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!
