March 2019 – Tuffley Rovers AFC

A good weekend. A very good weekend…

Although our Hellenic League, Premier Division status for 2019/20 isn’t yet mathematically certain, a 2-1 win against Binfield on Saturday has taken Tuffley Rovers to the brink of safety.

When a Mark Pritchett foul, moments before the end of the first half, allowed Josh Howell to give Binfield a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot, things weren’t looking too good for Rovers, but Warren Mann’s goal, after his initial penalty had been saved, and a first Rovers goal for Will Dawes, proved enough to secure three points to take the first team to within touching distance of safety, after a campaign that started so badly.

Alongside the Hellenic League result, the Reserves made it 11 games unbeaten, as they saw off Upton St. Leonards 3-1. The game was made all the more memorable because there were first ever Gloucestershire Northern Senior League goals for Under 18s players Niall Priday and Ryley Mace, with those goals added to a Will Emery effort. That result took Rovers’ reserves fourth in the Division One table, with the next game against title challengers Chalford, who sit one place higher.

Unfortunately, the worst result of the weekend came in the form of the Thirds’ 6-0 defeat at the hands of Kingsway Rovers, but the other Stroud League results were much better! First, the Fifths ran out comprehensive winners against Sharpness 3rds, with a brace apiece from Charlie Agg and Paul Bayliss taking Will Cronshaw’s side to a 4-0 win. In the other game, the Fourths came back from 3-1 down to salvage a point from their final game of the season; Scott Morgan netting a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw.

So, three wins, a draw and one defeat make for a pretty good weekend. A damn good weekend, as they go.

Home form key to Rovers’ safety hopes

After taking one point from their first six league games, then thirteen points from nineteen, Tuffley Rovers could complete a remarkable turnaround in their 2018/19 season, if they can continue an excellent run of home form when Binfield visit Glevum Park tomorrow.

Since losing at home to Royal Wootton Bassett Town on 15 December, Rovers have gone on a run of three wins and three draws in their past six home league games, which has helped salvage their Hellenic League Premier Division season, so manager Mark Pritchett will be hoping that the excellent run of form continues tomorrow and his side secure a win that might prove enough to save their season.

Whilst their performances across the seven away games – played over the same period – have been positive, the results have been less impressive and have yielded only five points. So, when Binfield visit tomorrow, the hosts will be looking to build on their home form.

The 12 points from the undefeated home sequence, coupled with a more meagre return of 5 points from the away games during that spell, have made up over half of Rovers’ 31 league points, as they have slowly climbed the table, with three sides now beneath them in the battle to avoid relegation.

With two of those sides – Abingdon United and Longlevens – playing each other, Saturday’s game against Binfield offers The Rovers the chance to take a huge step towards safety. However, it will be a tough test given that Roger Herridge’s costing side beat Rover 4-2 just two weeks ago.

That game saw Rovers put in what Pritchett described as their worst performance of 2019 and although they reached the interval with scores level at 2-2, a poor second half ultimately led to them returning home empty handed.

However, after a depleted squad secured another valuable point against Flackwell Heath last week, the return of Adam Bloomfield, Brad Loveridge, Will Dawes, Tyreece Briscoe and potentially Paul Carter, who has been out with injury, should mean Rovers have plenty of options in their quest to beat one of the division’s form teams.

Saturday’s game at Glevum Park will kick-off at 3pm. Around 4:45pm, Rovers should have a better idea of the challenge they face for the remainder of the season.

Saturday fixtures:

First XI v Binfield, 3pm @ Glevum Park

Upton St. Leonards v Reserves, 3pm

Thirds v Kingsway Rovers, 2:30pm @ Beaufort

Old Richians Reserves v Fourths, 1:30pm

Fifths v Sharpness 3rds, 12:30pm @ Winget

A disappointing weekend but a valuable point for the first team

A very valuable point for our Hellenic League side proved to be the only highlight of a fairly drab weekend for the club, as four games over Saturday and Sunday ended with three defeats in the other games.

With the in-form reserve team (10 games unbeaten) and trophy hunting fifth team not in action, all eyes were on Glevum Park, where a fairly depleted first team squad, missing six regular players, rode their luck at times, but secured a point against Flackwell Heath, with Joel ‘Digger’ White’s goal, on the stroke of half-time, cancelling out Mo Ceesay’s 28th minute header for the visitors. The game was played out in end-to-end fashion but Rovers were grateful to a superb Luke Merchant block, in the final seconds, to secure their point.

