Category: Team news

Match Preview
Larkhall Athletic v Willand Rovers

This weekend, the Rovers will play their penultimate away game, which is a trip to the top of the hills of the Roman city of Bath to take on Larkhall Athletic in the latest Pitching In Southern Football League Division One South fixture.

The last time out was back at the street where relegation threatened Thatcham Town made the trip to Willand and with a point required, rovers stepped up massively and secured their Southern League status with goals coming from Brandon Bak & Bailey Kempster allotting potentially the most important three points of the season.

But the campaign wasn’t over last week as there are still three more to play out with the goal being to capture as many points in those remaining games. The first out of those three being Larkhall who find themselves at the wrong end of the table but with one relegation spot confirmed in the withdrawal of Shaftesbury, they might have a bit of breathing space.

The Larks were due to play midweek at Bickland Park, however, the fixture had to be forgone after the heavens opened in Cornwall so their midweek tie had been slashed and rescheduled for next week. Their last game however was at the weekend in which Bishops Cleeve took the maximum amount off the visitors to build on their own playoff push.

One to watch for the hosts this weekend would have to be Jake Hicks who has impressed in the Southern League this season from the midfield and has earnt himself a move to National League South side Weston Super-Mare but has been loaned back to Larkhall to continue his development in step 4.

The reverse fixture was on a relatively chilly Wednesday night but this did not come into force as a negative for Rovers as another historic Willand Wednesday was bestowed and blessed with three points with goals from Fin Rooke and Owen Howe helping the cause on the night.

The fun bus is once again in operation for this fixture with a departure time of Half 11 from Silver Street with the fare standing at £15, do let Mike Hawkins know or message our club social media channels to book your place on what will be quite the fun bus on Saturday.

As we get even closer to the summer, it is more important you support the lads than ever before the break with 3 months of no action to be seen on the horizon. So join us on the road for another great battle in The Southern League!

#WeAreRovers

Willand vs Thatcham

Lately, I’ve been thinking about a flock of seagulls—not the overly quiffed 1980s New Wave band (though I still maintain I Ran is a classic of the genre)—but the phrase itself. The collective noun.

We use collective nouns all the time, often without realizing it. A herd of cattle. A bunch of grapes. A pack of cards. These are the linguistic shortcuts that keep us from having to list things out one by one. Imagine saying, “I saw nine sheep standing around looking judgmental.” It’s way more efficient—and somehow more vivid—to say, “I saw a flock of sheep.” (Though, let’s be honest, they do look judgmental.)

But not all collective nouns are purely practical. Some sneak in with more flair than function. Take a den of thieves—we’re not just counting crooks, we’re setting a scene. It’s moody, dramatic, and full of implied danger. You can practically hear the suspenseful music swelling in the background.

English has a whole zoo of these. A murder of crows sounds like a mystery novel waiting to happen. A parliament of owls—wise and dignified. A cackle of hyenas? Strangely accurate.

Even abstract things get the same treatment: a flood of emotions, a barrage of questions, a flurry of activity. These aren’t about quantity; they’re about evoking a feeling, painting a picture. You’re not counting each emotion—you’re swept up in them.

And it’s not just animals and ideas—people get the collective treatment, too. We talk about a choir of singers, a band of rebels. That word “band” does a lot of heavy lifting. It suggests unity, mischief, and maybe a plan to overthrow something important before lunch.

Some collective nouns are delightfully old-fashioned, even poetic. A charm of finches. An unkindness of ravens—like they just insulted your outfit. A flamboyance of flamingos? That one feels just right.

A conspiracy of lemurs, a muddle of guinea pigs? Maybe that’s pushing it.

But that’s the real beauty of collective nouns: they’re not just about grouping—they’re about character. They carry mood, rhythm, and a pinch of whimsy. These phrases aren’t there to count things. They’re there to tell little stories.

Football doesn’t escape. A squad of players, a crowd of supporters. There’s one for officials but I’m not sure I could print it here.

The last Saturday game at Silver Street saw Thatcham Town as the visitors and the chance for Willand to secure their place in the Southern League for next season.

The math wasn’t particularly challenging but it was unnecessarily dull, so I imagine that David Steele and his cohort of coaches kept it simple—win and we stay up. To help him on his way there was a single change from the team that started against Cinderford, with Josh Searle replacing Reece Shanley at full back.

The message in the away dressing room may have been more pointed—the visitors languishing near the foot of the table, a number of points from safety.

The game had all the ingredients to become a classic—a cast of players, a crowd of hopefuls, even a chorus of shouts from the touchline.

Except someone forgot to turn the oven on.

In truth, it was a play of four acts and, as much as the troupe of actors on stage gave it their all, I won’t subject the reader to the full review.

Act One – 7 minutes. After coming under some pressure during the opening gambits, it was the home team that took an early lead. A delightful direct ball from Guppy caught the Thatcham back line turning like the proverbial oil tanker, only to see fleet-footed Bak beat them to the ball, which he calmly slotted past Pullinger.

Act Two – 12 minutes. Bak again—a brace of goals in a not dissimilar manner. A ball played into his feet from Kempster, the Willand number 7 outpowered one defender before out-skilling the next—the outcome for Pullinger remained the same.

