Rovers’ win raises Priaulx League expectations
ROVERS, untroubled in the first two rounds of the Rawlinson Cup with nine goals scored and none conceded, duly went on to retain the trophy with a comprehensive 4-1 dismissal of North.
In doing so, the Port Soif outfit have left some sages wondering if the opportunity is right for the club to launch a significant challenge for the FNB Priaulx League this season.
Over the course of 2021 Rovers effectively lost a first team through various causes, but still did enough to finish third in the league and make the FA Cup final, which they lost to North.
This season Guernsey FC demands appear to be biting into North and St Martin’s, while Rovers appear to have players returning. Ben Le Tocq, a GFC regular last season, partnered Rovers skipper Tobi Oluborode in the centre of defence, while Tyler McKane, another GFC occasional, came on from the bench.
The game was won in the opening 20 minutes as Rovers were far superior from the off.
The crowd thought Max Simpson-Cohen had put them ahead on 6min. but his strike from Colton Fletcher’s cut-back was deemed to have hit the back stanchion from the wrong side of the net.
It mattered little as two minutes later Martin Savident moved forward from midfield, turned Tom Vaudin inside out, and finished past Josh Tugby.
From the kick-off Rovers regained possession, set Charlie Platt away in the inside right channel and he tortured Jack Domaille before firing into the far corner.
North’s first effort on goal, nearly 10 minutes later, saw Adam Bullock alert to paw away Le Tocq inadvertently diverting Brandon Wallace’s cross into his own net.
Rovers continued to dominate possession and shots, though they were regularly guilty, especially Savident, of firing high and wide, one shot bouncing into Victoria Avenue.
Those blue-and-whites remembering a bright start in the FA Cup final against the same opposition which ended up as a capitulation might have still been nervous, but a third just before the break settled matters.
Domaille and Tugby went for the same aerial ball into the box, Domaille nodded it against the post, and James Grundy was first to the rebound to fire home.
North particularly rang the changes by introducing a raft of teenagers off the bench, but their impact was nothing like in that FA Cup final.
Rovers kept them largely at arm’s length before, with 15 minutes left, Platt and Simpson-Cohen combined nicely down the right to allow Grundy to ghost into the box and finish like an established striker should.
On 82min. Rovers failed to clear a corner and Archie Drillot notched a consolation, while Jamie Smith hit the bar with a rocket in the last minute, but Rovers were good value for the win.
North were left to consider how to get the best this season out of the combination of quality teenagers, squad veterans, and GFC commitments.