Away from Glevum Park there were defeats for the two Stroud League sides in action, as the Fourths journey to Cotswold Rangers ended with a 3-1 defeat, despite Matt Stevens’ goal. The Thirds lost by the same margin, at home to Horlsey United, with Dave Cornock scoring for Dan Boon’s side.

Cornock was one of several regular players absent from the Veterans’ team on Sunday morning and although Mark Patterson’s squad scored three times – through Jon Corbett and a Shayne Bradley brace – Shipton Oliffe ran out 6-3 victors.

So, one point from a possible twelve doesn’t make pleasant reading…but that vital point for Mark Pritchett’s squad was a genuine silver lining.

Pritchett pleased to have plenty of options

Mark Pritchett is glad to have plenty of strength in depth at Tuffley Rovers, as he looks to collect the points needed to secure his side’s place in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division, starting with the visit of Flackwell Heath on Saturday afternoon.

After some encouraging performances, matched by the accumulation of vital points against some of the division’s high-flying teams, Rovers succumbed to a disappointing 4-2 reverse at Binfield last weekend, leaving Pritchett’s side still very much at risk of relegation, although the Rovers boss sees his side’s most recent outing as more of a ‘blip’ than a source of serious concern.

“I thought that our performance on Saturday was the poorest we’ve produced since the turn of the year”, Pritchett reflected. “We simply didn’t turn up and got what we deserved against a decent Binfield side.”

“Flackwell will be a difficult test for us, they’re always a decent physical side”, he explained. “We need to dust ourselves down and go again, with five more very important games to go now, we know we can get over the line but our performance levels need to be high, to make sure.”

After having a fairly settled squad in recent months, Pritchett goes into Saturday’s game with a few players unavailable, meaning he will be calling on some players from the club’s reserve team, who have been playing well in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League and put together a run of ten games unbeaten.

Luke Troke, who made an excellent full debut in the win against Lydney Town, is back involved after scoring four times for the second team in their last four games, and he will be joined by Shay Lyons, Harry Walker and Will Emery, all promoted to fill gaps associated with injury and unavailability.

Cheltenham Town Academy scholars Will Dawes, Tyreece Briscoe and the newly added Olly Price are all away with their parent club for the weekend, Brad Loveridge is unavailable and Henry Birkett has left the club, to return to one of his former clubs, Quedgeley Wanderers.

In addition, Paul Carter is struggling with a muscle injury and is unlikely to feature, whilst Ashley Bird has a knock and is also doubtful.

Add to this Adam Bloomfield’s call-up to the County FA U18 squad, making him unavailable for selection and Pritchett is delighted with the strength in-depth, having added the four reserve team players, as well as the returning Luke Payne and fit again Sam Hill into his selection plans.

“Our reserve team has been doing well and all of the lads coming into the squad have first team experience”, Pritchett added. “It is a testament to the options we have that we’ll have a strong side out, despite so many people being unavailable for this game. I’m confident these lads will do the business for us.”

Rovers host Flackwell Heath at Glevum Park, for a 3pm KO on Saturday afternoon.

A look back at the weekend…

Another mixed weekend for The Rovers

It was another mixed weekend for Tuffley Rovers’ side’s, with positive results for the Reserves and Thirds, alongside defeats for the other three sides.

After victory over the league leaders, Brimscombe & Thrupp, the previous weekend, the First XI travelled to Binfield full of optimism and went into the interval at 2-2, with goals from Kieran Alder and Warren Mann. However, the hosts were the better side in the second period and two goals in the last twenty minutes saw them win 4-2.

Our Reserves made it ten games unbeaten, as goals from Keiron Mace, Will Emery and Luke Troke were enough to see of FC Barometrics, 3-0, in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League.

The Fourths crashed to a dispiriting 8-0 defeat at Avonvale United, whilst the Fifths succumbed to a late, solitary Cam Bulldogs 3rds’ goal, but the Thirds did bring some Stroud League cheer, as Kyle Kennedy’s first half goal proved enough to separate them from Tetbury Town Reserves.

Overall a fair enough weekend. One heavy defeat, so defeats after good contests and two good wins! #uptherovers

Sunday Summary (9/10 March). Monday edition!

A great weekend, despite some mixed results!

