Pirates set sail away from the drop zone

James Wilson, Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou were the heroes as the Gas secured a hugely important 3-1 win against relegation rivals Peterborough at the Memorial Stadium.

They scored goals that were enough for the Gas to leapfrog Posh boss Darren Ferguson’s side into 18th place in the League One table open up a six-point gap above the relegation zone

After a poor performance midweek away at Charlton which resulted in a 2-0 defeat, Rovers manager Inigo Calderon rang the changes in a bid to return Rovers to winning ways and his gamble paid rich dividends.

New loan signing Matt Butcher came in along with Jack Hunt, Lino Sousa, Luke Thomas, Issac Hutchinson and Gatlan O’Donkor while Taylor Moore, Clinton Mola, Jamie Lindsay, Shaq Forde, Scott Sinclair and Chris Martin made way.

And the early signs were promising as the Gas got off to a decent start and had a penalty shout early on with Sotiriou going down in the box but his appeals were waved away.

Then 30 seconds later, excellent work from ex-Bristol City wing-back Hunt created a chance but it just couldn't be converted by Hutchinson.

Peterborough then had a half-chance of their own with good work from Archie Collins, Abraham Odoh and Gustav Lindgren but the ball eventually fell into the hands of Rovers keeper Josh Griffiths.

The away side should have taken the lead with just after 10 minutes played when Grant Ward misplaced a back-pass looking and it was intercepted by Gustav Lindgren but his finish went past the right post.

Where there’s a Wil

The Posh were nearly made to rue that chance when, less than a minute later, Thomas created a great chance for himself but his left footed curler didn't have enough curl on it to find the far corner.

But Rovers were not to be denied and took the lead when Butcher’s corner found captain Wilson managed to get a touch on it to make sure it ended up in the net for his second goal of the season.

Peterborough troubled the Rovers goal for the first time on 20 minutes when the ball was played into Chris Conn-Clarke but his low shot was easily gathered by the increasingly impressive Griffiths.

With Rovers definitely looking the more fluid of the two sides, Ward tried his luck from range but shot went wide of Nicholas Bilokapic’s left-hand post.

While Rovers were temporarily down to 10 men due to an injury for O’Donkor, Peterborugh nearly levelled thanks to a slice from Rovers defender Souza who nearly put the ball past Griffiths from Tayo Edun’s cross.

But after that near-miss, there was bad news for Rovers fans when exciting prospect O’Donkor had to go off injured five minutes before the end of the first half and he was replaced by Martin.

After the break, Griffiths was called in action within a couple minutes stopping a low shot from half-time substitute Cian Hayes.

Rovers’ first attacking action of the second half came from a low cross from Hunt looking for Martin, but the veteran striker couldn’t find the target with a little flick from a difficult angle.

After a real quiet period in the second half the Memorial Stadium erupted for the second time as a chipped ball found Hutchinson who found the net after a flick off of the post to register his third of the season.

Hutch of class

Calderon made his first substitution bringing on veteran winger Scott Sinclair for Thomas and soon after Hutchinson almost scored again after good work from Martin but he was denied by Bilokapic in the Posh goal.

Peterborough nearly found a way back into the game with a rare good attack led down the left-hand side by Edun and his cross found Cian Hayes who, once he found a pocket of space, hit his shot off the crossbar and out of play.

That seemed to spark the away side into life and they had multiple corners but nothing of note came from them. But something from them came about for the home side.

A quick counter led by Martin found Sotiriou and although he had Sinclair up with him he went alone. Cutting onto his right foot while beating his man in the process he then found the bottom right corner to effectively secure Rovers victory and three precious points.

The Posh were not to leave without something and just before four additional minutes were announced Ricky-Jade Jones had his first shot blocked before finishing on the line with a back-heel but it was too little too late for Ferguson’s sorry side.