Western Morning News (Saturday)
Gladiators unveil two more new signings
PLYMOUTH Gladiators have announced two more members of their 2021 speedway team with the signings of 24-year-old Alfie Bowtell and young Australian rider Zach Cook, 21.
Essex-born Bowtell returns to the Coliseum having joined the Gladiators in 2020 as their number one rider when Plymouth were a National League side, while Cook, who hails from Cowra, New South Wales, will be making his debut in UK league racing.
Bowtell had no hesitation in signing for Plymouth, and said he was looking forward to being part of a star-studded line-up that includes three-time World Champion Jason Crump.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to being back at Plymouth this season and meeting the fans again. Mark [promoter Mark Phillips] is putting together an awesome team.”
Phillips was equally delighted to secure the signature of Bowtell for another season.
“Alfie really knows his way around the Plymouth track as he has shown each time he rides here, and I was delighted when he agreed to return,” said Phillips.
“He has previous Championship experience and I’m certain he will provide us with real scoring power at the lower end.”
Cook will be based in Dorset with his brother Ben who has signed for Poole Pirates for this season.
The brothers will not have to wait long to lock horns, with Plymouth and Poole drawn against each other in the Knockout Cup with those fixtures due to take place at the end of May.
Cook, who has represented Australia in the World Under 21 Team Cup competition, explained that he has already seen the Plymouth track but never ridden it.
He said: “I first came over to the UK in 2015 when my good friends Todd and Brady Kurtz were riding for Plymouth, and I visited the track then.
“I can’t wait to get going after a frustrating 2020 when I came over to the UK to ride for Somerset but, due to Covid, never turned a wheel and was forced to return to Australia after only three weeks.”
Speaking about Cook’s signing, Phillips said: “Zach rode against Plymouth in 2019 for Somerset in an inter-league challenge match and he really caught my eye then, scoring nine points.
“That was after he had been in the country for only 24 hours and wasn’t on his own machinery, so I think Zach has real talent.”
Bowtell and Cook join threetime world champion Crump, exGrand Prix rider, Bjarne Pedersen and local favourite Henry Atkins as the named riders so far for Plymouth’s return to Championship racing.
RYAN Lowe has called on his Plymouth Argyle players to show ‘the right attitude and the right application’ against Rochdale at Spotland today.
Rochdale have lost their last three games in League One and slipped to 19 th position as a result.
In contrast, the Pilgrims have been on the rise since the tunr of the year. They are unbeaten in eight league games at the start of 2021 and are now in 10th place.
However, Lowe and his players know only too well the threat can Rochdale can pose, after the Dale beat them 4-0 at Home Park at the start of December.
Argyle trailed by three goals at the interval as the visitors caused them all sorts of problems.
So Lowe is not about to take anything for granted in the return meeting between the sides.
Lowe said: “I know Brian BarryMurphy quite well. I played with him and I think he’s a very good young, up-and-coming manager.
“Yeah, they have lost their last three but they beat us here [at Home Park] and they have got some qualities.
“They are scoring goals, alright they are conceding goals. They have got some good players.
“So we are not taking Rochdale lightly just because they have lost three on the bounce, and where they are in the league.
“It doesn’t matter. We have got to respect Rochdale for what they are and how they go about their business, and we will certainly do that.
“Yeah, it will be about what we do, but we still have to put a mindset in our lads’ heads that Rochdale can do anything on their day, and that’s what we will do.”
Lowe added: “We are taking nothing for granted. We have got to go there with the right attitude and the right application.”
Argyle’s on-loan Nottingham Forest midfielder Tyrese Fornah admitted the 4-0 defeat by Rochdale had been a painful experience for him and his team-mates.
Fornah said: “You always need to have those results in your mind because that should motivate you, just the result in itself.
“It was a bad day in the office for us but that, for many of us, is experience. It hurt me a lot.
“I have got a lot of pride when I play and I take a lot of pride in how we perform as a team, so it did scar me.”
He added: “We are going there not just to get a result but to win, definitely.”
Fornah has been part of an Argyle squad which has been unbeaten in their last four away league games, winning three of them.
Most recently, they made the long trip to Accrington Stanley on a freezing Tuesday night and dug out a 1-0 victory.
Fornah said: “Every game is a nice feeling to know that we have won, especially those journeys away.
“It’s a killer, but to come back on the bus and know that we have got a result is a brilliant feeling.
