being built up and subsequently the expectation is that the tank should grow by another quarter.
Sure, it wasn’t a particularly memorable game or winning performance, but there was still plenty to like about it and to suggest that there is still 25 per cent left to come is very encouraging.
Schedule will start to thin out
On the topic of fitness, Bristol Rovers will benefit from a less hectic schedule over the coming months with their next midweek league game not until December 9 when they travel to Barnet.
Between now and then, they will only play three times on a Tuesday night, all of which being EFL Trophy ties, starting with Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in three days’ time.
Darrell Clarke confessed post-match that changes will be made but it’s still a game he’d like to win.
READ MORE: Bristol Rovers player ratings vs Cambridge United: Harrison scores winner as defence stand firmREAD MORE: Fabrizio Cavegn: New Bristol Rovers striker on move to England, Swiss football and Gas goals