15:09, 06 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754858151_537_0_unnamed-1-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
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.
\nHe 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.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS380054056.jpg\")
Bristol Rovers players celebrate Luke Thomas’ goal against Newport County(Image: James Marsh\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
Bristol Rovers made it three wins in a row in League Two for the first time since October 2022 with a 3-2 win at Newport County as a Luke Thomas brace and a goal from Ellis Harrison put the Gas in control before a late Newport flurry.<\/p>\n
After an uneventful first half, Thomas bundled the ball over the line after Fabrizio Cavegn had struck the post and forced a save to put Rovers into the lead. The winger then doubled his and the Gas’ tally when finishing clinically after a mistake from Newport goalkeeper Nik Tzanev.<\/p>\n
Debutant Alfie Chang then plucked out an outstanding cross for substitute Ellis Harrison to head home, putting the Pirates in firm control.<\/p>\n
A late push from the hosts saw substitutes Kai Whitmore and Nathaniel Opoku score to make it a nervy conclusion for Rovers but they held on.<\/p>\n
Here is how we rated the players…<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Newport County vs Bristol Rovers live: Deadline day arrival Alfie Chang makes Gas debut<\/a>READ MORE: Alfie Kilgour on ‘awesome’ Bristol Rovers return and enjoying life back in the West Country<\/a>Brad Young – 6.5<\/p>\n Came in and did well on the whole. Made a good save within the first nine minutes and his collections and most of his kicks were good. Couldn’t do much about the two goals at the end of what was largely a quiet afternoon for the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n Macauley Southam-Hales (off for Joel Senior 83′) – 6.5<\/p>\n Won most of his duels and propped up with some important interventions. Has played better in a Rovers shirt but still a solid afternoon on the whole.<\/p>\n Kacper Lopata – 7<\/p>\n Solid once again. A shame to see the defence ship two late goals like that.<\/p>\n Alfie Kilgour – 7<\/p>\n Had a tricky opening 20 minutes battling with Michael Reindorf but grew into the game and went on to have another strong performance. Will also be frustrated with the two late goals.<\/p>\n Jack Sparkes – 7.5<\/p>\n Another energetic performance up and down the left flank. Produced some lovely crosses but also defended well, capped with an important clearance off the line towards the end. If we’re being picky, the cross for Newport’s second came from his side but a really positive afternoon for the full-back.<\/p>\n Josh McEachran – 7<\/p>\n Starting to become a very popular player for the Gas. Another player who is showing a real consistency in his performances of late. Long may it continue.<\/p>\n Kamil Conteh – 8<\/p>\n Unbelievable in the middle of the park. Seemed to win all of his duels and read the game superbly. His new midfield partner Alfie Chang will get plaudits for the assist but the 22-year-old was excellent.<\/p>\n Alfie Chang (off for Clinton Mola 83′) – 8<\/p>\n An outstanding debut from the deadline day arrival. Clearly very technically gifted and was one of few players looking to be positive in a poor first half. That positivity continued into the second as he played a key role in Rovers’ first goal and then produced a delightful cross for their third, scored by Ellis Harrison.<\/p>\n Luke Thomas (off for Ruel Sotiriou 77′) – 8<\/p>\n After a bit of a quiet first half, the winger sprung into life with his first two goals of the season. For both, he found himself in the right place at the right time, anticipating well. Three strong performances in a row for Thomas now, exactly what he needed.<\/p>\n Promise Omochere – 7<\/p>\n Just another really pleasing performance from the forward who has been bullying most of the League Two defenders he has faced lately. Looked Rovers’ most effective attacking player in the first half and constantly looked to make things happen in the second.<\/p>\n Fabrizio Cavegn (off for Ellis Harrison 67′) – 6<\/p>\n That first League Two goal will come for the Swiss. After a quiet first half, the striker was unfortunate not to score before Luke Thomas eventually turned the ball in, hitting the post and then forcing a save. Then had a near miss in the box which proved to be his final contribution.<\/p>\n Substitutes:Ellis Harrison (on 67′) – 7<\/p>\n Scored a well-worked goal and contributed to the defensive effort.<\/p>\n Ruel Sotiriou (on 77′) – N\/A<\/p>\n Came on late.<\/p>\n Joel Senior (on 83′) – N\/A<\/p>\n Same as above.<\/p>\n Clinton Mola (on 83′) – N\/A<\/p>\n Same as above.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Every word Darrell Clarke said on Newport trip, Bristol Rovers’ deadline day activity and more<\/a>READ MORE: Darrell Clarke condemns ‘disgraceful’ abuse targeted at Bristol Rovers’ Isaac Hutchinson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Rovers won 3-2 away at Newport County on Saturday afternoon Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter 15:09, 06…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2707,748,393,4884,89503,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-403933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-rovers-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-josh-mceachran","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115160195017699654","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}