THE month of June got off to a flying start for Bovey Tracey AFC with the SW Peninsula League club announcing a trio of statement signings on Sunday 1.

One is a returning face whilst the other two are younger players picked up from division rivals and it doesn’t end there, Dom Aplin and Rob Farkins being announced this afternoon.

Manager Ben Gerring had some punchy things to say to the Mid-Devon Advertiser which align with this aforementioned transfer business. In his own words, the team will “Be treated like a step three club. It’s about how they respond to that. Yes it’s step six but we’re ambitious and the lads have been superb so far.”

Gerring, who in his own playing career featured for the likes of Torquay United and Truro City, reaching as high as the National League, took over at the tail-end of last season and had an instant impact.

He was the third Bovey manager last year, succeeding Matt Hayden, who himself took over mid-season having filled the shoes of Tony Radford.

The Moorlanders concluded the season with five wins on the spin though, Gerring taking active charge of four of those and they proved to be clinical in front of goal, scoring 19 times in that period.

There are plenty more goals to be scored at Mill Marsh Park though following the return of Ollie Aplin, who left the club last summer for Western League outfit Ivybridge Town. Greens boss Wayne Gamble spoke very highly of the forward but Gerring has been able to lure him back, commenting “Ollie needs no introduction to the local area and to the football club. I think I heard this was his fourth stint so it is a club he knows well and vice-versa.”

He continued, “[He’s] a non-stop runner, knows where the goal is and will guarantee you goals at this level, an excellent addition”. Gerring also confirming that “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing for him” despite the announcement of his Bovey return, and these offers are “For over double what we’re paying but he’s committed to us.”

Aplin was particularly lethal in his last season with the club, striking 25 goals in 30 appearances and taking the Peninsula League top-scorer trophy home as a result.

Callum Noyce and Jordan Thomas are the other two players, arriving from Newton Abbot Spurs and Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police respectively.

The former is currently “Playing well below his level. I think he was just quite happy to be playing with friends” with his new manager admitting to having tried to sign him previously, during his time in charge of Tiverton Town. Noyce was bouncing between the 1st and 2nd XIs at Spurs despite proving to be a major goal threat again and again.

“He’s a really quick, agile modern-day winger who loves to get forward, loves to take people on, comfortable in one-on-one situations and he knows our demands.

“At the other end we’ve got Jordan Thomas. I was quite open about being strong in both boxes which I don’t think we quite got to terms with [last season].

“Jordan is a player who can be a threat from attacking set-pieces and can also defend his own box. He’s very calm on the ball.”

In terms of his footballing ideology, Gerring’s side are “Going to be a front-foot, attacking side, looking to press high up the pitch” and this new trio certainly aligns with that- other teams in the league will be on red alert when the new season rolls around.

At the same time, he is more than content with the players that are staying on board for the journey. “My point last season was that we finished that strong that I didn’t want to rip the team apart, it’s a very close-knit group.

“I have 16 players who I back fully to go and put a title charge on,” he added.

After a rocky 2024/25 season, the ambitions of the club and Gerring as an individual are there for all to see.

Mention of a title charge may raise some eyebrows but “That’s the only message that I’ve got and I’m making it known that that is what we want to do, we want to win this league, the club want to be in the Western League and it’s on me to deliver that.”

They are certainly going about this the right way so far.