Match ends, Bristol Rovers 2, Burton Albion 0.
Bristol Rovers 2-0 Burton Albion
- From the section Football
Midfielder John-Joe O'Toole scored his 14th goal of the season as Bristol Rovers beat promotion-chasing Burton.
In an attritional first half, Brewers midfielder Robbie Weir saw his shot blocked in the box and Lee Brown's free-kick was cleared in a goalmouth scramble at the other end.
David Clarkson broke the deadlock when he headed in Michael Smith's cross.
And O'Toole doubled their lead when he pounced on a loose ball parried into his path by goalkeeper Rob Lainton.
Rovers thought they had added a third late on when Chris Beardsley headed home, but the on-loan forward was ruled offside.
The result gives John Ward's side back-to-back league wins for the first time since August, and moves them up to 16th in the table.
Burton missed out on moving into the automatic promotion places and remain sixth.
Bristol Rovers manager John Ward told BBC Radio Bristol:
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"It's an excellent night's work. We've had a week to prepare for it but sometimes that can be unsettling.
"We needed to start fast and well, and we did that and maintained it.
"Our fitness and competitive nature provided a really strong game for us.
"It was nice to get a couple of goals and I'm not being greedy but maybe there could have been more."
Line-ups
Bristol Rovers
- 1Mildenhall
- 2SmithBooked at 53mins
- 14BrownBooked at 84mins
- 32O'TooleBooked at 35mins
- 6Parkes
- 29McChrystal
- 39MohamedSubstituted forClucasat 90+3'minutes
- 30Lockyer
- 7ClarksonSubstituted forGillespieat 86'minutes
- 19BeardsleyBooked at 69mins
- 16Gow
Substitutes
- 4Woodards
- 8Gillespie
- 17Harrison
- 18Harding
- 20Gough
- 24O Clarke
- 25Clucas
Burton
- 1Lainton
- 2Edwards
- 3HusseyBooked at 45mins
- 19Ismail
- 25Cansdell-SherriffBooked at 75mins
- 6Sharps
- 23Palmer
- 8WeirBooked at 23minsSubstituted forBellat 64'minutes
- 29KeeSubstituted forKnowlesat 77'minutes
- 20McGurk
- 17PhillipsSubstituted forMacDonaldat 72'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Bell
- 9Alexander
- 11MacDonald
- 16Lyness
- 18Knowles
- 21Holness
- 26Gray
- Referee:
- Keith Stroud
- Attendance:
- 5,957
Match Stats
Home TeamBristol RoversAway TeamBurton
- Possession
- Home54%
- Away46%
- Shots
- Home14
- Away10
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away0
- Corners
- Home6
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home15
- Away13
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Bristol Rovers 2, Burton Albion 0.
Attempt missed. Matthew Palmer (Burton Albion) header from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses the top right corner.
Foul by Seanan Clucas (Bristol Rovers).
Alexander MacDonald (Burton Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Bristol Rovers. Seanan Clucas replaces Kaid Mohamed.
Corner, Bristol Rovers. Conceded by Chris Hussey.
Corner, Bristol Rovers. Conceded by Philip Edwards.
Attempt missed. Philip Edwards (Burton Albion) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Corner, Burton Albion. Conceded by Lee Brown.
Stephen Gillespie (Bristol Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lee Bell (Burton Albion).
Attempt missed. John-Joe O'Toole (Bristol Rovers) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Substitution
Substitution, Bristol Rovers. Stephen Gillespie replaces David Clarkson.
Alan Gow (Bristol Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lee Bell (Burton Albion).
Corner, Bristol Rovers. Conceded by Shane Cansdell-Sherriff.
Booking
Lee Brown (Bristol Rovers) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt blocked. Dominic Knowles (Burton Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Goal!
Goal! Bristol Rovers 2, Burton Albion 0. John-Joe O'Toole (Bristol Rovers) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Burton Albion. Dominic Knowles replaces Billy Kee.
Attempt missed. Adam McGurk (Burton Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
Attempt missed. Alan Gow (Bristol Rovers) right footed shot from long range on the left is just a bit too high from a direct free kick.
Booking
Shane Cansdell-Sherriff (Burton Albion) is shown the yellow card.
Chris Beardsley (Bristol Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Shane Cansdell-Sherriff (Burton Albion).
Substitution
Substitution, Burton Albion. Alexander MacDonald replaces Jimmy Phillips.
Goal!
Goal! Bristol Rovers 1, Burton Albion 0. David Clarkson (Bristol Rovers) header from the left side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Michael Smith.
Chris Beardsley (Bristol Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jimmy Phillips (Burton Albion).
Corner, Burton Albion. Conceded by Michael Smith.
Foul by Tom Lockyer (Bristol Rovers).
Lee Bell (Burton Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Alan Gow (Bristol Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution
Substitution, Burton Albion. Lee Bell replaces Robbie Weir.
Attempt missed. Matthew Palmer (Burton Albion) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
David Clarkson (Bristol Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Robbie Weir (Burton Albion).
Attempt missed. John-Joe O'Toole (Bristol Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
John-Joe O'Toole (Bristol Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.