The calendar continues to flick through towards the new year as Rovers finish their road trip this festive season with a visit up to the famous Racecourse of Cheltenham to take on Bishops Cleeve in the Southern Football League Division One South with a 3 pm kick off at Kayte Lane.
Last time out for Willand it was a trip to The Creek to take on Bristol Manor Farm where new additions and confidence from the week before merged to create a point on the road as Ryan Guppy’s late header at the back post rolled past Crawford to ensure that for the first time since 2016, rovers would harvest a point on the farm’s soil.
But now the attention turns to Bishops Cleeve who are batting for promotion once again this season with the Mitres currently sitting just outside the playoffs before Saturday. Paul Collicutt’s men have been in the division for several seasons and they’ll be hoping this time round is their ticket out to the Premier Division.
In Cleeve’s previous game on Saturday, it was a goal fest at Plain Ham as the points were shared in a 4-4 draw. Larkhall doubled their lead, but Cleeve clawed back three but it was the hosts who put the nail in the coffin in the 96th minute. Both teams go in with a draw and will be hunting for all three over the weekend.
One to watch for the hosts would have to be Ben McLean who has been a big part of Cleeve’s push up the table this season. The Midfielder has brought goal scoring threat to the Mighty Mitres with his eye for goal being wider than ever during the Christmas period.
The last time both sides met was in the FA Trophy back in September for the second season running. It was Cleeve who progressed in the competition with the scores level at the final whistle but Rovers narrowly lost out on penalties on the afternoon.
The fun bus is once again in operation for this fixture, but it’ll be the festive bus, departing at 11:30 from Silver Street, with a fare of £15. Christmas Jumpers are advised as the bus will be transformed into a willand winter wonderland for the day!
This is the final fixture before Christmas. We will be back in action against Brixham on the 27th December, so this is certainly one you cannot miss. Onwards and upwards!
