Simon Fry and his all-conquering ROVERS UNDER-15 team are next in action this coming SUNDAY (February 22) when they travel to BISHOPS LYDEARD. The usual squad are on duty and the MEET TIME to travel in convoy is 1.30pm at Silver Street
Category: Team news
ROVERS Under16s game on Sunday OFF –
As was feared – the game tomorrow (Sunday, February 15) versus WEMBDON has fallen foul of the rain that saw the 1st team against Slimbridge called off. It has at first been thought there might be a change over 24-hours but, by late Saturday afternoon it was clear that the waterlogged Silver Street surface would simply not take action of any kind for at least 72 hours!
Steve Birley says: “It’s terribly frustrating, especially as programme and food etc has been brought, but there’s lots of the season left and to play on the pitch in its current conditions woudl certainly do it lots of damage – indeed it may put it out action from some time. On a personal note, with a hip operation forthcoming it means I may not get the chance to see us play Wembdon again and that would be mighty disappointing.”
Under-15s set to visit Galmington Dragons
Rovers Under-15s will seek to claim a third win of the season against GALMINGTON DRAGONS when they make the short trip to Galmington, Taunton on Sunday (February 15). Coach Simon Fry names an unchanged match day squad and asks that players meet at the Silver Street entrance at 1.45pm to travel in convoy.
Rogers has no complaints after Willand loss
WILLAND Rovers player-manager Scott Rogers had no complaints after watching his side lose 3-1 away to Odd Down on Saturday.
James Blake saw his penalty saved after 10 minutes, and the hosts capitalised with the opener not long after.
They doubled the advantage before half-time, only for Dean Stamp to halve the deficit.
But Odd Down restored their two-goal cushion two minutes from time to inflict a fourth league defeat of the season on an under-strength Rovers outfit.
“I have no complaints about the final result – they deserved to win and could have scored more than they did,” said Rogers.
“We were missing Lee Smythe and Luke Durham already, and we went down there with Steve Orchard, Jak Martin and Luke Alden all suffering from flu as well. That was three of our top players who were just not at the races.
“We did not play terribly – we were actually okay on the day – but they kept catching us on the break, particularly in the second half.
“We did bring it back to 2-1 and thought we had a chance, but they made it 3-1. They were three poor goals we conceded.”
Rogers was quick to absolve striker Blake of any blame for his failure to convert the early penalty.
“James Blake has been on fire for us this season so I can’t blame him,” said Rogers. “He is going through a quiet patch but he has scored a lot of goals for us.”
Up next for Rovers is a trip to Bridport in the second round of the Les Phillips Cup on Saturday.
They will be without experienced defender Simon Hill, who misses out due to a foot injury being worse than first thought.
However, they have been boosted in the form of a new signing.
Rogers explained: “We have re-signed Danny Jee. He has been travelling for the last couple of years. We do not expect him to slot in straight away but he is Willand through and through so that is a real bonus.”
Willand Rovers 1v1 Bristol Manor Farm (24/01/2015)
THEY may have missed the chance to close up on the title favourites, but Willand Rovers player-manager Scott Rogers felt there were plenty of positives to take from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bristol Manor Farm.
James Blake’s close-range finish late in the game saw Rovers salvage a draw, having fallen behind to an opener from the visitors just after the hour-mark at Silver Street.
But Rogers feels that the hosts, who managed to hit the woodwork both before and after their goal, proved themselves to be more than a match for the much-fancied Bristol outfit. “I think that most in attendance thought that we were the better team and could have won, but we didn’t really take our chances,” he said. “They were very, very good but I thought we were comfortably the better side on the day and deserved at least a draw.
“Considering we were 1-0 down with about eight minutes to go, I was definitely happy with a draw.
“We had some really good chances on the day. Their goal led a charmed life, but that is football and it happens sometimes – luck evens itself out over the course of the season.
“We would like to have won but it was one of those games which it was more important not to lose. We still have three games in hand over them and are six points behind.”
The draw does leave Rovers six points from Bristol Manor Farm in the table, although Melksham Town have capitalised on the stalemate to move a point clear at the top of the standings with a 1-0 win over Sherborne Town.
Kurtis Parkin had to be on his toes early on for Willand in Saturday’s contest to deny Jordan Metters, before both Rogers and Blake saw efforts cleared off the line.
The visitors made the most of a defensive mix-up to take the lead, before Shane Kingston saw his effort cannon off the bar as Rovers searched for an equaliser.
With time running out, Lewis Tasker crossed for Blake to level, and there was still time for Luke Alden’s shot to come back off the post as they hunted for a winner.
“That result will give us confidence and sets us up really well for the second half of the season,” said Rogers, whose side visit Odd Down on Saturday.
“We know that we can go toe-to-toe with one of the better sides in the division and that will give us confidence. If you want to win the league, it is important to beat the teams at the bottom of the table and not lose to those up there challenging for it.”
u18s County Cup semi postponed til Sunday 8th Feb
Sundays much awaited Devon County FA Cup semi-final between Willand Rovers and Manstow (Ivybridge) was postponed this afternoon by match referee Graeme Martin due to a waterlogged surface at Silver Street.
The game will now be held at Silver Street next Sunday, February 8th, kick-off 2pm. See you then!
Under-15s looking for another SUNDAY BEST
Rovers Under-15s go in search of another win when they make the short trip to BISHOPS LYDEARD on Sunday (February 1). Manager Simon Fry says: “We have a clean bill of health in the squad so it’s all eyes now on the weather in the hope that the game goes ahead.”
Players are asked to meet at Silver Street at 1:15pm to travel in convoy to the game.
Under-16s WITHOUT A GAME THIS COMING SUNDAY
With the Rovers Under-18s having a COUNTY CUP SEMI-FINAL at home this Sunday it means we have NO PITCH and so have had to advise the League that we cannot play a home match this weekend. As we only have two sides left to play away, HOLWAY and BISHOPS LYDEARD, it’s the case that we are now WITHOUT a game. We apologise to Minehead for this and will be advising them that IF they’d like a floodlit game later in the season (as we already have planned for Bishops Lydeard) then we will of course factor that in – otherwise it will be on a Sunday later in the season.
