Bristol Rovers’ Bristol Street Motors Trophy campaign ended with a 3-2 loss to Exeter City at The Memorial Stadium.
The Grecians were already through after winning both of their games in the competition and took the lead when Jay Bird latched onto a cross from the left to score from close range.
The Gas levelled before the break through Connor Taylor, but the visitors scored again soon after the restart after Millenic Alli fired a composed finish into the bottom-left corner. However, Matt Taylor’s men responded again, with Isaac Hutchinson blasting his strike past Shaun Macdonald.
However, Exeter led for the third and final time in the final few minutes after Demetri Mitchell’s close-range shot went in off the post.
Both teams made several changes going into the contest, which showed through a slow start to the proceedings. The Gas held most of the early possession and were putting the Grecians under pressure with their press and had the first chance when Luke McCormick dragged his effort from the edge just wide.
However, the visitors took the lead through Bird. Mustapha Carayol rushed down the left and whipped a dangerous cross into the middle, with Bird getting across to bundle his shot in from close range.
The Pirates were looking to respond immediately, with Isaac Hutchinson looking lively on the left. He wanted to collect the ball at every opportunity and drive inside with possession, this time seeing a curling strike headed away.
The hosts continued to push for a leveller and found one through Taylor. Luke Thomas ran down the left and blasted a cutback across the face of the goal, with Taylor getting across to score from close range.
The Rovers gained momentum from the goal and ended the half brightly, with Hutchinson at the heart of the action. The midfielder whipped a searching corner into the box that was lifted over the bar by Michael Forbes before he had a chance of his own.
Hutchinson ran down the left side of the area before lashing his strike against the side of the net, with fans on the other side thinking it had gone in.
Despite their bright end to the first half, Exeter gained the lead for the second time soon after the restart. Fresh off the bench, Alli made the most of Taylor's mistake and powered his one-on-one effort into the bottom-left corner.
Ruel Sotiriou also came on at half-time and almost made a similar impact to draw the game level. He rolled past a defender to make the most of a long ball forward and raced towards the goal, but Macdonald came off his line well to poke it away.
The visitors gained confidence from the strike that put them ahead and had two good chances to extend their lead quickly after. Sonny Cox missed the target with a free header from close range before Carayol curled a right-footed strike off target from range.
Alli then went searching for his second goal and danced down the left side of the box before drilling a low effort towards the bottom-left corner, with Griffiths getting down well to push it away.
The Pirates survived a bright spell from Exeter and scored a second equaliser of the evening through Hutchinson, who fired his left-footed strike from the left side of the box into the top corner.
It looked like the contest would end with penalties before Exeter won it in the final stages. Vincent Harper's low cross from the left found Mitchell, who crashed in his close-range strike off the post on his return from injury.
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Sousa (Moore 67), Thomas, Garrett, Taylor, Martin (Sotiriou 46), Hutchinson, McCormick, Forbes, Bilongo, Lindsay (Forde 56)
Subs not used: Hall, Anthony, Lawrence, Dewsbury
Goals: Taylor 31, Hutchinson 67
Booked: Bilongo 33
Exeter City: Macdonald, Purrington (Oakes 67), Fitzwater, Francis, Watts (Harper 63), Cox, Carayol (Mitchell 63), Bird (Alli 46), James, Borges (Cole), Richards
Subs not used: Whitworth, Cummins
Goals: Bird 17, Alli 49
Booked: Watts 35
Referee: Matthew Russell
Attendance: 1257 (322 away)
