Bristol Rovers 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
- Published
Joey Barton secured his first three points as Bristol Rovers boss with victory over Shrewsbury Town.
Rovers should have taken a third-minute lead when Zain Westbrooke teed up Brandon Hanlan inside the box, but the striker failed to get any power into his right-footed shot.
But the hosts went ahead just before the break when a slick move down the right ended with Shrewsbury old boy Alex Rodman crossing low from the right for Luke Leahy to shoot in unchallenged at the far post.
Hanlan then doubled the advantage on the hour mark when, from Josh Vela's error, Westbrooke's cleverly weighted angled pass allowed him to run on and fire home a perfectly placed right-footed shot from the right corner of the box.
Shrewsbury, whose manager Steve Cotterill is still isolating following his Covid 19 scare, failed to register a shot on target until Daniel Udoh tapped in a cross from fellow substitute David Edwards for an injury-time consolation.
That led to drama at the death when Rovers goalkeeper Joe Day was injured bravely diving at the feet of incoming Shrewsbury right-back Matthew Pennington.
And, from the resulting corner, replacement Jordi Van Stappershoef had to make a crucial save from former Welsh international midfielder Edwards to keep it level.
Report supplied by PA Media
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