Category: Matchday

Our last game of pre-season sees Willand welcome Honiton Town. Willand have been nothing short of successful in pre-season, getting impressive draws against Taunton Town and Tiverton Town at home and getting wins away.

In our last game even more Rovers regulars weren’t available, which gave way for more trialists to take to the pitch. In the end, thanks to goals from Tom Bath and Riki Shepherd, Willand just won against Bridgwater United. This keeps our unbeaten streak intact as we look to our final preseason match.

The one to watch for this game is Lewis Harvey; he might not be on everyone’s radar, but he is by far Honiton Town’s best player, with him getting goals and man of the match in most of his recent games with the club. He could cause a few issues for us if we aren’t switched on.

Our final pre-season match as the Southern League season is now in touching distance as we prepare for some cup action next as we take on Barnstaple Town, which is also at home. We want to end pre-season on a positive note and keep our unbeaten streak going into the season as we gear up for the Southern League.

Get behind the lads, as we have one game left, and it’s at the Stan Robinson. After this, we have a cup game at home again, this time to Barnstaple Town, which marks the start of the season. This will be a good game for both sides, and no doubt both teams are going to bring everything. Let’s make this a season to remember.

Bridgwater Town vs. Willand

The penultimate game of pre-season saw Willand back on the road as they headed across the Somerset border to Fairfax Park, home of Bridgwater United.

Manager David Steele was looking to continue Rovers unbeaten start to the pre-season after impressive draws against Southern League opposition in the form of Tiverton and Taunton and welcomed new signing Alfie Cunningham to the squad after some impressive performances. The Willand manager was also able to field a near-starting defensive line with Edwards returning to join Guppy and Searle, with Sa filling in for a vacationing Richards.

Bridgwater came into the game only 3 days before the start of their Western League, and the extra week of fitness training showed in the earlier exchanges as the home team pushed forward, Sowden pulling off an excellent save from a Tucker strike in the 16th minute. The visitor’s tempo was further affected in the 20th minute when both Searle and Edwards were forced off with injuries, replaced by Kempster and Armstrong.

The half continued to meander towards the inevitable orange break without either team able to find a firm footing, a multi-man melee in the 32nd minute the highlight, culminating in a forced Rovers substitution as Cunningham replaced Page.

Half Time: Bridgwater Town 0 – Willand 0

The second half kicked off with the usual pre-season substitutions, with Bath replacing Copp for Willand, and it took the new Willand signing only 10 minutes to announce his intentions, albeit with a shot that may have reached Willand before it finally landed.

It didn’t take long for the striker to find the target, though, with another good run culminating with a well-placed shot that nestled in the bottom corner of the Bridgwater net to give the visitors the lead in the 62nd minute.

To their credit this only lit a fire under the home team, who would have considered themselves to be unlucky to have been behind, and only a combination of luck, bad judgement, and some excellent work from Sowden kept the lead intact until Hodge beat substitute keeper Seymour in the 80th minute.

Not to be outdone by his new strike partner though, Shepperd regained the lead for Willand in the 88th with a 30-yard lob that beat Smith, and with little time left on the referee’s watch, it was a goal worthy of winning the game.

David Steele and his team will be happy with the display and even happier to remain unbeaten, especially against a Bridgwater team that should be challenging for the Western League come May.

He’ll also hope that the injuries are only minor as he looks forward to the visit of Honiton on Monday to conclude the pre-season.

Full Time Bridgwater Town 1 – Willand 2

Our penultimate game of pre-season sees Willand take on Bridgwater United at Fairfax Park. Our first of two away matches of pre-season saw Willand win against Bishops Lydeard then back-to-back 2-2 draws against Taunton Town and Tiverton Town.

In our last game, several Rovers household names were unavailable from the usual lineup however that would not stop Steele’s men with Tom Bath & Alex Parsons providing the goal threat and with our new signings already adapting well. This match is less of a local one but should still provide a good game as it is only up the M5 for the Rovers.

The one to watch is Jake Llewellyn. He is an experienced defender who has played at Weston and has experience which will be valuable with the young squad that Bridgwater United have. That experience will be invaluable for them as they look to challenge us before their Western League campaign gets underway this weekend.

This match will be a good watch with both sides wanting to win and with Willand in good goalscoring form there will be goals with Willand has scored 2 goals in every pre-season game so far and with some more players coming back we hope to see another win on the road.

Get behind the lads and make sure to show your support as we work hard before the season starts. There is one more pre-season game after this at home to Honiton Town and then we start so get behind the lads and let’s make this a season to remember.

Our third friendly of the summer saw us back on on home soil as Willand took on fellow mid-Devon side Tiverton Town. We saw returns to Willand for keeper George Burton and striker Jacob Wellington who had opted to head over the road to Ladysmead. After a draw with Taunton Town the week before, there was a sense of optimism in the air ahead of this fixture with a bumper crowd anticipated.

The game started off strong with both teams going neck to neck to try and put themselves on the front foot in this fixture. However, it would be Willand who took the lead with a cross from Douglas Camilo was met by Tom Bath’s bouldering header which rattled past George Burton to give the Rovers the lead in the 26th minute.

