Bristol Rovers 1 AFC Telford United 0
A 30-yard thunderbolt from Ollie Clarke handed AFC Telford United a third straight defeat of the season at Bristol Rovers.
After a solid first-half display at the Memorial Stadium, the Bucks fell behind to his superb long-range effort and were unable to muster a telling response.
After an even start, Telford's Sam Smith was denied on the line by Tom Parkes early on and Sean Cooke was not all that far away as he chipped wide, having spotted Pirates' goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall off his line.
But Rovers enjoyed the lion's share of the chances in the first half with goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge enduring a busy 45 minutes.
He did well to turn away a testing Lee Brown cross into the box early on, one of several testing deliveries from the left to come his way.
And he produced a superb double save midway through the half to turn away Dave Martin's cross before blocking Matty Taylor's follow up effort in the box.
The crossbar came to his aid on the one occasion that he was beaten, from Neil Trotman's powerful header.
But the Bucks were finally undone by a moment of class from Clarke on 55 minutes.
His 30-yard howitzer found the far bottom corner of the net with Hedge beaten both for pace and accuracy.
The hosts then enjoyed a purple patch, buoyed by the goal, and a swerving Lee Mansell free-kick again tested Hedge's agility from distance.
Martin and Taylor also wasted chances to extend that lead while Telford struggled to create much of note at the other end.
Substitute Mike Phenix almost got a sight of goal when Parkes dallied too long on a routine clearance.
But the Bucks too often failed to capitalise on their possession in promising areas and Rovers' substitute Ellis Harrison could have netted in stoppage time only to drill just wide.