Our senior teams had a mixed weekend, with two wins and two defeats, but a win by the first team was a genuine highlight of the season, not just the weekend!

The Hellenic League Premier Division leaders, Brimscombe & Thrupp, arrived at Glevum Park on Sunday, less than three weeks after a 2-1 triumph over Rovers in the reverse fixture, top of the table. They left with without any points, as an inspired display from Rovers took Mark Pritchett’s side to a 1-0 victory, courtesy of Jake Rhodes’ 19th minute goal.

Highlights are available via Gloucestershire Grassroots Sport, courtesy of Mike Watkins. Photographs from the game can be accessed via Brian Rossiter’s Flikr page.

The Fifths continued their good form, too, with a thumping 4-0 win over Cotswold Rangers Reserves. Sixteen year-old Alex Whiffen scored again, taking his total to seven goals in eleven games, to add to a brace from another young player, Charlie Agg, and a first of the season for veteran, Iain Buckingham.

Buckingham was then part of the Sunday Veterans’ side who went down 5-1 against Shurdington Rovers, at All Saints Academy in one of two defeats over the weekend. The other game saw the Fourths succumb to a 1-0 defeat against Cotswold Rangers’ first team.

Despite the two defeats suffered by the club’s sides, it was a good weekend given the excellent win against Brimscombe.

NB: Images courtesy of Brian Rossiter

Pritchett calls for another Rovers performance

Rovers boss calls for another performance against another title challenger

For the fourth time in nineteen days, Tuffley Rovers will play one of the top four sides in the Uhlsport Hellenic League, Premier Division knowing that they’ll need to be at their best if they are to secure points that could prove pivotal to their fight for survival. The sequence of games against the division’s top teams that started with a visit to Brimscombe & Thrupp will end on Saturday, with the current league leaders making the return visit to Glevum Park.

This will be the second time the two sides have met at Glevum Park this season and Rovers will be looking to avoid a similar outcome to the Floodlit Cup tie in early December, when they conceded an equalising goal on the cusp of full-time, before their visitors scored six times in the additional 30 minutes’ extra-time.

When the sides met at The Meadow on 19 February, Rovers looked well set to avenge that chastening defeat, as they held a half-time lead courtesy of Kieran Alder’s deflected free-kick, but a James Campbell brace in the second period proved enough for Sam Prior’s side to take the points on that occasion.

Fast forward to this weekend and Rovers’ boss Mark Pritchett will be hoping that the improving trend might finally help his team secure some points, as they look to continue an impressive spell of form that has helped them start to move above the automatic relegation spots.

The previous three recent games against the top four – the trip to Brimscombe, as well as a game at Wantage Town, prior to last week’s draw with Bishops Cleeve – have yielded just one point, but with a goal difference of just minus two the statistics back up Pritchett’s belief that his side have been continuing the form necessary to take them away from danger.

“We are delighted with our form and we’ve started to turn Glevum Park into a fortress. We feel the two defeats against Brimscombe and Wantage should have been at least draws”, he confirmed.

Rovers’ boss is still overseeing a young squad, with an average age under 23 years old, but he and his Assistant, Rich Cox (who took over from Alex O’Leary midway through the season), believe that their young group are starting to show the potential that has been evident to many through the course of this season.

“We’ve reintegrated Brad Loveridge, after a spell in the Reserves, and added Luke Troke to the squad recently, and both have done well”, Pritchett confirmed. “They’ve created more competition, so that we now have 18-20 players consistently competing for the sixteen places in the squad. That, in turn, has created genuine competition for places but it seems the lads enjoying fighting for their places and there is a really good feeling that they understand this is a squad effort.”

Saturday’s visitors currently lead the Premier Division table and with just five games to go, they’ll arrive at Rovers’ home with a determination to complete a treble of victories in the current season. Their visit comes off the back of a victory over Virginia Water, seven days after a defeat at Holmer Green, which was their only other game since beating Pritchett’s side. Whilst five wins won’t be enough to guarantee Prior’s side the title, as Wantage Town have games in hand, it will put them in sight of an achievement that would be an extraordinary achievement.

So, whatever the teams’ respective positions, both sides come into the game with their eye on a victory that could have a significant influence on their fortunes for the remainder of the season.

Sunday Summary – 3 March 2019

All games should end after 88 minutes…

…well, that is how it feels after the two results on Saturday, 2 March!

