Rovers went down 4–0 to Port Vale in this League Two fixture, their joint biggest defeat of the season to date, following a loss to Gillingham by the same scoreline two months earlier. Tom Pope's hat-trick not only secured a comfortable win for the Stoke-based side, but also made him the quickest Port Vale player ever to reach 20 goals in a season. The Valiants' other goal was scored by Ben Williamson towards the end of the first half, after Pope had already put them 2–0 up. Pope completed the scoring, and his hat-trick, midway through the second half.