Category: First team

Scott pleased as two late goals see them beat Gillingham Town

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Two late goals earned Willand Rovers a deserved 2-1 win over Gillingham Town on Wednesday night.

Despite dominating possession all match, Willand were unable to create many clear cut chances against their stubborn visitors, with Kai Fisher heading over and player-manager Scott Rogers seeing a shot saved.

When Elliot Bevis’ shot eight minutes from time squirmed under Willand goalkeeper Kurtis Parkin, it looked like Town would take a shock win, but two goals inside two minutes from Rogers and Lee Smythe gave Rovers victory, pleasing Rogers.

The Silver Street boss said: “The boys did really well, we bounced back from losing on Saturday and put in a really good performance. We thoroughly deserved to win although, with 10 minutes to go, we looked like we were going to lose it; it went from one extreme to the other at the end. I’m chuffed we got the win.

“I think we thought that we’d go onto win once we scored but unfortunately, we didn’t get it, which is the story of our season as we’ve always looked like we might concede one. We did it again tonight but, fortunately, we bounced back and got the two goals. We needed to win to take us into the weekend and we need another win to take us into third or fourth, so it’s everything to play for.

“Luke Durham played on Saturday and didn’t have one of his best games, so he was on the bench tonight and came on and recorded two assists, which shows what a strong squad we’ve got. I’ve been going on about my squad all season, as they’re a great bunch of lads that have given everything. No one’s left, they’ve all stayed and hopefully they’ve all enjoyed it.”

Rogers’ side now host league leaders Melksham Town on Saturday before closing out their league season against Slimbridge on Bank Holiday Monday.

Melksham go into the game knowing that a win will secure them the Western League Premier Division title, yet Rogers says his side will be focusing on their own game, rather than trying to play the role of party-poopers.

He revealed: “Melksham will bring a few down here but my priority is to make sure we finish as high as we can. We’ve got to make sure of that with the two games over the weekend.

“All the boys won’t be able to play in both of them, so I’ll have to rotate it a little but we’ll be looking to get a result. It’ll be two tough games, Melksham and Slimbridge.

“We want to go into the Les Phillips Cup final with a bit of momentum and we’ve always bounced back from bad performances, which is why we are where we are. However, I want to go into the game with two good performances, as it will mean all the boys are playing well and it will be a hard decision as to who’s going to play in the final.”

Scotts thoughts on the Plymouth game.

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Scott Rogers felt 4-0 was a harsh reflection of Willand Rovers’ Devon St Luke’s Bowl semi-final defeat to Plymouth Argyle on Wednesday.

Goals from Jack Calver, Ben Purrington, Tyler Harvey and Ollie Norburn saw the Pilgrims leave Silver Street with a spot in the final, with Dean Stamp being sent off with Willand 1-0 down.

Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, Rogers felt his men kept their League Two opponents honest for much of the contest.

“I think we matched them for a lot of the game and I don’t think there was much in it,” he said.

The last half-hour saw them pull away from us and, to be fair, they scored some quality goals but I thought there was not much in it for a lot of the game.

“We played a 4-4-2 and the boys did great, but to beat a professional side takes some doing and we were treading water by the end. Their fitness and quality shone through.”

Looking back on the match, player-manager Rogers blamed himself for not making some tactical changes earlier on.

“I did not play myself and I think I should have made a substitution not long after half-time. We were getting a bit tired and I should have brought myself on to pack the midfield a bit but I didn’t,” he continued.

“I just waited too long, but I am still learning all the time and I will learn from that one as well.”

Argyle will now go on to face Southern League Premier Division side Bideford in the final at Devon FA’s headquarters at Coach Road in Newton Abbot.

Rovers still have the Les Phillips Cup final to look forward to and the possibility of finishing third in the Western League Premier Division table.

Discussing Stamp’s red, Rogers admitted he was not shocked at the decision – which came about after a heavy challenge on Harvey.

But he insisted the Silver Street side still had plenty left to play for this campaign.

Rogers said: “To be fair, when I first looked at it I was expecting a red card – it didn’t look great.

“It probably looked worse than it was because he jumped in to get the ball and not the man, but it didn’t look very good.

“Dean will now miss the Les Phillips Cup final, which is a shame for him because he has had a good season.

“But we have five games to go including a cup final and I think we need eight points from 12 to finish third, so there is lots to play for still.”

Sherborne 1 – 3 Willand (photo link below)

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Scott Rogers thanks Kevin Hill after Willand Rovers beat Sherborne Town
Scott Rogers hailed the impact of Exmouth Town player-manager Kevin Hill, after the veteran helped Willand Rovers to a 3-1 victory at Sherborne Town on Easter Monday.

With Rovers missing six first-team players, Rogers persuaded Hill to plug the gap in defence – and Hill responded with an influential display to help Willand avoid a third successive defeat.

Tom Bath, James Blake and Brett Worbey scored the goals to give Willand a lift ahead of Saturday’s Les Phillips Cup semi-final at Welton Rovers.

“Kevin Hill came in and helped us out from Exmouth and I can’t thank him enough,” said Rogers.

“He played alongside Kai Fisher – who was unlucky to be sent off against Buckland on Thursday – and it really helped us at the back.

“I have been trying to sign Kevin a few times recently but he keeps on turning me down and I don’t know why!

“I hope I can poach him for a few more games from Exmouth when they aren’t playing because I don’t think we would have got the points if he hadn’t been playing.”

