Liam Drury: Conqueror Of Football

Paulton Rovers

Club Information

Year Founded:1881
Nickname:The Rovers
Stadium:Athletic Field
Capacity:2,500 (253 seated)
Chairman:David Bissex
Previous Manager:Tony Ricketts
New Manager:Liam Drury (36 years old)
Rivals:None

Honours

Somerset Senior Cup:1901,1903,1904,1908,1909,1910,1935,1968,1969,1972,1973,1975.
Somerset Junior Cup:1989
Western Football League Amateur Trophy:1975

Club Records

Best League Performance:2nd in Southern League Divison One South & West,2006-07 and promoted as play-off winners in 2013-14.
Best FA Cup Performance:1st round proper,2009/10
Best FA Trophy Performance:1st round proper 2004/05
Best FA Vase Performance:5th round,1989/90

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36 year-old Liam Drury has been appointed as the new Paulton Rovers manager at The Athletic Ground for the forthcoming 2015/2016 season. Liam has enjoyed a wealth of coaching at this level of football, and a few jobs at the higher tiers as well.

Liam was born on the 8th January 1979, just down the road in Weston-Super-Mare. Liam was an encouraging footballer at schoolboy level, captaining his school team to the Somerset School Championship three times in the five secondary school years.

After leaving school, Liam was snapped up by Taunton Town, who currently play in the Southern League South And West. As Taunton's main youth striker, Drury knocked in 37 goals in 2 U18 years before being loaned out to Frome Town to gain experience at men's level.

Liam enjoyed a 10-goal season in his season-long loan at Frome before returning to play at Taunton. In 3 seasons as Taunton's backup striker, Liam fired in 24 goals in 112 games. Liam then moved to Mangotsfield United for 5 seasons, where he grew into their main striker by scoring 67 goals in 184 games.

However, a knee injury kept occuring throughout his final Mangotsfield season and Liam was forced to retire at the age of 27. Liam immediately gained his National C Licence to ensure he could stay in football and Liam moved into an U18 coaching role with Bridgwater.

With Bridgwater's U18 side impressing in the two seasons Liam was there,Liam then moved to Mangotsfield to take up a permanent coaching role with them. After experiencing 3 years with one of his favoured clubs, Liam then moved to his boyhood town Weston-Super-Mare to become a coach there.

Liam then stayed at Weston for 4 seasons as a coach before accepting the job offer to take over as Paulton's manager.

-The Midfielder joins from Weston-super-Mare
-Mawford set to help Paulton battle relegation
-Former Weston player Aaron Brown thought to be behind Mawford signing

Paulton Rovers have managed to complete the loan signing of Weston-super-Mare midfielder Jake Mawford. Mawford is expected to stay on loan for the entire 2015/2016 Southern League season but can be recalled by Weston manager, Ryan Northmore.

"I have had the pleasure of being able to work with Jake (Mawford) before in my career when I was a coach at my former club, Weston-super-Mare, who I left in the summer to come here. Jake is approaching that time in his career where he needs to step up and take charge, being in his mid 20's already. I hope I can do Ryan a favour at Weston and help Jake develop" Paulton maanger Liam Drury stated.

"I'm pleased to sign for Paulton Rovers, who are a team that can go places. I know some of the players here, like Aaron Brown and Darren Mullings, who I played alongside with at Weston. I've worked with Liam for the past four seasons at Weston and this deal was in place when Paulton asked me to take charge here. So, obviously, with Liam coming here, I've come here to develop and to help Paulton grow this season".

Mawford will want to hit the ground running with a game against Paulton's U21 side coming the day after he signed for the Bristol-based side. Mawford is also expected to try and impress his home support with the first real friendly coming against manager Liam Drury's former side, Bridgwater Town at the Athletic Ground. Further Paulton friendlies will come against Gillingham Town, Pen-y-Bont and Caerleon.

Results

27th June 2015-Paulton vs Paulton U21s (1-1) (Friendly)
18th July 2015-Paulton vs Bridgwater (0-1) (Friendly)
25th July 2015-Gillingham Town vs Paulton (3-1) (Friendly)
29th July 2015-Pen-y-Bont vs Paulton (0-5) (Friendly)
3rd August 2015-Caerleon vs Paulton (1-1) (Friendly)

By all accounts, Paulton have had a miserable pre-season, suffering two defeats against lesser opposition and teams that we should have been winning against with even our 2nd team out.

