Rovers lost 2–1 to Rochdale in this League Two fixture. David Clarkson put The Pirates ahead early on, but goals from Andrew Tutte and Bobby Grant condemned Rovers to their fifth defeat in the last six games.
The match marked Danny Woodards's comeback from the broken leg he suffered in the final game of the 2011–12 season.
Match details[]
|
Rochdale | 2–1 | Bristol Rovers | 
|
| Tutte (27) Grant (59) |
(1–1 HT) | Clarkson (14 pen) | ||
| Venue: Spotland – KO: 17 November 2012 @ 1500 | ||||
| Attendance: 2,204 – Referee: Scott Duncan | ||||
| Lineups | ||||
| 1 Josh Lillis | 38 Neil Etheridge | |||
| 3 Rhys Bennett | 2 Michael Smith | |||
| 5 Ryan Edwards | 5 Garry Kenneth   |
|||
| 12 Phil Edwards | 6 Tom Parkes | |||
| 14 Kevin McIntyre | 4 Danny Woodards  |
|||
| 4 Peter Cavanagh | 3 Jim Paterson | |||
| 7 Jason Kennedy | 16 Joe Anyinsah |
|||
 8 Andrew Tutte |
21 Wayne Brown | |||
| 22 Bobby Grant |
27 Derek Riordan |
|||
| 15 Dele Adebola |
7 David Clarkson |
|||
| 27 Terry Gornell |
32 Tom Eaves | |||
| Substitutes | ||||
| 31 Ben Smith (GK) | 28 Sam Walker | |||
| 2 Joseph Rafferty | 10 Eliot Richards  |
|||
| 6 Brian Barry-Murphy | 11 Fabian Broghammer |
|||
| 9 George Donnelly |
14 Lee Brown | |||
| 11 Ashley Grimes |
19 Adam Virgo | |||
| 19 Matty Pearson | 24 Ollie Clarke | |||
| 23 Ian Craney | 25 Seanan Clucas |
|||
Timeline[]
14 mins: Goal for Bristol Rovers scored from the penalty spot by David Clarkson following a foul on Wayne Brown by Peter Cavanagh- 27 mins: Goal for Rochdale scored by Andrew Tutte
- 28 mins: Garry Kenneth booked for a foul on Terry Gornell
- 45+2 mins: Joe Anyinsah booked for a foul on Bobby Grant
- 46 mins: Fabian Broghammer replaced David Clarkson
- 59 mins: Goal for Rochdale scored by Bobby Grant
- 65 mins: Seanan Clucas replaced Danny Woodards
- 69 mins: Eliot Richards replaced Derek Riordan
- 71 mins: Garry Kenneth sent off for a second bookable offence following a foul on Bobby Grant
- 82 mins: George Donnelly replaced Dele Adebola
- 85 mins: Seanan Clucas booked for a foul on Bobby Grant
- 89 mins: Ashley Grimes replaced Terry Gornell
- 90+4 mins: Eliot Richards sent off for serious foul play following a foul on Ashley Grimes
| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||