Rovers made tough work of beating Torquay United in this League Two fixture, but eventually secured all three points thanks to a second half winner from Tom Eaves.
The Gas were two goals up inside of 17 minutes, thanks to strikes from Eaves and Matthew Lund, and when Joe Oastler was sent off for a second bookable offence on the half hour mark it looked like it was going to be a comfortable victory for the Bristol side.
After the break a rejuvenated Torquay side pulled a goal back 8 minutes into the second half, and six minutes later they scored an unlikely equaliser – both goals coming from former Rovers men, Rene Howe and Aaron Downes respectively. Eaves would prove to be the hero of the day however when he grabbed the winner, and his second of the game, 14 minutes from time.
Torquay included three ex-Rovers players in their starting eleven. As well as the goalscorers, Howe and Downes, 'keeper Michael Poke played between the sticks.
Match details[]
|
Bristol Rovers | 3–2 | Torquay United | 
|
| Eaves (15, 76) Lund (17) |
(2–0 HT) | Howe (53) Downes (59) | ||
| Venue: The Memorial Stadium – KO: 20 October 2012 @ 1500 | ||||
| Attendance: 6,331 – Referee: Scott Mathieson | ||||
| Lineups | ||||
| 38 Neil Etheridge | 1 Michael Poke  |
|||
 26 Matthew Lund |
2 Joe Oastler  |
|||
| 5 Garry Kenneth | 3 Kevin Nicholson | |||
| 6 Tom Parkes | 4 Aaron Downes |
|||
| 3 Jim Paterson | 5 Brian Saah | |||
 16 Joe Anyinsah |
6 Damon Lathrope |
|||
| 7 David Clarkson | 7 Lee Mansell | |||
| 15 Oliver Norburn | 18 Craig Easton | |||
| 11 Fabian Broghammer |
20 Nathan Craig |
|||
| 10 Eliot Richards | 9 Rene Howe |
|||
| 32 Tom Eaves |
15 Billy Bodin |
|||
| Substitutes | ||||
| 28 Sam Walker (GK) | 13 Martin Rice (GK) | |||
 14 Lee Brown |
8 Ryan Jarvis |
|||
| 19 Adam Virgo | 12 Daniel Leadbitter |
|||
| 21 Wayne Brown |
19 Danny Stevens | |||
| 24 Ollie Clarke | 21 Thomas Cruise |
|||
| 25 Seanan Clucas | 23 Ashley Yeoman | |||
| 30 Tom Lockyer | 29 Niall Thompson | |||
Timeline[]
4 mins: Michael Poke booked- 15 mins: Goal for Bristol Rovers scored by Tom Eaves
- 17 mins: Goal for Bristol Rovers scored by Matthew Lund
- 21 mins: Joe Oastler booked for a foul on Fabian Broghammer
- 29 mins: Lee Brown replaced Fabian Broghammer
- 30 mins: Joe Oastler sent off for a second bookable offence, a foul on Lee Brown
- 46 mins: Daniel Leadbitter replaced Damon Lathrope
- 53 mins: Goal for Torquay scored by Rene Howe
- 59 mins: Goal for Torquay scored by Aaron Downes
- 62 mins: Wayne Brown replaced Joe Anyinsah
- 70 mins: Ryan Jarvis replaced Billy Bodin
- 76 mins: Goal for Bristol Rovers scored by Tom Eaves
- 80 mins: Thomas Cruise replaced Nathan Craig
| League Two | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | ACC | AFW | ALD | BAR | BRA | BUR | CNM | CFD | D&R | EXE | FWD | GIL | MOR | NOR | OXF | PLY | PTV | RDL | ROT | SOU | TOR | WYC | YOR | |
| Home | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Away | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | A–A 0–2 |
1–4 | |
| FA Cup | Capital One Cup | Johnstone's Paint Trophy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rnd | 1 | Rnd | 1 | Rnd | 1sw | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team | SHU | Team | IPS | Team | YEO | |||||||||||||||||||
| H/A | H | H/A | A | H/A | H | |||||||||||||||||||
| Res | 1–2 | Res | 1–3 | Res | 0–3 | |||||||||||||||||||