We started against our U21 side, drawing 1-1 with Toby Osman netting the senior side's goal. We then went and hosted our neighbours from further down in Somerset, Bridgwater, where we suffered a narrow defeat as Bridgwater played us off of the park and taught us a lesson.

We then began our Pre-Season travels, as we travelled to Dorset where we lost to Gillingham Town 3-1, with striker Tom Knighton grabbing us a mere consolation goal. We then recorded our only pre-season tour over Pen-y-Bont on their own turf, with Darren Mullings netting two goals and Tyson Pollard, Sam Teale and Jordan Walker all netting the other goals.

In the final game of pre-season, we drew against Caerleon 1-1 in their ground, with Sam Teale netting a penalty on the stroke of half-time to earn a draw for his side.

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Injury Report

Connor Clifford

The 22 year-old left-sided wing-back was expected to play a pivotal role in the first team this season. However, the youngster strained his back in the Paulton U21 game against Alford U21's, winning 2-1. Clifford is reported to be 'distraught' and 'angry' that he opted to play in the game to try and get himself up to match fitness ahead of the new season, and that his stupid decision has cost him from perhaps playing in the first league game. It still remains to be seen whether Clifford can recover form injury ahead of the new league season and Drury will have to try to find a replacement for Saturday's game.

Ben Osman

Perhaps the biggest blow of the Pre-Season preparations has been that central midfielder Ben Osman has gone down with an injury only a couple of weeks prior to the new season. Ben challenged Aaron Brown for a header in training and ended up in a heap on the floor with a dislocated jaw, ruling him out of the first few weeks of the league season, but luckily Drury has plenty of options available to him.

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Fixtures

Paulton begin the new league season to Merthyr Tydfil at The Athletic Ground, who are the favourites to be promoted this season. The side then take on Hitchin Town in their first away league game of the season.

In the second Saturday game of the season, Paulton will again face a home test against Chippenham Town before an away day back-to-back. The side will head to Frome to take on the town's main side before heading to the south coast to face Weymouth.

In the final game of August, Paulton will face a stern test at home to Kettering, who are also expected to challenge for the title. Despite the poor Pre-Season form, Paulton will be hoping that they can change their fortunes around and kick the league season off with a bang.

-Josh Ford Transfer-Listed at Paulton
-Defender feels he is being forced out
-Drury offered mutual termination of his contract

Paulton centre-back Josh Ford has revealed to The Bristol Gazette that his stay at Paulton may come to an end soon following his transfer listing at the Bristol club. It is believed] that him and manager Liam Drury argued over the situation.

"I'm going to be completley honest with the press and with all the Paulton fans out there. It is true what Josh Ford said to you all. I did offer him a contract termination but I tried to do it in the nicest way possible. I feel that he is not needed anymore and that there are better options available than him" Drury said to the press.

"The gaffer took me aside after the game against Caerleon and told me he wanted to speak to me when we got back to the club. When we got back, he took me into his office and told me he was putitng me on the transfer list and he wanted me to get my name out there" Ford said.

"I wasn't happy with the decision and the day after the game, I went to meet him down at the club before telling him that no clubs were interested. Liam then offered me a contract termination but I rejected it. It feels that he is trying to force me out of the club and I don't want to leave here" Ford added about the situation.

With the new league season only a few days away, Paulton manager Liam Drury will now need to keep an eye on Josh Ford causing unrest amongst the squad and try to repair their fractured relationship.

-The central midfielder joins Paulton from Rugby for free
-The Englishman played for Loughborough D and Stratford during his career
-Grocott is expected to make his debut against Weymouth

New Paulton manager Liam Drury has bolstered his midfield options by signing Will Grocott from Rugby, who is set to provide backup to current options including loanee Jake Mawford. Grocott will recieve £130 for every appearance, and £20 for every unused substitute appearance.

