Month: August 2023

Tuffley Rovers will host Longlevens, in the fixture often dubbed the ‘El Glosico’, as both sides look to improve their form at the start of the 2023/24 Uhlsport Hellenic League season.

Longlevens won on the opening day of the season, against Lydney Town, but neither side has recorded three points in any of their other league fixtures, meaning they will meet on the Bank Holiday Monday, as has become tradition in recent seasons, with all to play for if they are to move up the table.

Last season Levens comprehensively beat Rovers 4-0 at Glevum Park, on a fixture played over the Christmas Period, and the two sides had played out a 0-0 draw in August, when the teams had met at Sawmills End.

KO at Glevum Park is 3pm. The official match-day programme can be downloaded from the website or printed copied purchased from the turnstile.

Tuffley Rovers will visit Southern League side Evesham United in the Emirates FA Cup, Preliminary Round on Saturday afternoon, hoping that the cup tie will offer some respite after a difficult week in the Uhlsport Hellenic League.

After a battling draw at Worcester City on the opening day of the season, Rovers then drew 2-2 with Aylesbury Vale Dynamos in the last round of the FA Cup, before news that their opposition had fielded an ineligible player resulted in them progressing to meet Evesham United.

Since then, a disappointing defeat away at Hereford Lads Club was followed by a 4-3 home defeat against Hereford Pegasus on Tuesday evening, meaning Rovers are without a win in four competitive games this season.

Given the results in the past week, Rovers will go into the game hoping that the FA Cup tie will offer a chance for them to put those performances behind them and use the cup game as an opportunity to get a little respite from the league and hope that they can pull off a surprise result against tough Southern League opposition.

Kick-off is 3pm at the Spiers & Hartwell Stadium in Evesham.

Tuffley Rovers will make the trip to face Hereford Lads Club in the Uhlsport Hellenic League on Saturday afternoon, hoping for an improvement in their fortunes at their hosts’ ground, after losing their previous two league fixtures there, including a catastrophic 9-1 defeat when Rich Cox was at the helm in 2021/22.

Manager Neil Mustoe will miss the game, due to a personal commitment, but will be hoping his side can at least continue their unbeaten start to the season, after draws away Worcester City and then at home to Aylesbury Vale Dynamos.

Whilst Mustoe is absent, Assistant Manager Liam O’Neill will take charge and he has a strong squad to select from, even with the absence of Sam Hill, Alex Barrett, Jack McCormack and Liam Smith, who are all unavailable. Long-term absentee Kieran Alder is still not fit but it is hoped that he may be able to return to action in the near future.

Keeper Luke Merchant has returned to the squad after missing the FA Cup tie last weekend as he was attending a wedding.

Mustoe managed to add two players to his squad before going away, with the signing of Nathan Payne on dual registration from Malvern Town, and Matt Holdaway, a versatile defensive player who played for Mustoe at Gloucester City U18s.

There has been one departure this week, with Elliot Jones transferring to Lydney Town. Ryley Mace also looks set to leave, with Shortwood United his likely destination.

Tuffley Rovers have advanced to the Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round, where they will face a trip to Southern League side Evesham United on 19 August, but the manner of their progress from the Extra Preliminary Round was rather different from any of their previous victories in the famous cup competition.

Rovers had drawn 2-2 at Glevum Park with Aylesbury Vale Dynamos on Saturday and were set to travel to Aylesbury on Tuesday, 8 August but the game was called off on Monday and provisionally rescheduled for 15 August.

That game has now been cancelled and it has been confirmed that The Dynamos have been removed from the competition after playing an unregistered player in the original tie at Glevum Park. An FA commission considered the charge on Wednesday and it was confirmed that they had decided to remove the club from this season’s competition, albeit pending an appeal.

The Aylesbury side had admitted the offence and took to social media on Thursday to confirm they had exited the cup. Earlier this afternoon the Football Association confirmed the outcome, after the time permitted for any appeal had passed without further representations.

Secretary, Neil Spiller, said that whilst the club were pleased to progress to the next round, they had tremendous sympathy for their opponents in the Extra Preliminary Round.

“We are really pleased to progress to the next round but this is not the way in which we would have wanted to progress”, he said. “We had a great game on Saturday and we have real sympathy for Aylesbury, who are paying a heavy price for a genuine administrative error. The outcome is probably the right one, but we had been looking forward to the replay and had hoped to progress through a more conventional route.”

Rovers will now travel to Evesham United on 19 August, for a 3pm kick-off.

Tuffley Rovers’ FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round replay at Aylesbury Vale Dynamos has been postponed, with the game now penciled in for 15 August 2023.

When the two sides drew 2-2 on Saturday, courtesy of Jake Rhodes’ second half equaliser for Rovers, it was anticipated that Rovers would make the trip to Aylesbury on Tuesday evening, but the FA have postponed the tie and will confirm the final arrangements for the game later this week.

This is a matter outside the club’s control and we apologise to anyone who had made plans to attend tomorrow’s game.

Rovers will now be without a game, as the Hellenic League Premier Division fixture against Pershore Town, which had originally been scheduled for 8 August, was postponed to accommodate the FA Cup replay.

Next up will be a trip to play Hereford Lads Club on Saturday afternoon.

Tuffley Rovers will go into Emirates FA Cup action on Saturday afternoon, as they host an unfamiliar opponent, Aylesbury Vale Dynamos, in the Extra Preliminary Round of the 2023/24 competition.

Neil Mustoe’s squad competed in a first Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division fixture, away at Worcester City, on Tuesday evening and returned with a valuable point from a 0-0 draw, whilst their opponents in the FA Cup tie lost their opening league game 2-0, against Dunstable Town.

Aside from the boost in confidence from a hard fought draw, Rovers’ battling display will count for little when they host Dynamos, with the two sides never having met before, meaning they are entirely unfamiliar opponents.

The Aylesbury side aren’t unfamiliar to all Hellenic League clubs, though, and although the club is relatively new (in its current guise), having formed in 2019 through the merger of Aylesbury Vale and Bedgrove Dynamos, they have already faced opponents familiar to Rovers in three of four years that they have competed in the FA Cup.

In 2019/20 they drew 1-1 at Royal Wootton Bassett Town, before triumphing 1-0 in a replay; then in 2021/22 they pushed Longlevens hard before losing 1-0. They gained revenge the following year, when they hosted Longlevens and won 3-2. They then defeated Bristol Manor Farm before losing a thrilling 1st Qualifying Round tie at Yate Town 4-3.

Kick-off on Saturday is 3pm at Glevum Park.