Tiverton sought out opportunities and created further chances which applied pressure on a much changed Rovers backline. It would be from a corner in which Sowden-Bird despite his best efforts couldn’t keep out and Tiverton manager Asa Hall dusted his boots off and brought back a classic by levelling the scoring.

The game was all square going into half-time with both teams looking to get the win with our visitors just 10 miles from Silver Street themselves. This is as local as it gets but the pre-season spirit was about to take a turn as both sides came out hunting for bragging rights.

The second half started off like the first with both teams controlling the game and it looked like anyone could win. The yellows then took control and started taking shots and would take the lead when former Willand striker Jacob Wellington curled the ball into the bottom right corner to put themselves in front for the first time on the afternoon.

Andy Sowden-Bird was called on a few more times after the goal with Tiverton looking to secure a third and winning goal. However, it would go the other way in the 82nd minute when Alex Parsons brought Willand back level with a solid strike which would bring the last of the action of the day

Full time at Silver Street, the game ends all square with Tom Bath and Alex Parsons getting the goals for the Rovers and it continues our impressive form.

Willand is still unbeaten in pre-season. They go on the road to take the trip up the M5 to play Bridgwater United at Fairfax Park. Then, after that, we have our final pre-season match against Honiton Town, where we will be on the street one more time before the season starts.

Willand Rovers magic numbers for the 19/7/25 are 4-5-18-24 there’s no winners prize for the 26/7/25 is £925

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Our second game at the Stan Robinson Stadium sees us taking on Tiverton Town. Our first game of pre-season saw us go up to Bishop’s Lydeard, where we got a convincing 2-0. Then we played Taunton Town, and after a valiant effort, we left that game with a draw.

In that game, we saw debutants like Cameron Page get on the score sheet and bring some more momentum to the club. Our next game is against Tiverton Town, which should provide a good atmosphere and, overall, a very good game of football. The main hope is that we can continue our good form that we have obtained in the first two games of pre-season.

The one to watch is their defender Toby Down. He came up through the ranks at Exeter City before joining clubs like Taunton, Bideford AFC and Plymouth Parkway. He has got experience when it comes to leading the line and will no doubt look to form a rock-solid defence when he comes to the Stan Robinson.

Tiverton have got some familiar names in their squad also from days past at Silver Street. Keeper George Burton and striker Jacob Wellington both left Rovers at the end of last season to head over the road and will be looking to make an impact against us on Saturday. Over the years both sides have swapped names in the dugouts, but what binds the clubs is Mid Devon pride.

This match should be exciting for both sides involved, both teams being another Southern Premier League team to contend with. If the Taunton Town game was anything to go by, then we should be in for action on both sides of the pitch. Get behind the lads for another pre-season test as we work towards the start of the season.

Our second game at the Stan Robinson sees us taking on Wellington. Our first pre-season game took us up to Bishop’s Lydeard, where we got a convincing 2-0. Then on Friday, we played Taunton Town, and after a valiant effort, we left that game with a draw.

In that game, we saw debutants like Cameron Page get on the score sheet and bring some more momentum to the club. Our next game is against Wellington, which should provide a good atmosphere and, overall, a very good game of football. The main hope is that we can continue our good form that we have obtained in the first two games of pre-season.

The one to watch is Jack Winsor; he is a 21-year-old central midfielder who has experience in this league with the likes of Bideford AFC. He has played for the likes of Torquay and was even on loan with the Rovers in the 22/23 season. He is by far Wellington’s best player and will make our midfield work.

This match marks the midway point of what has been an exciting pre-season for Rovers fans as we drew with very good opposition in Taunton Town. With trialists impressing, things are looking promising for the Rovers, and we are hoping that we can bring that good form onto the field on Wednesday.

Willand are home for the first time this season in their second preseason game. The first game took us to Bishop Lydeard, where Willand won. Willand hopes to keep the same form going into the next game against Taunton Town.

The game started out with Taunton on the front foot as they controlled possession and had some good chances within the first 15 minutes. Within the first 3 minutes, Taunton had a really good chance, but a good save from Willand’s Andy Sowden-Bird kept the game at 0-0.

Sowden-bird, who was tested a few times during the first half until the visitors took the lead in the 28th minute. This is where Willand started to see more of the game and started to have a few chances of their own, notably in the 40th minute. Tom Bath hit the back of the net; unfortunately, it was called out for offside. The peacocks took the lead going into halftime.

The second half kicked off, and Willand started strong; they had a few chances looking for a comeback. In the 56th minute we saw a triple substitution with Tom Bath, Alfie Cunningham, and Ashton Hewitt coming off. Replacing them were Fin Wadsworth, Douglas Camilo, and Cameron Page.

These new substitutions sparked a change in the game, as Willand looked like the more comfortable team with chance after chance until the 67th minute, when Cameron Page scored for Willand Rovers to equalise. It looped over the keeper.

The game would then stay at 1-1 for the majority of the second half, with both teams having chances until the deadlock was broken again when Bailey Kempster scored for Willand in the 90th minute. Everyone had thought that Willand had won the game until Ben Seymour scored with the last kick of the game with a chip over Sowden-Bird.

The game ended in a draw, but it was still a good result for them when they were home for the first time this season in their second game of pre-season. The first game took us to Bishop Lydeard, where Willand won. Willand hopes to keep the same form going into the next game against Wellington on Wednesday Night.