Bristol Rovers will play their round of 32 game in the Vertu Trophy at home thanks to a 94th minute winner from Kamil ContehGoal celebrations for Kamil Conteh of Bristol Rovers during the Vertu Trophy Match between Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle at Memorial Stadium on 11 November 2025. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK

Bristol Rovers assistant head coach Jon Stead praised the energy of the team after they secured a 94th minute winner against Plymouth Argyle to top their group in the Vertu Trophy.

The Gas bounced back after Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Gillingham, to beat League One opposition, who had Kornel Szucs sent off after only two minutes.

In a game of few chances, the Gas dominated possession and found it hard to break down the Pilgrims, who maintained a resolute shape with 10 men. Rovers looked untroubled defensively, and Kamil Conteh pounced on a goalkeeping mistake by Luca Ashby-Hammond from a corner in the 94th minute to secure the three points.

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Speaking about the performance, Stead said: “As a player, I have played against 10 men a lot of times and it can be very difficult. It can be challenging. The game doesn’t look how you expect it to look and sometimes, mentally, you can come off the gas a little bit, pardon the pun, but I don’t think we did today. I thought we were really energetic, I thought it wasn’t for a lack of trying. I think we were really looking to hurt the opposition at every opportunity we got.

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There were 2,110 fans inside the Memorial Stadium on a wet and windy night in north Bristol and Stead was keen to praise the supporters inside the ground. He said: “There was never the kind of groans and the, ‘oh, get it forward’. They could see that we were trying. We just lacked that final moment.”

Yesterday, the club announced that four players will go on international duty, with Luke Southwood, Joel Cotterill, Ollie Dewsbury and Freddie Issaka all set to miss the trip to Accrington Stanley on Saturday. Despite this, the Gas picked a strong starting eleven against the Pilgrims, but were careful about managing the minutes of key players, including Stephan Negru, who was taken off midway through the first-half.

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Speaking about the substitutions, Stead said: “We’re looking to look after people as well, because we’re missing key players, we’ve got a lot away on international duty and we’ve got a really important game on Saturday. So, managing all those bits and pieces is difficult because you don’t want to risk the tie because we want to win it, but you don’t want to risk bodies either because we can’t afford to lose anybody.

“So I feel at the minute, I’ve not spoken to the medical staff, but I feel at the minute we’ve probably got that right. We’ve won the tie, we’ve topped the group, we get a home draw now, and nobody [is] lost to the medical table, so I think we should be alright.”

Darrell Clarke, Manager of Bristol Rovers during the Vertu Trophy Match between Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle at Memorial Stadium on 11 November 2025. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK

Next up for the Gas is a trip to 20th placed Accrington in League Two. Darrell Clarke’s side will be looking to end a five-game losing streak in the league and will hope to build on tonight’s victory against Tom Cleverley’s side.

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