Report by Jon Green

Rovers exited the FA Cup on Saturday after defeat away at a well drilled AFC Stoneham side.

It was clear from the first whistle that Stoneham were going to be tough to beat. They are currently in form having won all four of their opening games of the season. They moved the ball quickly with incisive passing and after just five minutes a cross from the left failed to be cleared leaving
Ryan Cluett to sweep the ball in at the far post.

Rovers struggled to gain any momentum and Stoneham took most of the possession. The game settled somewhat but unfortunately never really fired into much life. The hosts nearly doubled their lead on a couple of occasions as the half played out but Rovers hadn’t even made the home keeper make a save.

The second half certainly needed a big response from the visitors and to some extent it got one. There was a little more purpose when Rovers had the ball and in the 54th minute the first sign they could grab an equaliser. Good work from Dan McBeam and Martin Lenihan gave the latter a chance to swing the ball in from the right. Kyle Witt was just beaten to the ball at the far post though.

Stoneham still looked the more likely to score but rarely actually troubled Alfie Kelsey in the Paulton goal. As the half wore on, and with substitutions made, Rovers began putting some pressure on the Stoneham goal. With minutes to go Kyle Witt got clear in the box only to fire wide and in added time another Martin Lenihan cross was met by Tom Bradley who steered his header just wide.

Unfortunately, the game hadn’t been much of a spectacle; the ball being mostly bogged down in the midfield. Hopefully we can be back to our best when we travel to St Blazey for the next outing!

Next Up:
St Blazey (A), Saturday 23rd August, 3pm