THE rivalry and obvious dislike of each other between Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson and Bristol Rovers boss Ian Atkins have reached new depths in the aftermath of last week's heated West Country derby at the Memorial Stadium (writes Steve Sowden).

It was announced last Thursday that Atkins had been charged by the Football Association for three breaches of FA Rule E3 during the 2-2 draw on October 19.

The three charges are as follows:

In the players' tunnel at half-time, Atkins used abusive and/or insulting words towards Yeovil Town players.

At the end of the match, Atkins used abusive and/or insulting words towards the Yeovil manager.

During the same incident, Atkins' conduct was improper in that he had to be physically restrained from confronting the Yeovil manager.

Atkins now has until November 4 to respond to the charges.

But the whole incident has left a nasty taste in the mouth and it is little wonder that Johnson is no friend of Atkins.

The Express cannot quote what Atkins is believed to have said to Johnson because the language was so bad, while we understand that the incident involving the Yeovil players was concerned with a cup of tea being thrown.

Myself and three other Yeovil fans walked the 48-miles from Huish Park to the Memorial Stadium in aid of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and, to Rovers' credit, they allowed us to use the referee's room for a shower once we arrived at the ground at just before 4pm.

Before then we met up with Atkins who congratulated us on our marathon achievement, but the good gesture was ruined when he began to make a number of sarcastic remarks about Yeovil Town. We all felt rather like 'Judas' when we then shook his hand.

We then found out that Atkins had had a running battle with groundstaff that afternoon after they had been ordered by him to flood the away dressing room.

It all seems as if his dislike of Johnson became more important to Atkins than the actual game itself.