Bristol Rovers 3 - 0 Crawley Town: Matt Taylor nets brace as Bristol Rovers boost promotion hopes with Crawley win

Matt Taylor took his goal tally for the season to 25 with a brace as Bristol Rovers boosted hopes of automatic promotion with a 3-0 League Two victory over Crawley at the Memorial Stadium.

The prolific striker broke the deadlock with a powerful near-post header from Liam Lawrence's 53rd-minute corner.

Lawrence doubled the advantage with an exquisite free-kick from 25 yards on 75 minutes and four minutes later Taylor headed his second from a Chris Lines corner.

Rovers could have had more goals in a storming finish, Crawley goalkeeper Callum Preston denying substitute Cristian Montano with a fine save.

The visitors, meanwhile, failed to match some neat approach play with a killer touch inside the box.

The first half was almost devoid of goalmouth action as the teams cancelled each other out.

Billy Bodin's eighth-minute shot wide for Rovers was the best effort, while Crawley defender Lewis Young produced a goal-saving tackle on Rory Gaffney to deny the striker a 36th-minute chance.