Rovers progress in FA Cup

Tuffley Rovers have advanced to the Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round, where they will face a trip to Southern League side Evesham United on 19 August, but the manner of their progress from the Extra Preliminary Round was rather different from any of their previous victories in the famous cup competition.

Rovers had drawn 2-2 at Glevum Park with Aylesbury Vale Dynamos on Saturday and were set to travel to Aylesbury on Tuesday, 8 August but the game was called off on Monday and provisionally rescheduled for 15 August.

That game has now been cancelled and it has been confirmed that The Dynamos have been removed from the competition after playing an unregistered player in the original tie at Glevum Park. An FA commission considered the charge on Wednesday and it was confirmed that they had decided to remove the club from this season’s competition, albeit pending an appeal.

The Aylesbury side had admitted the offence and took to social media on Thursday to confirm they had exited the cup. Earlier this afternoon the Football Association confirmed the outcome, after the time permitted for any appeal had passed without further representations.

Secretary, Neil Spiller, said that whilst the club were pleased to progress to the next round, they had tremendous sympathy for their opponents in the Extra Preliminary Round.

“We are really pleased to progress to the next round but this is not the way in which we would have wanted to progress”, he said. “We had a great game on Saturday and we have real sympathy for Aylesbury, who are paying a heavy price for a genuine administrative error. The outcome is probably the right one, but we had been looking forward to the replay and had hoped to progress through a more conventional route.”

Rovers will now travel to Evesham United on 19 August, for a 3pm kick-off.