April 2019 – Tuffley Rovers AFC

That was the week that was….

…the last of the full, competitive 2018/19 season and we had a relatively decent week, as it happens!

The week started with the final Uhlsport Hellenic League, Premier Division fixture for the first team, and it was a great day for the club, as the GroundhopUK group made our game the 12th (or 13) of their groundhopping weekend. The consequence was that we had a crowd of 221 to watch us record an excellent 3-0 win over Fairford Town, not only a great way to end the competitive season, but also enough to secure a 15th place finish that looked incredibly unlikely earlier in the season. Kieran Alder netted his 13th of the season, after Adam Bloomfield had scored twice in the first half to put Pritch’s side in charge of the game.

We then saw the Reserves, Thirds and Fifths all end their seasons on Saturday, with one win, one draw and one defeat to show for the day’s endeavours.

Dan Gillespie, Russ Williams and Phil Ryder-Jones signed off their time with the Reserves with a disappointing result, albeit a 3-1 reverse away at title challengers Chalford. Will Emery’s sixth goal of the season wasn’t enough to secure any points, as the second team finished with three consecutive defeats, albeit after a string of good results that had taken the squad up the table, ultimately securing them a creditable fifth place finish.

The Thirds went better than that, finishing third in their division, as Dan Boon’s side came from behind to beat Upton St. Leonards Reserves 3-1. The visitors took a first half lead, before Andy Meek, Mark Pritchett (making a very rare Stroud League appearance) and Chris Giddy scored to make it a good end to the season.

A full set of results was complete when the Fifths got a point, courtesy of a 1-1 draw, away at Champions Cashes Green. Alfie Fortey’s goal, equalising after the hosts had taken the lead, meant that Will Cronshaw’s side finished fourth in Division Six, only a year after promotion.

On Sunday, the Vets completed their season, too, and they held title challengers Quedgeley Wanderers to a 3-3 draw, despite playing much of the second half with only ten players, after a threadbare squad lost a couple of players to injuries. A brace from Shayne Bradley and another from Gary Cornwall were enough to help secure a third place finish for Mark Patterson’s team.

Social club events update

We’ve added a list of forthcoming social events to the relevant page of the website:

Social Club

Groundhop UK – advice ahead of Monday’s game

We are anticipating a busy day at Glevum Park on Easter Monday with the visit of Fairford Town to Glevum Park, for our final Hellenic League fixture of the 2018/19 season, as well as the penultimate game of this weekend’s Hellenic League Groundhop, so we’re offering some advice to all visitors, including our regular spectators.

Travel to the site and parking arrangements: If you haven’t been to Glevum Park before, we would ask that you access the ground via Lower Tuffley Lane unless you are a pedestrian (in which case the Shakespeare Avenue side of the ground is suitable). The published postcode for our ground – GL2 5DT – can end up taking you to either side of the ground, so if you’re driving please use GL2 5DN and follow the route on this YouTube video: Getting to Glevum Park

Save for visiting players and visiting officials, the majority of spectators will be directed to a car-park just before the ground, namely at local company Marshall Langston, who have kindly agreed to support our event. Marshall Langston’s car-park is approximately 200 yards before the entrance to Glevum Park and can be seen on the left-hand side at the 50 second mark in the YouTube video (it is the building with the green gates). That car-park will be open from 12:45pm. All parking is free of charge.

If you travel by motor vehicle and access from the Shakespeare Avenue side of the ground, please be respectful of local residents and do not attempt to park in the resident’s parking immediately outside the ground under any circumstances.

Admission prices: As part of the Groundhop agreement, all spectators attending Glevum Park – with the exception of season-ticket holders and U16s – will pay the standard admission price. Concessions will not be available on the day. All the Groundhoppers have paid the full admission price, so it would be inappropriate to then offer concessions to other spectators.

Admittance: Season ticket holders and spectators attending with an official Groundhop UK pass should ensure they have tickets ready to display at the gate. In the event that we experience any queueing we will look to fast-track those with season-tickets and Groundhop passes, using the gates adjacent to our turnstiles.

Programmes: We have printed a significant number of additional programmes. They will not be available on the turnstiles, however, in order to ensure that access is granted swiftly and will be available from specific areas inside the ground. They will be sold on a first come, first served basis.

We look forward to welcoming everyone to Glevum Park tomorrow. We’d ask you to be respectful of our neighbours, as well as all players, officials and visitors. The weather forecast is fantastic and we hope everyone has a terrific day.

In closing, we’d like to thank the organisers of Groundhop UK – specifically Chris Berezai, who has been a great source of advice and assistance – for their support in making this day possible. We hope that all their guests are able to join our friends from Fairford Town and our wonderful supporters in making this a good day for everyone.