“For me, I just want that to continue because I don’t like losing. That’s my mentality.”
Fornah pointed to the togetherness of the Argyle players as one of the main reasons behind their recent good results.
He said: “Everyone in the team, and the ones that are not playing, work hard for each other.
“To come back on a bus with a result and just relax a little bit is a brilliant feeling.
“Everyone is helping one other. We don’t just consider ourselves as team-mates. We are like brothers.”
EXETER City manager Matt Taylor has called on his players to dig deep and use mind over matter to make sure Tuesday’s hard work, earning a battling point despite playing for the best part of an hour with nine men against Newport County, does not go to waste when they face Grimsby Town at St James Park this afternoon (KO 1pm).
“It was mind over matter for a long period on Tuesday night and if they feel a little bit leggy, then they somehow have to get themselves in the mindset that this is a big game for us and a chance to pick up three points and back up what was a spectacular performance on Tuesday night,” Taylor said.
Needless to say, the players’ energy levels are pretty low, especially as games are being played out on such heavy pitches but Taylor is hopeful that they will be able to push themselves through any niggles, strains or pain.
“It’s tough, but you have to trust them,” said Taylor. “Sometimes, it is not the next game that is the worst one, that fatigue will kick in on Tuesday or the following weekend, so it is trying to see who is reacting well to certain aspects and what we are asking them to do.
“Also, the way we set the team up this weekend. When you haven’t got in it your legs, it is certainly not a day, or a game, to be chasing. We want to be level or ahead for as long as possible.
“That means playing well to start with and being strong and structured, not too dissimilar to the way we finished the other night, but with more players on the football pitch.”
Taylor added: “Whoever is out on that pitch, I expect them to conduct themselves in a way where they will keep on moving to get any fatigue out of their body and the more senior ones have done that time and time again.
“It’s some of the younger ones you worry about and at some stage, they will need to have a little break. That might be on Saturday or the following Tuesday or the following weekend.
“We are really looking forward to this weekend. We got something to show for Tuesday night and we want to back it up with a positive result straight after.
“We know how we want to play at home. We want to take the game to the opposition and it has suited us for large parts of this season and last season and that is getting after the ball and putting pressure on the opposition.
“We will have to make a few changes this weekend, some are enforced with the suspensions, but I do expect the players to be physically capable.”
One player likely to start is striker Ben Seymour, who has been the unfortunate victim of circumstance in recent weeks. Taylor has spoken openly about the young striker being given his chance but, against Morecambe, he was hooked early with the team not functioning well and then he was sacrificed at Newport on Tuesday when City had to shore up defensively after going down to ten men.
Alex Fisher will also get his chance in the wake of Bowman’s suspension, but Taylor has said that Nicky Ajose is not in his thoughts as he is still not training with the rest of the squad.
“It’s an opportunity for Ben and Alex because we have three games without Ryan and hopefully they can move forward in the pecking order, or put themselves in a position where, as a manager, I can trust them even more.,” he said.
“Ben is such a young lad and it is difficult to set up a team where you have just Ben leading the line and that is with no disrespect to Ben Seymour. He is not of the same physical profile as an Alex Fisher or Ryan Bowman, so you have to think about how you set the team up and how that effects other players.
“The success of the likes of Joel Randall, Randell Williams, Matt Jay and Robbie Willmott in recent weeks is partly down to Ryan’s physical presence to disrupt and effect the opposition.
“Alex Fisher and Ben Seymour are both in contention to lead the line for us this weekend, but we have three games in quick succession, so someone might start the game on Saturday and finish the game on Tuesday, or vice-versa, or we play them together.
“Either way, I am confident that they will put in the performances that we want.”
Today’s opponents Grimsby Town are a strange opposition for City. Often, the Grecians play some of their best football against the Mariners but, in recent seasons, it has not always got them results.
In Matt Taylor’s first season, Exeter turned in one of their best performances of the campaign, only to lose 2-1, while they were the better team against last season, only to lose that game 3-1. Away from home, it is a different story with four wins and two draws in six visits to Blundell Park.
Getting the first goal has proved to be vital and with today’s clash coming four days after Tuesday’s remarkable events at Newport County, it is perhaps even more important than ever that the Grecians strike first.
For 80 minutes on Tuesday they had to play with ten men after Alex Hartidge’s harsh red card. Then, taking into account injury time, they played the best part of an hour with nine men after Ryan Bowman was also sent off just before half-time.