Bristol Rovers fell to their second Sky Bet League One defeat of the season after losing 2-1 to Barnsley at Oakwell Stadium.
The Tykes had the better chances in the opening exchanges, with Barry Cotter twice denied by Josh Griffiths. The hosts were dominant and broke the deadlock through Davis Keillor-Dunn, who slotted his strike into the bottom-right corner.
However, they failed to build on their advantage and were punished before half-time, with Sotiriou netting his first goal for the Gas after pouncing on a defensive mistake.
Promise Omochere then had the chance to turn the game around, but he could not scramble in his header after half-time, with Barnsley netting the winner past the hour mark through Adam Phillips’ header.
Barnsley were winless at Oakwell in League One going into the contest, with Rovers without a victory on their travels.
Barnsley started the quickest and forced Josh Griffiths into a save in the opening minute of the contest, with the goalkeeper pushing away Barry Cotter's powerful strike from the edge of the box.
Cotter was looking threatening down the right early on and troubled Griffiths again after Phillips controlled a cross well before playing a pass back to him, but the shot-stopper denied him for a second time after palming it behind.
The Tykes kept pushing and went close to netting for the third time in the opening ten minutes. Keillor-Dunn's inviting cross was headed across the goal by Phillips, but his effort went just wide of the post.
The hosts then took the lead soon after. Connell’s clever flick fell to the feet of Keillor-Dunn, who curled his shot into the bottom-right corner.
Barnsley kept their momentum, and debutant Keillor-Dunn was at the heart of it once again. His searching free-kick found Marc Roberts, but Griffiths tipped his header over.
Rovers were up against it but levelled against the run of play through Sotiriou. The striker made the most of a mix-up in the defence on the left side of the box and rolled his shot into an open net.
The Pirates then should have taken the lead after the restart. Bryant Bilongo’s dangerous cross from the left was knocked into Omochere’s path inadvertently by the Barnsley defence, but his downward header from close range was saved by Gabriel Slonina.
The Gas were in the ascendancy, but Barnsley grew in confidence as the second half progressed. Connell collected possession on the outskirts of the box and fired a shot on target, but Griffiths was there to push it away.
The Tykes then regained the lead soon after. Cotter rushed down the right and flashed a brilliant cross into the box, with Phillips crashing his header beyond the goalkeeper.
Sinclair went the closest to scoring out of the trio, but he whipped his right-footed strike from the edge of the box just over.
The Gas committed men forward in the final stages to push for a goal to level the game, including a trio of corners that Griffiths arrived for, but Barnsley held onto their lead to claim all three points.
Barnsley: Slonina, Cotter (Lofthouse 78), Roberts, Pines (O’Keeffe 46), Gevigney, Phillips (Benson 67), Cosgrove, Craig, Earl, Keillor-Dunn (Marsh 90), Connell.
Subs not used: Killip, Gent, Humphreys.
Goals: Keillor-Dunn 11, Phillips 65
Booked: Earl 32, O’Keeffe 94, Roberts 96
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Moore, Wilson, Mola, Ward (Shaw 78), Omochere, Sotiriou (O’Donkor 62), Thomas (Sinclair 78), Garrett, McCormick (Forde 78), Bilongo (Sousa 67).
Subs not used: Taylor, Hutchinson.
Goals: Sotiriou 37
Referee: Edward Duckworth
Attendance: 9,325 (337 away)