#uptherovers

Third team result the rose amongst some thorns!

A weekend that saw Tuffley Rovers’ sides playing four games ended with just one victory, with the third team’s convincing win in Stroud League, Division Three the highlight of a difficult day.

Dan Boon’s squad recorded a fine 5-1 win at Beaufort Playing fields – a result that secured third place in their division – courtesy of goals from Martin Kent, Iain Buckingham, Lee Brinkworth and a brace from Chris Giddy, with their second half performance decisive, after they held a slim 1-0 advantage at the break.

The First XI came back from their final Hellenic League away game of the season without any points, having lost 2-1 at Flackwell Heath, despite a decent performance. Flackwell Heath opened the scoring through Simeon Weekes, before Aaron Layne scored their second, eleven minutes after the interval. When Dominik Kent pulled a goal back 23 minutes from time, his eighth of the season, there were hopes of a comeback but a late Tyreece Briscoe free-kick which hit the post was the closest they came. The second half saw a debut for Jack Ellis, after a good season in the U18s and Reserves squads.

In Dan Gillespie’s final home game as reserve team manager, following his recent decision to stand-down at the end of the season, his side went down by the same 2-1 scoreline, despite leading early on. A much-changed side included several U18s players, with Kane Hyett and Ethan Ravenhill making full-debuts, had led through Ryan Dobbins’ goal but the opposition, Berkeley Town, scored twice in the second period to take the three points away from Glevum Park.

The other game of the day saw a 10-goal thriller, as the Fifths went down 6-4 away at Minchinhampton Reserves, with the hosts winning both halves 3-2! Will Cronshaw’s charges worked hard in their penultimate game of a solid season, but despite goals from Rudran Rutnanandan, James Hawley, Alfie Fortey and Jake Anderson, weren’t enough to secure any points, leaving the Thirds as the club’s most (and only) successful side on Saturday!

Safety secured, so opportunity knocks for Rovers’ youngsters

As they set off on their final away game of the season, Tuffley Rovers will be in party mood, after local rivals Longlevens’ win over Reading City on Friday ensured that Mark Pritchett’s side had secured Hellenic League, Premier Division football for the 2019/20 season.

However, it will be a depleted Rovers squad that make the trip to Flackwell Heath on Saturday, with Warren Mann and Jake Rhodes injured, whilst Macaulay Herbert, Brad Loveridge, Luke Payne and Rhys Davies are all unavailable for a variety of reasons. So, with Paul Carter also suspended, Pritchett is left short of numbers, although one position is likely to have the most profound effect on the Rovers boss.

Luke Merchant is travelling with the squad but might not be fit to play, which leaves Pritchett with a problem, given that reserve keeper Dan Brabham is unavailable for selection. It could mean Pritchett may don the gloves himself, making an appearance in goal for the third consecutive season.

Thankfully, the Levens win on Friday afternoon has ensured the lingering threat of relegation has passed, meaning that Pritchett will have the opportunity to look at some of the club’s younger players over the weekend.

Reserve team players Shay Lyons and Jack Ellis have both been added to the squad, whilst Essa Sabally returns, after a spell out of the first team squad, and with all three players under 20 years of age, Pritchett knows he will be fielding a very young squad.

Joel White, Pritchett, Sam Hill and Brett James aside, Pritchett’s squad is full of U20s and the manager himself is the elder statesman, at 30 years of age!

The two sides meet just three weeks after playing out a 1-1 draw at Glevum Park, over a busy weekend for Rovers, who will host Fairford Town, as part of the Hellenic League’s Groundhop on Monday, 22 April.

Win one, draw one, lose two…

Looking back at the weekend, a little later than planned, and although the results weren’t great, there were a few positives. Now, if we start with the negatives, it will probably feel less painful!

A thumping 3-0 defeat, in a fairly drab affair, saw the first team fail to achieve mathematical certainty of their place in the 2019/20 Hellenic League Premier Division. Antonio Gerrish scored twice for the visitors – who extended their unbeaten league run to 17 games – and Nathan Blackford got the other, in front of a crowd of 79 at Glevum Park.

The Veterans were the victims of an even heavier defeat, going down 5-0 against Shurdington Rovers on Sunday, with that victory putting Shurdy in pole position to secure the Gloucestershire FA Veterans League, Division One (North) title.

It does start to get a little more positive from here….

First, we had the Fifths securing an excellent 0-0 draw at home to Cashes Green, which keeps them up and around the top teams in Stroud League Division Six. Youngsters Alex Whiffen and William Cronshaw Jnr continue to impress for the side, with the blend of youth and veteran players proving a real success.