The 23 year-old winger has a wealth of experience in the non-league, having grown through Aston Villa's aademy before signing for Loughborough in 2010. Grocott then went to Hamilton FC in America, before returning to England with Tamworth in 2011, where he then went onto enjoy loan spells with Loughborough D, Stratford Town and Bedford Town. Grocott left for Loughborough D permanently in 2012 before returning to Hamilton FC and then returning for a fourth spell at Loughborough. Grocott then moved to Rugby in 2012, where he made 3 appearances in 3 years.

"I am pleased that I have been able to further my career and move to Paulton Rovers. This is the first time I've played in Somerset and I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying to help Paulton avoid relegation and I want to take this opportunity with both hands".

"Will hasn't played at this level of football consistently before and I believe that is because the kid hasn't been given a chance at any club he's been at. Since leaving Aston Villa's academy five years ago, he's moved 10 times and this is the 12th club of his career. We intend to help him develop and provide him with stabillity here" Liam Drury quoted.

Results

6th August 2015-Paulton vs Merthyr Town (0-1) (Southern Premier)
12th August 2015-Hitchin vs Paulton (1-1) (Southern Premier)
15th August 2015-Paulton vs Chippenham (0-3) (Southern Premier)
22nd August 2015-Frome vs Paulton (1-1) (Southern Premier)
26th August 2015-Weymouth vs Paulton (1-2) (Southern Premier)
29th August 2015-Kettering vs Paulton (0-1) (Southern Premier)

Paulton started the Southern Premier in disappointing fashion, only managing to pick up 5 points from the first 18 available, with the only win coming against Weymouth.

In the first match of the season, Paulton struggled against opposition Merthyr Town, with them ultimately crashing to a 1-0 defeat at home to their guests for the day. The second match saw Paulton travel to a low on confidence Hitchin side, and Paulton came away with a sole point after striker Tom Knighton fired in late on to earn a needed point.

Paulton then welcomed Chippenahm to The Athletic Ground, however Chippenham's in form striker Andy Sandell netted a hat-trick to consign Paulton to defeat. Paulton then made the short trip to Frome, where Sam Teale powered home an effort to take a point away from Frome.

Paulton then travelled further south to the south coast where they were entertained by Weymouth. Despite Weymouth taking an early lead, debutant Will Grocott netted the equaliser before Sam Teale's shot deflected in off Calvin Brooks, with the goal given as a Brooks OG.

In the final match of a busy month, Paulton faced fellow relegation candidates Kettering where Paulton struggled to cope on the day and lost to a well-drilled Kettering side 1-0.

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Player Of The Month

Jake Mawford

The 25 year-old midfielder has bene awarded the Player Of The Month for September after starting the season off in good form for his adopted club. Mawford started the month off as a central midfielder, but was moved into a striker position toward the end of the month.

The player on loan from Weston is expected to have a large role this season at Paulton and being awarded the first Player Of The Month of the season shows the impact that he has already had on the campaign for Paulton.

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Southern Premier

It doesn't come as much of a surprise to see Merthyr Town sitting pretty at the top of the table, with the title favourites down as being expected to dominate the league this season, with the side having scored 10 goals and conceded 4 form the opening 6 games.

Hungerford and Bideford have both started off superbly this season, the pair both sitting in the top 4 having been expected to be amongst the relegation candidated this season. However, it remaisn to be seen if the two teams can both kepe their form up throughout the season.

Despite St.Neots being expected to do well this season, they currently sit 16th in the table, with a lot of pressure on their shoulders. Paulton currently sit 21st in the table, and have a lot of work to do.

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Injury Report

Tyson Pollard-Fractured Wrist.Expected to be out for 10-13 days.
Tom Knighton-Calf Strain. Expected to be out for 2-3 weeks.

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Fixtures

Paulton head into September with a chance of pulling themselves further up the table. First, they face Slough, who currently sit in 14th place, and expected to be doing better. Next, the Somerset side will take on Dorchester, another mid-table side like Slough, as Paulton will want to show they mean business this season as Dorchester lie 16th in the table.

Next up for Paulton, they get a chance to take on Cambridge City, a side who have lost their magic in recent years and currently lie 11th in the Southern Premier Table. Heading into the second half of the month, Paulton then take on relegation candidates Dunstable Town, who lie one place above Paulton in 20th, with either side wanting a valid three points.

