Category: First team

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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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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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.”

Blake (2) Stamp (2) Willand 4-1 Bishop Sutton

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Willand Rovers 4 – 1 Bishop Sutton

Willand Rovers player-manager Scott Rogers admitted it was good to get back to winning ways after his side’s 4-1 victory over basement boys Bishop Sutton on Saturday.

Going into the game, Willand had not won in two matches, meaning victory was vital if they wanted to keep their title hopes alive.

Yet they got the win they needed thanks to braces from both James Blake and Dean Stamp, leaving Rogers delighted.

He said: “Our pitch isn’t in the greatest condition at the moment, so it was hard to play much free-flowing football.

“We went 2-0 up and were cruising quite comfortably but then our goalkeeper lost the ball in the sun and the ball went straight over his head and into the goal.

“That gave them a bit of a lifeline and it made it a little more difficult than it really should have been but in the end we managed to get a couple of goals at the right times so that killed the game off.

“It was massive, we had to win. If we didn’t win, we could have kissed goodbye to any chances we had of having a good finish to the season.”

Rogers’ side now host Wincanton Town in a Les Philips Cup quarter-final on Wednesday but, with his side fighting on so many fronts, the Silver Street boss is not getting too ahead of himself.

He said: “We’re just going to take it one game at a time, really.

“Wednesday night is now the biggest game of the season for us.

“We’ve got 13 league games to go and it’s coming up to the middle of March.

“If we can keep winning, the boys will enjoy the run-in a lot more than if we tail off.”

 

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