Match Preview – Bristol Rovers (H)

Former tenants Bristol Rovers return to Twerton Park this Saturday 13 July (ko 3pm).

League One Rovers began their pre-season last week with a 4-2 win at Melksham Town. Isaac Hutchinson and Ollie Dewsbury goals had the Gas 2-0 up at the break, before the Wiltshire outfit netted twice in quick succession soon after the restart. A brace from centre-back Dan Ellison in the final 20 minutes clinched success for Matt Taylor’s team.

Ellison signed from Chippenham Town in the summer having excelled for the Bluebirds last term, which included a goal against Bath City on Boxing Day. His form earned him an England C cap in May and a move three divisions higher.

He’ll had an ideal tutor in Taylor, a former centre-back who made three appearances for City in 2016 as player coach. He departed in November that year to join Exeter City, who he eventually managed to promotion in 2022. He left for Rotherham in the 2022/23 season and kept them in the Championship before being dismissed early the next season. He replaced Joey Barton at Rovers and led them to X in the division.

A wretched run-in saw them win two of their final 11 games and fail to score in nine of those matches, seven in a row across March and April.

Cyprus international Ruel Sotiriou has been added to try and improve their touch in front of goal. He claimed an assist at Melksham last Friday.

Josh Griffiths and Michael Forbes have also arrived on loan from West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United respectively. In total it’s 10 new signings and nine departures, that includes Ryan Jones who spent three months on loan at Twerton Park in 2022.

Bath City started with a 3-2 loss to Cheltenham Town on Tuesday with strikers Sol Wanjau-Smith and Scott Wilson on target. In a squad containing several trialists, manager Jerry Gill was without Jack Batten and Cody Cooke through illness and injury.

Cooke netted the last time these two met in pre-season, back in July 2022. After Ryan Loft had given the visitors a 12th minute lead, an Alex Fletcher double before the break before a Cooke penalty sealed success for the Romans in front of just under 2,000 spectators.

It’s one of 16 pre-season returns to Twerton for Rovers since their 10-year exile in Bath ended in 1996. This November marks the 30-year anniversary of the teams’ meeting in the FA Cup, with City earning ‘home’ advantage. Rovers’ two-division gap proved more than enough as they ran riot with Paul Miller scoring four of their five against Tony Ricketts’ side. Gill was part of the City line-up, fellow full-back Grantley Dicks was dismissed in the second half.

Tickets for this pre-season friendly are available here. Discounts available for purchasing before 23.45pm on Friday 12 July.

Fans are encouraged to wear their England shirts. A bumper crowd is expected – come along for City’s first Saturday game this summer!