Paulton then travel to playoff chasers Leamington, who lie 8th in the league. To round the month off, Paulton will face Bedford Town at home as both sides look to end September on a high.

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Results

5th September 2015-Paulton vs Slough (1-1) (Southern Premier)
8th September 2015-Dorchester vs Paulton (2-2) (Southern Premier)
12th September 2015-Frome vs Paulton (0-0) (FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round)
15th September 2015-Paulton vs Frome (0-1) (FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round Replay)
19th September 2015-Dunstable vs Paulton (2-0) (Southern Premier)
22nd September 2015-Leamington vs Paulton (1-0) (Southern Premier)
29th September 2015-Paulton vs Cambridge City (0-0) (Southern Premier)

The side struggled to pick up a win throughout the entire month of September, drawing 4 games and losing the other 3. With manager Liam Drury cursing his luck, Paulton fans continue to worry.

In the first game, Connor Clifford netted a superb, low drive in the last minute to secure a much-needed point. Against Dorchester, Jake Mawford came big when needed as he netted both goals to gain another Paulton point in the Southern Premier.

Manager Liam Drury then had his first taste of FA Cup football when travelling to Frome, where his Paulton side battled out a superb draw to take the game to a replay the following Tuesday. Paulton then welcomed Frome to The Athletic Ground for the replay, where Jonathan Davies netted Frome's winner just before half-time to knock Paulton out of a superb game.

Paulton quickly returned to league action as they were desperate to get results, but a trip to Dunstable saw Paulton fall to a 2-0 defeat as Drury watched on ambitiously. The next league game saw a trip to mid-table Leamington. Leamington were determined to push
their playoff hopes and a late winner consigned Paulton to consecutive defeats.

With Paulton's home form impressive throughout the month, they welcomed Cambridge City where captain Ben John inspired his players to take a huge point so early on in the season.

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Player Of The Month

Cameron Brown

Despite solid performances from the likes of Jake Mawford and Ben John in between the sticks, it was central midfielder Cameron Brown who claimed the Player Of The Month award after performing well in the early stages of September, especially.

Brown's best performance came against Slough in the first game of September, providing the assist for Clifford's dramatic late equalier as well as picking up another superb assist in the 2-2 draw to Dorchester, where he linked up superbly with striker Jake Mawford.

So far this season, Brown has had a major impact in performances on the pitch, forming a strong partnership with Mawford and Mullings as well as having the vision to play Drury's way.

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Southern Premier

Chippenham remain at the top of the Southern Premier table, with one of the favourites to go up Hungerford level on points witht he leaders and Merthyr Town also keeping in hot pursuit, 2 points behind them. Paulton, however, sit 22nd in the table, 3 points from safety.

Dorchester and Cirencester, who were both expected to be amongst the playoff hopefuls this season, are both struggling heavily this season and sit amongst the relegation pack, with Dorchester just outside and Cirencester sititng 2 points from safety.

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Southern League Cup

Paulton have been drawn to face Potters Bar in the Second Round of the Southern League Cup. With Potters Bar sititng one divison below in the Southern League Central Divison, the Paulton fans will be expecting their side to still triumph over the lower side, despite Paulton being considerably out-of-form.

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Injury Report

The Paulton side currently has a clean bill of health.

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Fixtures

Paulton start October off by facing bottom of the league Biggleswade Town. They then face mid-table Poole Town before taking on title challengers Hungerford. With the middle of the month approaching, Paulton take on mid-table Bedworth.

The Bristol-based side then face promotion challengers Kings Lynn before switching to the Southern League Cup where they face Potters Bar. To round the month off, Paulton face a huge run of games where they will face relegation battlers Cirencester and Bideford at The Athletic Ground before rounding October off with a trip to Redditch on Halloween.

