Garry Monk was disappointed to not take anything from Cambridge’s trip to the Memorial Stadium on Tuesday evening but the U’s head coach was pleased with his side’s attitude.

Monk admitted luck was not on their side in the late 1-0 defeat, especially given that both sides had enjoyed good chances to score and a draw was very much on the cards.

Chris Martin netted the only goal of the game after 87 minutes – after missing a first-half penalty – but Cambridge’s Macauley Bonne and Paul Digby had squandered good opportunities from corners before that, while Mamadou Jobe had also headed against the post.

“So close and it would have been deserved (to get a point), I felt overall. Especially in that second half,” said Monk.

“There was a similar pattern that we need to address. First half, not that it was bad but just that there were a couple of things we weren’t getting to grips with, especially in our defensive actions but we still had a couple of glorious chances in that first half from our set plays. We should have had a goal.

“Second half, we looked so comfortable from a defensive point of view. Much more aggressive in the moments we needed to be and we sorted that out.

“I just couldn’t see them scoring. I was thinking more about, how can we do a little bit better with our attacks?

“But even then, we had the best chances in the second half. What we needed was for one of them to go in.

“But it wouldn’t quite go in for us. And the one real opportunity for them and it goes in – but that’s football sometimes.”

Bristol Rovers finally netted at home, as Martin’s late strike ended a run of four matches at the Memorial Stadium without a goal for the hosts.

The win also made it back-to-back League One victories following success at Cheltenham at the weekend, as the Gas aim to finish their campaign on a high.

“It’s been a while at the Mem, a very good goal to win and a clean sheet to boot,” said boss Matt Taylor. “I was really pleased with our first-half performance.

“I thought we deserved to be ahead in the game. Another missed penalty (after Antony Evans’ miss at the weekend) and enough opportunities to be in a more comfortable position than we were.

“As the second half went on, certainly how the opposition set up, it became more and more frustrating for us and we couldn’t quite get their centre-halves or goalkeeper to work. But you only need that one moment as long as you’ve got that clean sheet behind you.

“Thankfully it came in the shape of a late goal.”

Garry Monk praised his Cambridge side’s fighting spirit after they hit back to draw 1-1 with Charlton.

The U’s were outplayed in the first half, trailing to Connor Wickham’s goal at the break, but produced a rousing display after the interval to earn a draw.

Macauley Bonne’s goal against his former employer helped lift Cambridge to 18th in League One, six points clear of the relegation zone.

“I think the biggest compliment I can pay the players is four or five weeks ago, a goal like that in the first half, maybe mentally we would have suffered and not come back from it, but I think you can see the difference in mentality now,” Monk said afterwards. “The last four games, the mentality is there to fight.

“I think it was probably a fair result in the end, and it’s another point on our tally. Every point’s crucial.

“It was a great strike and I thought it was deserved. I thought we had a lot of pressure in their half, in and around their box.

“In the second half I thought we came out on top for the large period of that in terms of both boxes, winning those battles.

“I’m really pleased with the players, over these last four games especially. I just think the attitude and the level of performance has definitely risen.

“I think you could see the level of determination and attitude and desire to try and win and do the right things. We have to make sure we keep hold of that.”

Nathan Jones rued his Charlton side’s continued failure to finish games off as they missed opportunities before Cambridge hit back.

“I’m frustrated,” Jones said. “There are positives; we created enough chances to have won the game. It’s another point, it’s another game unbeaten. It’s away from home, the conditions are brutal and we haven’t been done.

“There’s a pleasing element to it but when I’m looking at how I want us to evolve, how I want us to move forward, we have to do better. We have to be more clinical in their box and score good chances when we got them. That’s happened on a number of occasions now.

“We’ve got to defend our box better because it’s a poor goal to give away, from every single aspect.

“We’ve got some decisions in the summer and we’ll have to make those decisions so that we’re nowhere near where we are now next year. I know where we want to go and what we want to achieve, but don’t take anything away.

“Since I’ve come in the players have been brilliant. They’ve driven each other, they’ve grafted and they’ve given me absolutely everything.”

Gillingham boss Stephen Clemence hailed his side’s high standards after they cruised into the third round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win over League One Charlton.

The Priestfield Stadium came alive in the 26th minute when former Charlton man Macauley Bonne, who made a move to the Gills in the summer, netted against his former club.

Timothee Dieng caught the Addicks defence sleeping again and drilled a low effort into the bottom corner four minutes later.

With a place in the third round secured for a second successive season, Clemence pointed to his side’s relentless work rate.

He said: “I thought we were outstanding from the start, we had a game plan to get after them, how to press them and the lads carried it out fantastically.

“When you start like that you need to make sure you get your nose in front and thankfully we did and to go and score a second soon after was fantastic.

“I thought in the second half we could have gone on and got a few more so that was the message at half time.

“The boys were absolutely fantastic today and they’ve set some high standards for us to keep up to.

“I thought we were in control, we still played some good football but our pressing game was absolutely fantastic. I thought they were all exceptional.

“From my point of view and the players’ we’re happy to be in the next round and we’ll see who we get tomorrow.”

It was a rather different tale for Michael Appleton’s men, who failed to reach round three for the second year in a row.

After an underwhelming display against League Two Gills, the Charlton boss criticised his side’s lack of effort.

He said: “That was a difficult one for me, we were second best in a lot of areas of the pitch.

“Early on in the game, there was probably four or five players who were always second to the ball, always caught between positions, didn’t play forward, weren’t aggressive enough and we paid the price.

“But even coming in at half time, we gave away a couple of poor goals which is one thing, but coming in at half time I’m always positive because we’ve got 50 minutes or so to try and get back into the game.

“We’re very strong normally in the second half of games but we just didn’t do enough.

“We had a lot of territory but I can’t remember the keeper making too many saves, don’t know how many times the ball come into the box and we weren’t there getting the first contact.

“It’s not one that will live long in the memory if I’m being honest.”