Category: Team news

Match Report: Helston Athletic v Willand Rovers,Tuesday 13th August 2024

Willand started the match very brightly and confidently, immediately putting pressure on the home defence with a sustained wave of early attacks. Their efforts were rewarded in the 18th minute when Harvey Dorothy struck a sweet shot from just on the edge of the penalty area to beat the homegoalkeeper at his far post.

The lead didn’t last long however as, in the 25th minute,Willand gave away possession cheaply in midfield and then gave midfielder Steve Colwell time and space to strike a sweet shot from 40m that looped over George Burton into the Willand goal to equalise.

This gave the hosts renewed energy and confidence resulting in the remainder of the half being a much more even affair, with both sides cancelling each other out with no threats on either goal. 1-1 at half time.

The second-half started in with Rovers upping the tempo,having the majority of possession and looking comfortable. On 52 minutes that man Harvey Dorothy latched onto a parried stop by the Helston keeper to squeeze in his second and put Willand deservedly 2-1 in front.

Willand continued to dominate possession until, against the run of play during a quick fire counter-attack down the left,Helston drove a fierce low cross into the box which deflected off the leg of the unlucky Nathan Byrne into the net for an own goal. 2-2.

Rovers continued to dominate and were eventually rewardedon 63 minutes with a penalty when Josh Searle was brought down by a clumsy challenge in the area by a home defender.

Douglas Camilo stepped up to take the penalty and his sweetly struck shot was well saved by the keeper. Josh Baker rushed in and made a good connection with the rebound but the keeper had regained his ground and saved well again: a big let off for the home side.

Rovers piled on the pressure and the home team were notching up the careless challenges and yellow cards. This culminated in Jack Crago, on loan from Plymouth Parkway, receiving a second yellow card and being sent off in the 72ndminute.

This numerical advantage gave the visitors the impetus to push for the winner. Wave after wave of Willand attacks wererepelled by the hosts until, deep into injury time, Willandwere rewarded with another penalty when Josh Baker was tripped in the area. This time Harvey Dorothy stepped up,hoping to score his maiden hat trick for the club and the winning goal, but this was not to be as his shot went wide of the goal and the score remained 2-2.

The final few minutes were mostly played out with the host’s backs well and truly to the wall. However, they managed to hold out until the final whistle to claim an unlikely point. Full time 2-2.

Rovers will be ruing their missed chances, particularly the penalties, but will be heartened by a very good all-round performance that gives Dave Steele something to build on for the FA Cup tie at Mousehole on Saturday.

Mike Hawkins

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It’s a quick turnaround in the Division One South as our first away day of the season sees us travel to South Cornwall for the first out of three trips this month to newly promoted side Helston Athletic.

Saturday’s game against Bemerton Heath got us underway for the campaign with Harvey Dorothy and Jamie Richards opening their accounts as we earned a point on opening day with a 2-2 draw with Harlequins.

David Steele after the game commended the lads on a good performance and the focus now turns to Tuesday night where a trip down South is the next step in the Southern League journey.

Helston Athletic got their season underway at Wiltshire-based Westbury with a 2-1 win over the White Horse Men as their first game in the Southern League was a triumph with Jordan Copp and Aaron Bentley both scoring for the Blues to seal all three points.

Helston came up as champions from the Western League, finishing on 80 points and will be looking to continue their winning ways this campaign and keep themselves in the eighth tier of English Football.

The last time both sides met was in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round but it wasn’t a good day in Cornwall for Rovers as the hosts managed to edge their way to a place in the next round with a 3-1 loss at Kellaway Park.

The attention after the Helston game turns back to the FA Cup as shortly after Tuesday night’s fixture we travel way out west to Mousehole in the Preliminary Round, bidding for a place in the qualifying stages of the competition.

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Match Preview

Willand Rovers v Bemerton Heath Harlequins

The first of the Southern League fixtures sees Salisbury-based side Bemerton Heath Harlequins make the journey across Stonehenge and the A303 to Silver Street.

The start of the 24/25 campaign all begins this weekend as the time for talking is over and the gruelling battle to get into the Southern League Premier gets underway for 9 months where all roads lead to Malvern on the final day.

For Willand, it was FA Cup success last time round as Western League side AFC St. Austell visited the Silver as Harvey Dorothy put himself on the map with a birthday brace and a place in the next round of the prestigious competition. We will now play Mousehole AFC next weekend as a result of that win.

David Steele spoke to the club media after the game in delight of the win and spoke highly of the man of the match Dorothy whose confidence must be on the up after scoring twice on his Willand debut.

Bemerton Heath’s recent outing was also in the FA Cup but it wasn’t plain sailing in the first fixture as they had to go to a replay with Brockenhurst which then on Tuesday night redeemed themselves with a late victory with Marcus Smith scoring for the Harlequins.

One player to look out for in Bemerton Heath’s squad would be former England U18 defender Pascal Kpohomouh who played for AFC Totton and Weston Super-Mare before making a move to the eighth tier with exciting appearances in the division last season to be picked up by a club higher up the non-league pyramid.

Last time out between Saturday’s visitors, it wasn’t quite the best fixture in the world as BHH found themselves 4 goals on the afternoon in front of a crowd of 136 down in Northern Salisbury.

Both Willand and Bemerton finished around the lower mid-table mark last season with Bemmy’s debut campaign in the division ending in staying up but with Rovers looking to kick on even further throughout the season this fixture is vital to get everything going.