Bristol Rovers 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Sky Bet League One, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 8 March 2025
Ruel Sotiriou’s fine first-half finish was the difference as Bristol Rovers returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory against Huddersfield Town.
Sotiriou’s superbly struck effort came after Clinton Mola’s clever flick-on, marking the No10’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions for Rovers.
Taylor Moore and Matt Butcher also went close for the hosts in a tight game in BS7, while goalkeeper Jed Ward had to be wary of efforts by Lasse Sorensen and Callum Marshall.
A hard-fought effort and performance deservedly concluded in all three points being claimed by the Pirates.
With Chris Martin missing out due to a slight knock, as confirmed by head coach Iñigo Calderón pre-match, the Gas were dealt another block in the attacking department as the recently returned Omochere was forced off on eight minutes.
Scrappy in the opening exchanges, Saturday’s showdown burst into life on ten minutes when Mola’s seemingly innocuous header forward was controlled by Sotiriou. The Cypriot showed immense composure to side-foot a half-volley over Lee Nicholls, giving Rovers the lead for a second consecutive home fixture.
Huddersfield were eager to respond quickly and only a swift recovery by Sil Swinkels stopped a looping effort from crossing the Rovers goalline on 15 minutes, before Jed Ward made a sensational, close-range save to deny Sorensen’s free header.
Stand-in midfielder Moore sweetly struck a left-footed volley on goal, which was straight at Nicholls, while Sotiriou came close to an outrageous second when spun and fired on goal from distance, which just curled away from the target at the last moment.
The hosts undoubtedly enjoyed the better of the first half and could have even gone at the interval with a second goal to their name; only Nicholls’ speedy reactions stopping Scott Sinclair after he had initially rounded the Terriers goalkeeper.
The Terriers came out barking in the second half and goalkeeper Ward had to be alive to another Sorensen effort, which was driven across goal by the Huddersfield full-back.
Callum Marshall looked particularly lively for the visitors and found himself in a dangerous position on more than one occasion, but the combination of a stern defensive unit and impervious Ward kept the West Ham loanee at bay.
Calderón introduced the youthful energy of Lino Sousa and Kofi Shaw with a little over ten minutes left to play, before Jack Hunt set up Matt Butcher for a low effort which grazed the outside of the far post from 20 yards.
A superb day at The Memorial Stadium was wrapped up with a league debut for 17-year-old Ollie Dewsbury, who entered the fray late on as the Gas secured all three points.
Bristol Rovers: Ward, Wilson, Mola (Dewsbury 86), Sinclair ©, Omochere (Moore 8), Sotiriou (Thomas 86), Taylor, Hutchinson (Shaw 78), Swinkels (Sousa 78), Butcher, Hunt
Subs not used: Hall (GK), Senior
Goals: Sotiriou 10,
Booked: Swinkels,
Huddersfield Town: Nicholls ©, Sorensen, Ruffels (Lapado 78), Marshall, Charles (Taylor 56), Spencer, Turton, Evans, Roosken, Chirewa (Wiles 56), Hodge (Hogg 68)
Subs not used: Chapman (GK), Ayina, Ashia
Booked: Hodge, Taylor
Referee: Tom Reeves
Attendance: 7,705 (874 away)