Results

3rd October 2015-Paulton vs Biggleswade Town (1-1) (Southern Premier)
6th October 2015-Poole Town vs Paulton (0-0) (Southern Premier)
10th October 2015-Hungerford vs Paulton (1-1) (Southern Premier)
13th October 2015-Paulton vs Bedworth Town (1-2) (Southern Premier)
17th October 2015-Kings Lynn vs Paulton (1-0) (Southern Premier)
20th October 2015-Paulton vs Potters Bar (2-4) (Southern League Cup 2nd Round)
24th October 2015-Paulton vs Cirencester (5-2) (Southern Premier)
27th October 2015-Paulton vs Bideford (0-2) (Southern Premier)
31st October 2015-Paulton vs Hastings (1-2) (FA Trophy 1st Qualifying Round)

Paulton continue to struggle this season, especially with their home form. Out of the 9 games played across the month of October, Paulton were able to win 1 game and draw 3 games.

In the first game of the month, Paulton welcomed Biggleswade Town to their home. Paulton took the lead through loanee Jake Mawford before conceding on the stroke of half-time for a point. Paulton then took a midweek trip to Poole Town, where they were performed resolutely in defence to hold out for a valuable point in the relegation scrap.

When visiting Hungerford, Sam Teale scored the equaliser to earn a much-needed point before welcoming Bedworth on Tuesday, where Tom Knighton scored with 30 minutes gone but conceded twice to lose the game.

Paulton then travelled to Kings Lynn to take on the promotion chasers. With the pressure mounting on manager Liam Drury, the players must have felt it on the pitch when Lee Smith scored the sole goal early on to consign Paulton to another defeat. Paulton then took on Potters Bar at home in the Southern League Cup. Despite Cameron Brown and Darren Mullings being sent off, Paulton played an inspired performance but lost 4-2 to get dumped out the cup.

Paulton recorded their only win of the month when Cirencester travelled to The Athletic Ground where Tom Knighton scored a hat-trick to pull his side to a win. The last league game of the month resulted in Paulton losing 2-0 at home to Bideford, leaving Drury with a sour taste in his mouth. In th FA Trophy, Paulton took on Hastings on Halloween and despite Jake Mawford netting 6 minutes before half-time, Hastings scored 2 second-half goals to knock Paulton out.

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Player Of The Month

Tom Knighton

Cameron Brown and Jake Mawford both put in solid displays throughout the month but it is striker Tom Knighton who takes home the gong for the first time this season. Knighton is the third player in three months this season to take home the Paulton Player Of The Month award.

During the month, Knighton scored four goals and provided one assist during the month. However, it was not Knighton's finishing during October that impressed me the most. His partnership with Mawford has stepped up another level during the month and with Knighton usually as the furthest man forward, his hold-up play for Mawford has been exquisite to watch.

However, Knighton has recently become upset due to me fining Darren Mullings after his red card against Potters Bar and it is down to me to keep his morale as high as possible.

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Southern Premier

Kings Lynn have managed to creat a four-point gap at the top of the table with title rivals Merthyr Town and St.Neots both sharing second place in the league, both on 33 points. However, six other teams both find themselves ten points behind Kings Lynn.

Paulton Rovers manager Liam Drury is quickly appearing to be on shaky ground as the club continues to plummet further and further down the table. Many media outlets have predicted Paulton to be at least contesting for a mid-table finish this season. However, they are currently embroiled in a relegation battle and are struggling to get out of it alive.

At the bottom of the table, Dunstable, Paulton, Redditch and Biggleswade Town all currently sit in the relegation zone. Dunstable are currently a point from safety, while Paulton and Redditch both sit two points from safety while Biggleswade sit a tough seven points from safety.

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Injury Report

Tyson Pollard-Broken Foot. Expected to be out for 4-5 months.

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Fixtures

The first match of November will see Paulton welcome Histon to The Athletic Ground, who currently sit 13th in the Southern Premier. Four days after the Histon clash, Paulton will host Chesham United, who currently lounge in 14th place in the Southern Premier.

Paulton will then travel to face 15th placed Stratford, who will be hoping that they can take advantage of Paulton's poor form and push on up the league. Paulton will then hit the road once more to face title challengers St. Neots, who currently lie 3rd from top.

In the final two games of the month, Paulton will take a trip to current table toppers Merthyr Town before hitting the road for the fourth consecutive game where they face playoff chasers Chippenham Town.