Tuesday night offers a chance for Bideford to rebound from their opening day defeat to Westbury United, although it will be a tough assignment as they travel to Shaftesbury who have started the season well.

The Rockies have scored 10 goals in their last two games as they despatched Baffins Milton Rovers 5-0 in the FA Cup, and picked up an excellent 5-1 win at Brixham on Saturday. Jack Lovell and Toby Holmes have scored three goals apiece so far, both were key players for Wimborne Town in their title winning season of 2023/24 and will be ones to watch. Following last season’s successful battle against relegation, Shaftesbury will be looking to push on up the division this term, and they certainly have the players to do so.

Sean Joyce may be forced to shuffle his pack on Tuesday night based on player availability, but that could offer an opportunity for one or two to stake their claim to a place in the starting XI moving forward. Saturday’s second half performance in the defeat to Westbury was a big improvement on the first, particularly the final 25 minutes. A better start will be needed if they hope to take anything from Cockrams on Tuesday night.

Last season’s meetings between the sides offered plenty of goals. Bideford won 3-2 at the Sports Ground in December, before the sides played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at Cockrams in March where Shaftesbury rescued a point with an equaliser in the 101st minute!

Bideford’s last six (LWLWWL)
09/08/25 Bideford 1 Westbury United 2 (League)
02/08/25 Bideford 4 Wellington 1 (FA Cup EPR)
26/07/25 Bovey Tracey 0 Bideford 6 (Friendly)
15/07/25 Bideford 1 Tiverton Town 2 (Friendly)
12/07/25 Bideford 4 Launceston 0 (Friendly)
04/07/25 Bideford 1 Barnstaple Town 2 (Friendly)

Shaftesbury’s last six (LWWDWW)
09/08/25 Brixham 1 Shaftesbury 5 (League)
05/08/25 Shaftesbury 5 Baffins Milton Rovers 0 (FA Cup EPRr)
02/08/25 Baffins Milton Rovers 1 Shaftesbury 1 (FA Cup EPR)
29/07/25 Shaftesbury 5 New Milton Town 0 (Friendly)
19/07/25 Shaftesbury 2 Laverstock & Ford 1 (Friendly)
12/07/25 Shaftesbury 3 Poole Town 6 (Friendly)

A Brief History of Shaftesbury FC
Shaftesbury were formed in 1888 and played their early football in the Dorset Junior League winning the league title and then the Dorset Senior League which they won in 1932/33. The club became founder members of the Dorset Football Combination League in 1957 but dropped back to the Senior League between 1962 and 1976. Twelve years after returning to the Combination League, Shaftesbury were crowned champions in 1988/89. Mostly top ten finishes followed before they won their second Combination League title in 1996/97. In 2004 they joined the newly formed Division Two of the Wessex League but were relegated back to the Dorset Premier League in 2010/11. Shaftesbury were Dorset Premier League champions in 2015/16 and were promoted again the following season after finishing third in Wessex League Division One. In 2023/24 they finished third in the Wessex League Premier Division and were promoted to the Southern League for the first time after beating Stoneham in the play-off final. Their maiden Southern League season saw the Rockies finish 17th.

Shaftesbury FC
Cockrams
Coppice Street
Shaftesbury
Dorset
SP7 8PF
Tel: 01747 853990
Web: https://shaftesburyfc.co.uk
Twitter: @SFC1888

Previous meetings:
29/03/25 Shaftesbury 3 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 South)
14/12/24 Bideford 3 Shaftesbury 2 (Southern Div 1 South)