Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Tutonda follows Ehmer to the Gills
BRISTOL Rovers have terminated the contract of wing-back David Tutonda with the 25-year-old following the path of Max Ehmer by signing for Gillingham.
During the week, the Pirates allowed Ehmer to leave 12 months before his deal expired, and the same has happened with Tutonda, who also heads to Kent.
Tutonda signed for Rovers last August on a free transfer after three years with Barnet, and became something of a cult hero among fans with his bursts down the left flank and his social media activity.
However, after the departure of boss Ben Garner in November he found first-team opportunities harder to come by, with injuries also playing a part. He returned to the fold in February under Paul Tisdale and Joey Barton but made just two starts along with a string of cameos off the bench. In total he played 20 League One games for Rovers with ten as a starter.
His departure leaves recent signing Nick Anderton as the club’s only natural left full-back, with Michael Kelly departing on a free transfer and Luke Leahy joining Shrewsbury.
In announcing the signing, Gills manager Steve Evans confirmed Rovers beat him to the signing of Tutonda, above, last summer.
“David is a talented boy. He is very quick, good on the ball and likes to get forward,” said Evans. “We tried last summer to get him, but we couldn’t at that time.”
AFTER some “dark days” at Wigan last term, goalkeeper Owen Evans is now looking forward to brighter times ahead following his return to Cheltenham.
The 24-year-old Welshman has signed a two-year contract at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium and is aiming to establish himself as the Robins’ number one next season.
Evans, who has three Wales Under-21 caps, joined Wigan from Hereford in 2015, and has had loan spells at six clubs – the last one being with Cheltenham in 2019-20.
He was brought in after Scott Flinders broke his leg in January 2020 and made 13 appearances in all competitions, the last being in the 3-0 play-off semi-final defeat to Northampton last June.
Evans saved a penalty in the first leg and made several other fine saves as Cheltenham won 2-0 at Sixfields, but it all went wrong in the return as their promotion hopes crumbled.
“I was upset and disappointed by the way it ended, of course it wasn’t the way we all wanted it to pan out,” he said. “I followed every game last season and I knew the club would get promoted, so to go up as the champions was inevitable really.
“I was very happy to see everyone get to where they deserve to be – they belong in League One and now I have the chance to crack on and see how far we can go in League One and I want to be a part of it.”
Newport-born Evans said it was an easy choice to join Cheltenham once he had made the decision to leave Wigan.
“I am really excited,” he said. ”When the chance arose to come I was happy to get it done and be back as a permanent player and to crack on, see the boys again and see the manager.
“It was an easy choice in the end. It was the players, the manager, the way things are run, the way we play football, the stadium, the training ground, the fans – I always wanted to come back at some point.
“I never thought that it would be possible, but then it became possible and I jumped at the chance and it is really good to be back.
“It was an easy choice to come to Cheltenham, but the big decision was deciding to part ways with Wigan. It felt like a natural split and a good time to leave and try to establish myself as a number one somewhere else.
“It is well known the problems that were going on at Wigan last season.
“There were some dark days, so to stay up was so good for the club and to be a part of it was a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I am really proud of what Wigan did last year and it was a really big decision to leave and one I didn’t take lightly.”
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Cheltenham will play away to Kidderminster and Hereford in preseason friendlies on July 20 and 27 respectively. Kidderminster are managed by ex-Robins midfielder Russ Penn, who has a host of exRobins in his squad, including Keith Lowe and Amari Morgan-Smith.