Willand vs Bideford
“There is no real ending. It’s just a place where you stop the story.”
– Frank Herbert
Football has always been one of the constants in my life, albeit in an ever-changing form.
Some of my earliest memories involve kicking a tennis ball around the mean streets of South Warwickshire and telling the occasional tall tale to get picked for the school team. When my friends trialled for the local Sunday U14s side—inclusion wasn’t exactly a buzzword in the 1980s—I tagged along with more hope than skill, somehow making the squad for what turned out to be the worst team in the league’s history.
While I was always more interested in playing than spectating, that changed when I moved to Crewe pursuing the dream of higher education — my destination decided more for the football club than the quality of the courses. Standing on the Popular Side, I fell in love—not just with the club, but with the game itself. Trips to Stoke, Stockport, West Ham, and even Wembley followed. A lifetime love affair was born.
When I moved to Devon years later, those pilgrimages to Cheshire became rarer. Ironically, I found a footballing substitute watching Crewe play Cheltenham Town, in the unlikely but likeable form of Steve Book. The Robins legend later signed for Tiverton Town, and I found myself at my first non-league game on December 23rd, 2008. I gained new friends, new routines—but things changed during the club’s centenary year. Many fans stepped back for reasons now well-documented. For me, things never quite felt the same, though I’ll say this: Tivvy is much improved since those dark days, and I genuinely wish them victory in their crunch match on Saturday.
My early visits to Silver Street were in fact in support of their Mid Devon rivals, including a now-infamous game where both Tom Gardener and George Rogers had to don the gloves after a spate of injuries.
But after 2013, Willand became a regular feature in my footballing calendar. I watched Scott Rogers come heartbreakingly close to FA Cup glory, and Russell Jee lead the club to the FA Vase quarter-finals and then to the Toolstation Western League title. I’d found a new footballing home.
In 2022, the club tweeted asking for volunteers to help run the media side of the game — not for me I’m afraid. But I did like to write.
My early reports were standard issue — I stuck to a format that can be seen across all media outlets from national newspapers to non-league tweets – Who was playing (opposition and squad), what was at stake and what happened – it’s a recipe that has served football reporting since Preston played Bolton in 1888.
Though I was meeting my brief, I quickly learned two things — they were quite dull, and no-one really read them. So I changed it up a bit.
Over the next three seasons I managed topics on the evil undertones of Thomas the Tank Engine, the perfect joke and whether Batman was really a superhero — and anything in between (I also published two books, still available on Amazon!)
Sometimes I even talked about the football.
And now, as I hand over the match reporting duties to our capable media team and pursue another writing path, I thought I’d return to something I haven’t done for a while: an actual match report.
Willand Rovers endured a frustrating afternoon at Silver Street as visitors Bideford left with all three points, claiming a 4–2 win in a game that showed few moments of promise from the home side until the dying minutes.
Set pieces offered Rovers some early opportunities in the early going —. a low delivery to Ryan Guppy almost connected, and Jamie Richards launched himself at a header moments later, but neither chance bore fruit.
Bideford, however, were far more clinical. A thunderous strike from Alex Moyse opened the scoring in the 24th minute, followed shortly by Wright, who beat three Willand defenders before calmly slotting into the bottom corner to double the visitors’ lead.
The away side extended their advantage early in the second half, with Roberts coolly converting from the spot after a penalty was awarded.
Willand were forced into a change in the 59th minute when George Burton received a knock to the head following a collision with Ewing. After a short stoppage where the Willand keeper was attended to by both physios, he was replaced in goal by Ryan Guppy.
Despite the scoreline, Willand continued to press. Free kicks from Camilo and a well-struck effort from Reece Shanley tested the Bideford keeper but failed to register on the scoreline.
Bideford added a fourth deep into stoppage time—an errant defensive header falling kindly to Robinson, who made no mistake from close range.
But Willand weren’t done yet. In a brief late surge, Dorothy pulled one back, followed almost immediately by substitute Oliver Crisp grabbing another to make it 2–4.
The comeback came too late to alter the result, and it was Bideford who left Silver Street with the Devon derby bragging rights.
And this is the place where I stop this particular story – for now.
With thanks to Tony, Mike, Finn, Leon. Even Brad.