Rovers headed into the match off the back of a 2-0 defeat away to Buckland Athletic in a game which also saw Rogers miss a penalty.

They also lost 2-1 at home to bogey side Longwell Green Sports prior to that, so avoiding a third straight loss – something which has not happened to Rovers yet this season – came as a major relief to Rogers.

“I am chuffed, particularly after losing on Thursday. Some might disagree but I thought we were unlucky to lose that, so it was great to get the win on Monday,” he said.

“It was not a great game. We went 1-0 up through a Tom Bath header but they went straight down the other end and equalised from a free-kick.

“At that point we were thinking ‘here we go again’, but James Blake scored a really good goal and so did Brett Worbey. It was comfortable in the end.”

Buckland Ath 2-0 Willand Rovers

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https://plus.google.com/photos/106481448529677945455/albums/6133435442800895521
Thursday’s big Devon derby in the Western League Premier Division went the way of Buckland Athletic, who gained a 2-0 home win over Willand Rovers as the visitors finished the match with nine men.

It all started to go wrong for Willand in the fifth minute, when their player-manager Scott Rogers saw his penalty saved by home goalkeeper Grant Fisher.

Jared Lewington headed Buckland in front after 32 minutes, for a lead which was doubled by Shane Gill’s goal in the 72nd minute. That strike came after Willand’s Kai Fisher was sent off with half an hour left for collecting two yellow cards, and team-mate Simon Hill suffered the same fate with seven minutes to go.

Willand Rovers’ Scott Rogers admits league title is unlikely after defeat to Odd Down

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Click the link below for photo’s from the game

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Scott Rogers admitted his Willand Rovers side’s title chances are not great after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Odd Down.

After the game against second-placed Down, Rovers now sit 18 points behind leaders Melksham Town with four games in hand.

Rogers said: “We want to win as many games as possible between now and the end of the season to finish as high as possible.

“I was more gutted after the game on Saturday than I was when we lost to Gosport in the FA Cup, as I really thought, if we could have taken something from Saturday, we were in with a chance. Unfortunately, now, I think it’s a bit too much.”

Regarding the game itself, player-manager Rogers was pleased with the effort his side showed, especially after a brutal schedule that has so far seen them play six games in March alone.

Rovers fell behind to a first-half goal and, despite creating a host of chances, were unable to get back into the game.

Rogers said: “It was two evenly matched sides and we had a host of chances that we weren’t clinical enough with.

“I couldn’t have asked anything more from the lads, they tried their hardest and couldn’t have given any more, we just lacked a little quality in the final third. The lads haven’t got much in their legs at the moment because of the amount of games we’ve been playing.

“To Odd Down’s credit, they defended really well. Their keeper made a few great saves near the end and we had a couple cleared off the line and we hit the post.”

Rogers’ side now travel to Shepton Mallett on Tuesday night.

 

Scotts thoughts on the Bradford Town win

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Scott Rogers praised his Willand Rovers team after they recorded an important victory over Bradford Town on Wednesday night.

Going into the game, Rovers were seven points off fourth-placed Bradford, with three games in hand and knew that a loss would most likely knock them out of the title race.

Yet Willand won 2-1 thanks to goals from Craig Veal and Rogers himself, leaving the player-manager delighted.

He said: “It was a massive win for us, as Bradford are a top side – I was really impressed with them, there’s no surprise as to why they are where they are in the league.

“The boys put in a hell of a shift, especially after Saturday’s 0-0 draw against league leaders Melksham, so to come away 2-1 winners has left me over the moon.

“The win gives us a chance. If we can get a result on Saturday against Odd Down, I think we’ll be back in the mix. We had to win last night to have any chance of doing all right, so it was a high pressure game.

“We went there knowing we’d have to soak up a lot of pressure and hit them on the break but it worked well.

Rogers paid out special tribute to Matt Thresher, Willand’s physio, who went above and beyond the call of duty in the build up to the victory over Braford.

The Silver Street boss said: “I’d like to pay a lot of praise to Matt Thresher, our physio, who stayed behind to travel to Okehampton to pick up our winger, Luke Alden, who was superb.

“Luke couldn’t get away from work until late, so Matt stayed behind and drove him to the game – along with Mike Mullins, he was probably the best player on the pitch. We wouldn’t have won the game without Luke last night so we owe Matt a big, big thank you.

“It just emphasises the commitment that everyone puts in and shows the morale of the squad, with everyone pulling for each other.

“I can’t imagine too many times someone would drive from Minehead to Okehampton to pick up a player and then drive him to Bradford.”

Willand now host Odd Down, who currently sit second in the table, meaning it is another huge fixture for Rogers’ side.

“It’s a massive game, as Odd Down are really good,” he admitted. “I think they’re going to be playing quite similarly to how we did last night, by soaking up the pressure and hitting us on the break.

“They’ve got lots of pace up front so we’ve got to be wary and hope they don’t do to us what we did to Bradford.

“It’ll be a different ball game from our point of view as we’ll have a lot more possession and be a lot prettier on the eye. I just hope they don’t do to us what we did to Bradford.

“I think we’re unbeaten in the last four or five games, so momentum is massive. If we can keep it going on Saturday, then we’ve got tough games against Shepton Mallet and Longwell Green Sports.

“We need to keep looking at little bunches of games, so if we can stay unbeaten in that period, it keeps our season alive.”

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