Bristol Rovers 1 Oldham Athletic 0: Jo Kuffour scored a last-gasp winner to hand Bristol Rovers three points against a determined Oldham Athletic at the Memorial Stadium this afternoon. 

Paul Trollope's men enjoyed more of the ball - but were denied at every turn by a stubborn Oldham defence until Kuffour side-footed into the top corner after Andy Willliams chased down a long ball to set up the chance.

The Rovers head coach is set to increase his attempts to land a new striker this week, but Williams did his chances of coming off the transfer list no harm following another lively display after replacing Darryl Duffy just short of the hour mark.

Recent signing Mark Wright had squandered Rovers best chance up until that point when blazing a good opportunity high and wide from close-range in the opening period, while  Oldham were unlucky on the couple of occasions that they ventured forward against a Pirates defence that has now kept three successive clean sheets.  

Rovers had nearly celebrated an early breakthrough on eight minutes when a Stuart Campbell corner was almost diverted into the Oldham net by Latics defender Alan Sheehan. Wright then sliced  a shot from close-range high and wide of the upright after Chris Lines had teed the chance up with a nice pass soon after.

Oldham almost scored from their first meaningful sight at goal following a lightning-quick counter-attack in the 24th minute. Latics striker Pawel Abbott latched on to a through ball with the Rovers defenders chasing back.

The Oldham man managed to poke the ball underneath the advancing Mikkel Andersen but Carl Regan came to the rescue by hacking the goalward-bound attempt off the line and away to safety.

Rovers came out with added attacking impetus after the break and Oldham goalkeeper Dean Brill was almost caught out by a dipping Campbell effort from edge of the area in the 51st minute. The stopper, however, managed to spill the ball away from danger and Lines could only sidefoot over from the next phase of play.

Trollope made a double change in the 57th minute and it almost paid dividends instantly. The two new introductions, Williams and David Pipe, combined well to force a good save out of goalkeeper Brill on the hour mark.

Dominic Blizzard was then sent into the fray with twenty minutes remaining as Trollope searched to find a route through a resolute Oldham rearguard. The midfielder could have marked his introduction with a goal just seconds later but a crucial block by Oldham defender Sean Gregan snuffed out the chance of a one-on-one with Brill after a clever attempted through ball by Kuffour.

Andersen was then forced into a rare save to hold onto an effort from close-range by striker Nick Blackman after some nice inter-play on the edge of the area saw the Rovers defence found wanting. Rovers continued their dominance of possession - but had to wait until injury-time for Kuffour to secure the win that moves them into third place in the League One table.    

Bristol Rovers (4-4-2): Andersen; Regan, Coles, Anthony, Lescott; Wright (Pipe, 57), Campbell, Lines (Blizzard, 70), Hughes; Kuffour, Duffy (Williams, 57). Subs not used: Evans, Elliott, Reece, Swallow.

Oldham Athletic (4-4-2): Brill; Holdsworth (Lomax, 63), Gregan, Hazell, Sheehan; Colbeck, Furman, Marrow, Taylor (Whitaker, 82); Abbott, Blackman (Parker 86). Subs not used: Ollerenshaw, Lee, Parker, Bemo-Leta, Tischler.

Attendance: 6674

Referee: Steve Bratt (Midlands)