Bristol Rovers vs Bolton Wanderers. Sky Bet League One.
The Memorial StadiumAttendance9,169.
Wednesday 17 August 2016 22:30, UK
Recently relegated Bolton made it maximum points from their first three Sky Bet League One games with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Bristol Rovers.
The visitors took a sixth-minute lead when Josh Vela's fierce right-footed shot from the corner of the box took a deflection off Stuart Sinclair to wrong-foot Rovers goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall.
And it was 2-0 after 26 minutes. Tom Lockyer was penalised for a foul 25 yards out and Jay Spearing found the top corner to Mildenhall's right with a sweetly-struck free-kick.
Rovers struggled to create a clear first-half chance, despite some neat approach play. But they got back in the game on 57 minutes when Lee Brown's left-footed free-kick from 20 yards was brilliantly tipped onto a post by Mark Howard, only for Ellis Harrison to fire home the rebound.
Having made three attacking substitutions, two of them at half time, Rovers boss Darrell Clarke saw his team almost snatch a point on 86 minutes when Jermaine Easter fired wide from Billy Bodin's pass.
