Tuffley Rovers AFC

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.

Rovers looking to maintain momentum

Despite a defeat at leaders Brimscombe & Thrupp on Tuesday evening, bringing to an end their six match unbeaten run in the league, Tuffley Rovers came away from the contest in good spirits, after more than matching their high-flying hosts to the extent that they received considerable praise from the opposition manager, Sam Prior.

However, the absence of points left Rovers’ boss, Mark Pritchett, frustrated, with his squad immersed in a battle to climb away from the relegation places in the Uhlsport Hellenic League, Premier Division.

“I was left with a sense of frustration by the result on Tuesday night but I was really pleased with the performance and the level of effort we put into the game”, Pritchett reflected. “We more than held our own against the league leaders, but a couple of lapses in concentration in the early stages of the second-half has cost us.”

Tuesday’s outing saw a debut for Ross Langworthy, signed on a dual registration basis from Southern League Yate Town, which added strength to Pritchett’s squad, although he will return to his parent club this weekend, at a time when Pritchett has lost a few players to injuries or work commitments.

“Brett James will be out for a few weeks, after he picked up a shoulder injury at Ascot, and Sam Hill injured his groin against Ardley United”, he confirmed. “We lost Will Dawes and Tyreece Briscoe in midweek, due to commitments they had with Cheltenham Town, and Jack Phillips has been missing for a while now, due to work commitments.”

In addition, recent signing Adam Bloomfield may be unavailable this weekend – due to County FA commitments – but despite all these issues, Pritchett believes his side can continue their good form and translate that into valuable league points, starting at second place Wantage Town on Saturday, with third place Bishops Cleeve visiting Glevum Park seven days’ later; not to mention a midweek fixture at Glevum Park against Lydney Town, sandwiched in-between, on Tuesday evening.

“Brimscombe dug deep on Tuesday and showed why they’re top of this league, but we matched them for much of the game”, he added. “We’ve got games coming thick and fast, none of them easy, but we’ll look to go again and continue the good form we’ve shown since the turn of the year.”

Dawes and Briscoe should be available for the visit to Wantage Town, whilst Hill is recovering well and if he doesn’t make Saturday’s game might well be fit to return to action for Tuesday evening’s fixture, as Rovers look to accumulate the points need to secure their place in the league, potentially affecting the title challengers fortunes in the process.

Pritchett looking for a cup final performances, as Rovers look to secure their Premier Division status

Tuffley Rovers will go into Saturday’s Uhlsport Hellenic League, Premier Division game with Ardley United looking to extend their five game unbeaten run in the league, with manager Mark Pritchett calling on his squad to deliver performances in their final twelve league games, as though they were cup finals, in an effort to secure the points needed to avoid relegation.

Since defeat at home to Royal Wootton Bassett Town on 15 December, Rovers have managed four draws – at Windsor, Virginia Water and last week at Ascot United, as well as a home draw with Holmer Green on 5 January – and a win at Reading City three weeks ago. That run hasn’t drastically altered their league position, but the seven points gained have kept Pritchett’s charges off the foot of the table and drawn them closer to the sides above them, including Saturday’s visitors to Glevum Park.

The Rovers boss has found himself lamenting results, rather than performances, in the season to date and his team are finally accruing points, after two miserable spells, where points were at a premium, earlier in the season.

Last week’s draw at high-flying Ascot might easily have been converted to a much needed win, although there was still a risk that Rovers would return empty handed too, but Pritchett was buoyant about the performance and believes his team will move away from trouble if the application shown can be matched in their twelve remaining games.

“It was a really positive result for us”, Pritchett enthused. “We could have won it, but we are just pleased to have secured another point, remain unbeaten and we now move on to face Ardley United, with our focus on taking all three points.”

Rovers’ form has coincided with the return of Warren Mann, after a serious injury, although the addition of Cheltenham Town youngsters Tyreece Briscoe and Will Dawes has also made a difference, whilst Pritchett has also been pleased with the improvement in defence, with Rhys Davies and Joel White, now reunited alongside the excellent Macaulay Herbert, influential in the improved run of form.

Pritchett has also added Slimbridge’s prolific U18 striker, Adam Bloomfield, to the squad and although he only made a brief appearance against Ascot United, coming on with ten minutes remaining, the Rovers boss feels that the seventeen-year-old could have an important role to play.

“Dominik Kent scored last week, to become our top scorer, but he has only scored six times in all competitions, and it is no surprise that we needed a goalscorer”, Pritchett confirmed. “We believe Adam can make a difference and be a key part of our run in, as we try to climb up the table.”

Ardley United arrive at Glevum Park unbeaten in their last three league games – with one win and two draws, including a 3-3 scoreline recorded against Longlevens last weekend – and sitting 8 points above Rovers, albeit having played a game more. They beat Rovers 2-1 earlier in the season and Pritchett is hoping his team can exact a little revenge for the defeat on that occasion.

“We are looking to put things right, after the defeat at their place”, he added. “Their form has been up and down but they’ve got points on the board and they will make it difficult for us. I believe we are capable of taking the points if we continue the form we have been showing.”

After a challenging season, included a spell which saw his side go without a league win for over three months, Mark Pritchett takes his squad to high-flying Ascot United on Saturday on the back of a four game unbeaten streak that has secured valuable points in Tuffley Rovers’ battle against relegation from the Hellenic League, Premier Division.

When they last played, fourteen days ago at Reading City, goals from Jake Rhodes and Brett James proved sufficient to secure a first win since October, a result that followed three consecutive draws, against Windsor, Holmer Green and Virginia Water.

By contrast, Saturday’s hosts started their season in terrific form but have struggled in recent league games, taking just five points from their last five league fixtures, although they have shown much better form in several cup ties since the turn of the year.

The fixture will see Rovers making one of their longest journeys of the season, as they cover a 188 mile round-trip, to face a side who they recorded a good point against when the two sides met at Glevum Park in early November. On that occasion, prolific striker Nathan Minhas – who has since moved to National League side, Billericay Town – rescued a point for one of this season’s promotion contenders, equalising to make it 2-2 after goals from Kieran Alder and Dominik Kent had seen Rovers recover from falling behind to Louis Bouwers’ header.

With his side’s results beginning to show some reward for a series of promising performances this season, Pritchett is looking to build on recent progress, although he is wary of the threat that Ascot United will pose.

“I thought Ascot were one of the best sides we’ve played this season, so we know we’re in for a difficult task”, he said. “Although we’re coming into this game off the back of some decent performances and I’m hoping the confidence of that win at Reading will give us the chance to push on and collect more positive results in the coming weeks.”

A largely unchanged squad is set to make the long haul to The Racecourse Ground on Saturday, although Pritchett has added Adam Bloomfield to the squad, on a dual registration basis from Slimbridge, with the young forward having had a prolific season for the Southern League club’s Under 18 squad.