No Lark-ing Around...
Larkhall Athletic v Tiverton Town
Saturday 24th October
Kick Off 3pm
At The Camella Stadium, Plain Ham
Only last month the two teams met at the Slee Blackwell Solicitors Stadium, when the Yellows’ recorded a 3-0 victory in the FA Trophy. The fluctuating fortunes of the Two sides since then almost means that despite Tiverton winning fairly comfortably on that day, that the impact that result will have on this one, could be incidental.
The players will be very aware of their recent slump and will look to halt a slide down the table on Saturday. A dropping off of standards? A temporary loss of form and confidence? The failure to put teams away when on top has taken its toll? or have the opposition scouting systems found a weakness and have taken full advantage?
A strong team spirit amongst the players has been evident throughout the season and despite recent setbacks there has still been plenty of unity in the Yellows' ranks. However this is a result’s business and the clock has started to tick.
Team news sees Louis Jagger Cane close to being back involved, with Ryan Keates seeing a recurrence of an injury end his game on Tuesday evening, both player’s fitness will be assessed ahead of kick off. Dan Koita has also stepped up his training, as he also gets closer to a return.
Managing Larkhall is John Durbin, who took over the Bath side at the start of this calendar year, following a short spell in the caretaker role prior to his permanent appointment. Durbin has previously been a coach, at Bristol Manor Farm and Brislington, he Managed at Hengrove and he was a co manager at both Shepton Mallet and Paulton Rovers.
Ben Cleary tops the goalscoring charts for the Larks, with 4 goals from 11 matches in Southern League Division 1 South. The 23 year old marksman, has been the scorer of crucial goals in tight contests this season. He was a youth player with Swindon Supermarine and had a prolific 20 goal season with Royal Wotton Bassett in the Hellenic Premier.
Striker Harvey Pritchard left for rivals Melksham in pre season, but the forward who is noted for his exceptional work rate and physical displays, returned to Plain Ham a short way into the season. He also provided a spectacular goal against Melksham, in their league meeting.
Exciting winger Milo Murgatroyd was a mainstay in Larkhall line ups last term and has been regularly involved again, at the start of this campaign. A fan favourite who is in his early twenties, Murgatroyd has also played at Yate and Paulton.
Gradually working his way back to full fitness, Ryan Beckinsale is an attacking midfielder who played for the Yellows’ and impressed with his footballing nous when he was briefly with us during the 2019/20 campaign. A technical, creative player, Beckinsale undertook a scholarship in America earlier in his senior career. He is a goalscoring midfielder who has spent time at Yate.
Highly experienced 33 year old fellow midfield schemer Jack Camm is a Bristol Rovers academy product. Playing over 250 games for the Larks, Camm, whose younger brother Alex is also part of the host’s squad, started his senior career at Weston Super Mare. His services were also acquired by Yate and Cinderford.
Defender/midfielder Jeff Forkuo played his part in the “great escape” that saw the Yellows preserve their Southern League Premier South status, in the 2024/25 season. The ex Plymouth Argyle prospect is definitely a very good footballer. After he relocated, Yate acquired his services. He started playing football for our hosts, during the last campaign
Central defender Sam Boulton is a much admired performer at this level. Boulton has strong leadership attributes and often takes the captain’s armband. He has made 164 appearances over the last five years for Larkhall. Bristol Manor Farm and Yate have also been previous ports of call for the 28 year old.
A third former Yellow will be donning the gloves for the home-side. Liam Armstrong was a popular Bristol Rovers loanee for us in the 2018/19 season. The then teenager is 26 now and has forged a very decent senior career since being released by the Gas.
The talented shot stopper has been an ever present after beginning the last campaign with the Larks. Gloucester City, Bromsgrove Sporting, Swindon Supermarine and Bishop’s Cleeve are all on his CV and loan stints with Salisbury indicate his ability as a keeper.
The hosts should be in good shape after drawing with play-off hopefuls Bishops Cleeve and Sporting Inkberrow in recent games and beating fellow strugglers Melksham 2-0. One statistic though to consider is that only Westbury at the end of August have been defeated by the Bath side on home soil, when they’ve been in league action
Asa Hall’s men will be hoping that things start to click again, sooner rather than later. The better version of Tiverton has shown that it’s very capable of being more than competitive in this division, however unless we do that consistently we will undoubtedly continue to struggle.
All at the club will definitely be looking for a response after two disappointing overall displays and outcomes against Portland in the league and Bideford in the St Lukes Challenge Cup, as we look to restore our focus and belief and climb back up the table.
