Report by Jon Green

Rovers woes continued as they succumbed to a heavy defeat in a sunny Devon on Saturday afternoon to a clinical Buckland Athletic.

For twenty minutes the game was fairly even as both sides probed looking for openings. The first real chance fell to Buckland as Ryan Bush had a shot that needed pushing away by Dan Jackson in the Rovers goal.

Rovers continued to work but the host’s defence was stubborn and the Buckland keeper was untroubled until the 29th minute when a Dan McBeam corner was met by Josh Ford. He connected well but his header was straight at the keeper.

Moments later, Buckland were ahead as Ryan Smith was given far too much space and time in the box and he picked his spot with precision. Before Rovers could settle, it was two. A mistake at the back allowed James Rowe to pick the ball up and cross to Ryan Smith. His header came back off the post and straight to Owen Haslam who nodded in. There was a suspicion he must have been in an offside position but the officials were unmoved.

Things went from bad to worse for Rovers when in the 35th minute Josh Ford had to leave the pitch due to injury. Already thin on the ground, Chris Peck was pressed into service in defence on his return from a long term injury. The game was largely Buckland’s now but Dan McBeam did flash a shot just wide on the stroke of half time.

The opening moments of the second half continued whee the first half stopped. Buckland had two early chances but Dan Jackson was equal to them. Rovers best chance of the game came in the 60th minute. Kye Simpson was put through but his close shot was deflected away to Will Hailston but his shot was superbly saved by the Buckland keeper.

Dan McBeam went close four minutes later after being put through but it was starting to look like another one of those days for chances being missed. In and effort to get back into the game, Elliot Creely in the Rovers defence was replaced by Martin Lenihan, also returning after a long term layoff, to add a further attacking dimension. But the gamble failed as Buckland added their third when Luke Forward rounded the defence to poke home.

Rovers continued to work hard and even created further half chances but the tide was well and truly against them now and they conceded four more goals in the final fifteen minutes. The absence of Josh Ford and Jack Dancey was apparent as each goal was taken clinically. Firstly Sam Morcam scored from outside the box followed by Sammy Stayt from just inside the box. Substitute, Ryan Richards, got the first of his brace with a curling effort followed quickly by his second into the bottom corner.

The Rovers team looked dejected at the end as you’d expect. The score line doesn’t lie but it also doesn’t tell the whole story. As with Rovers high scoring win over Bridgwater last week, these two games were closer than they looked. There was also the bright spots of seeing Chris Peck and Martin Lenihan return to the team.

Next games:
Tuesday 17th September, Clevedon Town (H) 7.30pm
Saturday 21st September, Torridgeside (H) 3.00 pm FA Vase