Our first team were seconds away from holding out for a memorable victory over Bishops Cleeve, only for a late, late (93rd minute) goal from Kevin Slack to earn the visitors a 1-1 draw at Glevum Park. Rovers had led through a bizarre own-goal from Cleeve keeper Lewis Clayton, who punched the ball up into the air and into the goal behind him following a Luke Payne free-kick, on 73 minutes, but Cleeve piled on the pressure late in the game to earn a deserved point.

It was another tale of what might have been for the Fifths, who played their GFA Primary Cup (North) semi-final tie against Cirencester League leaders, Chesterton, at Beaufort. Two Alex Whiffen goals made it 2-2 and with two minutes remaining the tie looked to be heading for penalties, only for a heavily deflected effort to spin into the goal and deny Sean Roberts’ side the opportunity to make it through to a first cup final.

That defeat doesn’t end the Fifths’ quest for a trophy, though, as they have a Stroud League Section D Plate competition against Cotswold Rangers Reserves on 6 April and currently sit third in the Division Six table.

So, not the worst weekend; it just could have been a lot better!

NB: Images courtesy of Brian Rossiter.

Cleeve on way to Glevum Park

Competing objectives come together at Glevum Park

When Steve Cleal’s title challenging Bishops Cleeve squad arrive at Glevum Park today, they will come up against a Tuffley side twelve places and twenty-seven points behind them, but with the same aspirations for a result that could be a significant milestone in their season, to date.

Since Mark Pritchett’s Tuffley Rovers squad succumbed to a narrow defeat at Cleeve, back in late-November, they found themselves deep in trouble, with only thirteen points from the opening eighteen league games of the season. By contrast, Cleal’s side had thirty points from two games fewer. Rovers’ ten games since has seen them take points from seven, taking them to a total of twenty-six and a little higher up the table, although they are far from safe. When they arrive at Glevum Park, Cleeve’s form will show that their eleven games over the same period have accumulated twenty-three points and they are unbeaten in eight league games; a run which has very much increased their hopes of securing the Uhlsport Hellenic League title, as they sit eight points from the leaders, with three games in-hand.

Kieran Alder scored twice in Tufffley’s 4-1 victory over Lydney Town
on 26/2/19 - Image courtesy of Brian Rossiter @BrianRossiter1 So, two teams who are in good form will meet at Rovers’ home with a genuine appetite for victory, but with totally different aspirations, as far as the impact that securing three points might have. Pritchett’s side are in buoyant mood, despite two defeats – by the narrowest of margins, against the league’s top two teams – that were sandwiched in between a thumping 4-0 victory over Ardley United and a 4-1 triumph over Lydney Town, on Tuesday evening.

Whilst a much improved defensive record has been a feature of Rovers’ recent form, with just seven goals conceded in the last seven league games – in contrast to a record that saw them concede fourteen in the seven games prior to that. The defensively solidity that has been evident of late will be tested to the full against a Bishops Cleeve side who will visit with their squad brim full of goalscoring potential, including Brad Martin and Elliot Kennedy, who have scored 47 goals between them in all competitions. Jack Watt’s 15 goals mean that the visitors on Saturday will have three players who have scored more than Rovers’ leading marksman.

However, as well as the improved ‘goals against’ column, Rovers have set about improving their ‘goals for’, with one player catching the eye in particular, as a former Cleeve player, Kieran Alder, has found the net six times in his past four appearances, taking his season’s total to eleven, making the diminutive midfielder Rovers’ top scorer. Alder is one of several players lining up against their former club, with Cleeve’s side likely to include a number of former Rovers players, and Pritchett believes his young midfielder is a threat to Cleeve’s hopes.

“A little while ago, we took Kieran out of the side, because we needed to change a few things, and when he got back in, I told Kieran I wanted to see a response”, said Pritchett. “That response has been spot-on, because Kieran has been excellent in recent weeks.” Pritchett also believes that Alder is one of a number of players who are starting to realise their potential, after a tough campaign, to date. “For a young lad Kieran has a great attitude and works hard. He’s someone who has the potential to play a much higher level in the future, but we’ve got a really good young squad that are starting to show they’re capable of competing at this level”, he concluded.

After their midweek win, Rovers head into the game with a largely unchanged squad, meaning youngsters Brad Loveridge and Luke Troke are likely to feature again, after stepping up from the reserve team squad for the game against Lydney Town. Rhys Davies and Sam Hill remain injury doubts but may feature.