Act Three – 13 minutes. It was short-lived. Matthews, potentially culpable for the Willand goals, went some way to making amends with a well-directed header from a corner. Game on?

Act Four – 22 minutes. Not so much. The game was all but over when Kempster made a late bid for Silver Street goal of the season, finding the back of the net from the edge of the D with the sweetest of strikes—his shot threading its way through a tangle of defenders like a rumour through a pub.

And that was about it.

After a dynamic start, the game was always going to struggle to keep up with itself, and in the end, it imploded into the abyss.

But does that matter? Not a jot.

Because with three games to go, Willand have secured their league status for another year.

This band of brothers, punching above their postcode once again.

And it’s been a privilege to be part of it.

Full Time – Willand 3 – Thatcham 1

Match Preview
Willand Rovers v Thatcham Town

The final Saturday home fixture of the season sees Thatcham make the journey over from Berkshire down to Silver Street this weekend in the Pitching In Southern Football League Division One South with a 3 pm KO!

Last time out for Rovers it was a trip over the bridge and through the forest as Cinderford met up with Willand with three very important points sealed at the Causeway Ground with Fin Rooke and Ross Edwards contributing their efforts at the goal of securing the maximum amount and being on the verge of securing our Southern League status.

This weekend it is the turn of Thatcham who are glad to see the end of the campaign with it probably being a year to forget for the Berkshire outfit. Yashwa Romeo will be hoping for a rebuild over the summer and to see out the last few Southern League fixtures with a bit of fight with them potentially heading back over to the Combined Counties League next year.

The visitor’s last game saw their visit to Malvern end in defeat with the Hillsiders giving Thatcham a landslide defeat on the afternoon as the hosts eased to victory. One to look out for the Kingfishers would have to be Kyle Daniel Spray who caused Rovers a bit of bother in the reverse fixture with him controlling the back line previously in October where it ended in a 4-1 win for the hosts.

With it being our final home game on a Saturday this season, we are hoping as many fans as possible can fill the street and get behind the lads. Bring a mate and pack the gate and as always… COME ON YOU ROVERS!

#WeAreRovers

Match Report
Cinderford Town v Willand Rovers

Willand made the journey over the border and back over again as the latest test in the Pitching In Southern Football League Division One South scheduled in Cinderford Town as the next stop on the 24/25 tour with a 3 pm KO at The Causeway Ground

A perfect day for football, with the temperature reaching the late 10’s, the summertime is knocking on the door but the end of the season also winging its way closer with just 4 fixtures after this afternoon.

Rovers made a couple of changes going into this fixture with both the Weston boys back from their Somerset Cup success with Josh Searle dropping to the bench for this fixture and Harvey Dorothy also in the dugout with a slight knock.

The lads emerged onto the pitch and we got underway with the first 10 being a strong period of time for Rovers who had settled into the game the best several chances fell our way but the book was open within the first five with Ryan Guppy’s name being jotted down.

The hosts would battle back for the next portion of the game with a couple of chances created of their own with the main one coming from Ross Edwards’ clearance which resulted in a corner for Yakabu to powerfully header towards the goal but narrowly just missed his target and back out.

Jacob Wellington continued to test the Cinderford back line as he looked to find their vulnerabilities quickly to feed the ball in with the clock ticking down for the first half, but the barrage of black and white did not collapse quickly.

However, our chances would pay off with Fin Rooke one one-on-one with the keeper which he flicked it over with a supporting rebound the organisation at the back was nowhere to be seen rovers took the lead with Fin wheeling away in celebration and the travelling faithful in jubilation.

That was the last action of the half and Willand went into the break feeling the better side but still had work to do in the second half to let the efforts of the first slip with only a one-goal cushion.

The Foresters knew a response was needed and they piled on the pressure in the early stages in which a handful of chances didn’t really produce a massive threat but they kept kicking on.

The substitutions started with Jacob Wellington making way for Douglas Camilo to add to the up top threat with Dougie going close to goal several times in the second half but just narrowly missing the target.

Off came the first goal scorer Fin Rooke with Jack Kennell sitting back into the midfield looking to feed balls back up but also providing some defensive comfort. The final sub-substitution of the afternoon saw Ryan Guppy make way for Josh Searle in the gameplan now would be to just keep in control of the game.

And this is exactly what Willand would go on to do with an important corner going into the box and being recycled in wonderful fashion as a great ping to the back heel of Ross Edwards doubled the lead with the centre-back in absolute joy with his first goal of the season coming from such a technical bit of skill.

It could’ve even been three with Camilo once again stepping up to the plate as River played it for the Brazilian who with a bit more power would have sealed the deal even further on the afternoon.

Cinderford were still hunting for a potential consolation goal and their one chance would be a shout for a penalty which to the referee’s knowledge there was no infringement and the game once again got back underway.

In a game of corners and little successful ones, the end of the fixture mainly was trying to produce a third nail in the Cinderford coffin but the job was over the line and solidified with a sounding of the whistle and three points on the road for the first time since our trip to Exmouth back in the first half of the season.

The lads once again huddled up for a post-match chat and spirits were high with Rovers next playing on home soil with Thatcham Town making the journey to Mid Devon on Saturday.

Full-time at The Causeway Ground on Saturday 5th April, Cinderford Town 2-0 Willand Rovers.

#WeAreRovers