The result of the weekend went to the Thirds, who defeated their Quedgeley Wanderers counterparts 2-0, thanks to goals from Josh Webb and Niall Priday making the difference. One notable event was the selection of Ethan Ravenhill as captain for the game; the seventeen year old surely becoming one of the youngest ever players to captain a senior side.

Ethan was congratulated on this achievement by third team manager, Dan Boon.

The other highlight of the weekend was the Tuffley Rovers U8s visit to our first team fixture. What a great bunch of youngsters and thanks to Jason Merrett for helping to organise their attendance at the game. Hopefully one or two of them will be playing at Glevum Park in ten years’ time!

Versatility the key, as Rovers prepare for in-form visitors

Tuffley Rovers are within touching distance of securing their place in the 2019/20 Hellenic League Premier Division, with only a disastrous series of results in the closing weeks of the season capable of pushing them back into the relegation places, as they welcome the division’s form team, Shrivenham, to Glevum Park tomorrow.

When Mark Pritchett’s side travelled to tomorrow’s visitors in late-October, the two sides looked set for a tough season, with Gareth Davies’ side bottom of the table and Rovers two points ahead of them. By the end of that game, a late Sean McKeon winner, gave ten-man Shrivenham the three points, pushing them above Rovers and they’ve moved steadily up the table ever since. Both sides now have three games to play and a remarkable run of form – fourteen wins from their last sixteen games and no defeats – has propelled Shrivenham to fifth place, 27 points clear of Rovers, who lie in 16^th place.

That gap will tell Pritchett that his side, who need a point to achieve mathematical certainty that they are safe from the drop, are in for a tough challenge, but Pritchett still believes his charges can gain revenge for that earlier defeat and achieve safety at the same time.

“Shrivenham have been on a brilliant run, going sixteen unbeaten, having been bottom when we played them last”, he confirmed. “Despite that, I believe we are in good form ourselves and are capable of putting an end to their long unbeaten run. As we aren’t 100% safe, we know we need the points, so there is a real incentive to perform and get a result.”

Injuries and non-availability have forced Pritchett to regularly change his line-up during the season but they have collected fifteen points from their last seven home games, an unbeaten run dating back to the start of the New Year, and the Rovers boss owes much of that excellent form to an increasing level of versatility in his squad.

Luke Payne, Rhys Davies and Luke Troke have all joined the squad since the October defeat against Shrivenham and all three have shown a capability to play in numerous positions, giving Pritchett plenty of options when selecting his squad.

Payne should be back in the squad for Saturday’s game, after missing the win against Binfield last time out, although another player who has filled a number of positions, Sam Hill, is unavailable. Brad Loveridge is also absent, whilst Dominik Kent is back in the frame, after a couple of outings for the Reserves since he too missed that win against Binfield.

With the opportunity to shape their own destiny – as well as the potential to finish as high as 12^th still a possibility – Rovers have plenty to play for and when the game kicks off at Glevum Park (3pm), Pritchett will almost certainly field a squad versatile and capable enough to leave him confident that they’ll rise to meet the challenge posed by Davies’ visiting team.

Other games on Saturday, 13 April:

Thirds v Quedgeley Wanderers 3rds, Beaufort, 2:30pm

Fifths v Cashes Green, Winget, 2:30pm

Sunday, 14 April:

Shurdington Rovers v Veterans, 10am, All Saints Academy

NB: Photographs courtesy of Brian Rossiter

A look back: No first team game & no fifth team final, but otherwise…

…it was a good weekend!

Although the first team weren’t in action, they edged closer to Hellenic League Premier Division safety (courtesy of Reading City’s defeat at Bishops Cleeve) and barring a disaster over the last three games, they should have done enough to retain their place in the division for 2019/20.

On the field, the Reserves recorded an emphatic win over FC Barometrics, although the game was marred by an incident late on, which resulted in a melee and the dismissal of a Barometrics player. That aside, the performance was very positive and Dan Gillespie’s side recorded another victory that puts them within touching distance of a top four finish in the league. A late first half goal from Will Emery gave the second team a half-time advantage, after Barometrics had equalised Dom Kent’s early goal, but second half strikes from Luke Troke and a penalty from Ryan Dobbins made sure the three points stayed at Glevum Park.

Earlier in the afternoon, the fifth team lost in a cup semi-final for the second time in recent weeks, as they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat against Cotswold Rangers in a fixture played at Quedgeley Wanderers’ home, Waterwells.

There was better news from the day’s early kick-off (11am), with a solitary Andy Meek goal proving sufficient to see off the persistence of Thornbury Town Reserves.

So, the first team almost safe; the Reserves continuing their good run of results; and the Thirds getting three points and a clean sheet. Not too bad a weekend.