Match Preview
Bristol Manor Farm v Yate Town
Southern League Division One South
Monday 21st April 2025 - Kick-off 3.00pm
Yate Town make the short journey to play Bristol Manor Farm for their final away game of the season and their penultimate league fixture in this 2024/2025 campaign. Following the Bluebells 4-2 home win on Good Friday against Cinderford Town and Evesham having beaten Didcot Town 3-0 on Saturday, the top of the table places remains the same with both teams on 82 points, now with two games to play, but Evesham have a superior goal difference of 2 more than the Bluebells, adding one more over the weekend.
Form Guide
On Saturday Bristol Manor Farm made the long trip to Cornwall to play Falmouth Town which ended in 1-1 draw, with Owen Howe scoring their goal but had goalkeeper Louis Smith sent off with 19 minutes still to play.
Prior to this, their previous 8 league games included 2 wins, 2 draws and 4 loses with their leading goal scorer, Louis Britton scoring 3 goals in the first 4 games played in March before his departure to National League South side, Weston-super-Mare.
The start of March saw a draw at Bashley and a win at Tavistock, but this was followed by 4 consecutive defeats against Shaftesbury at home (0-2), Exmouth away (2-3), Tavistock at home (0-3) and Didcot Town away (1-2) before a 3-2 win at home to Larkhall at the start of April, was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to Malvern.
Bristol Manor Fram currently sit in 9th place in the league table, having played 40 games, winning 13, drawing 15 and losing 12 times. They have scored 71 goals whilst conceding 65 times and have 54 points.
Previous meetings
Earlier in the season the teams drew 1-1 on Boxing Day at the South West Interiors Stadium – the third consecutive time that the games have ended 1-1. In front of a crowd of 785 Aaron Robbins put the visitors ahead before in the first half before Joe Guest equalised for Yate Town midway through the second half.
Yate Town and Bristol Manor Farm met each other in the League last season with both games ending in a 1-1 draw. The first took place on August Bank Holiday Monday, at The Creek, and after the hosts had taken an early lead, Dylan Lewis was fouled in the penalty area just before half-time and George Box stepped up to take the penalty (pictured below) to level the scores. The crowd was 371.
On 1st January the clubs played the game in wet conditions and when substitute Jack Ball put Yate in front after 83 minutes it looked like the Bluebells would secure a much-needed win but two minutes later Daniel Dodimead scored for Bristol Manor Farm and the points were shared again with a crowd of 343 watching.
The previous meetings before this were in season 2017/18 when Bristol Manor Farm won 3-1 at Lodge Road with Davies scoring Yate Town’s only goal and crowd of 169 watched the game. Later in the season the two teams drew 1-1 at The Creek with Tanner scoring for Yate. The crowd was 228.
The following season Yate Town won both games, winning 4-2 at The Creek in November with Price, Ollie Mehew and Ben Books scoring twice and in the return game in February saw goals from Lewis L-Gilchrist (2) and Mike Bryant secured a 3-2 win in front of a crowd of 333.
Getting there:
Home for Bristol Manor Farm is based at The Creek on the A4 Portway, Sea Mills, Bristol BS9 2HS. The Creek is situated on a major route in and out of Bristol. The journey of 17.5 miles, via the M5 should take about 30 minutes or alternatively you could go into Bristol and head along the Portway towards the M5 at Avonmouth. The game kicks off at 3pm and the players will be hoping to see a good away following to support them.
Next up
Yate Town’s league season concludes with a home game against Didcot Town on 26th April.