Match Preview
Poole Town v Yate Town
Southern League Premier Division South
Saturday 17th January – kick-off 3.00pm
Yate Town travel to Poole Town on Saturday and this will be a tough test for the Bluebells with high flying Poole Town in fine form. With a busy schedule coming up in the next few weeks, that includes three mid-week games, the Bluebells will be looking over this period to gain enough points to help towards securing their place in the Southern League Premier Division South for next season.
Form Guide
Poole Town finished in 14th position last season, in the Southern League Premier Division South but are now in second place, above Gloucester City, but behind leaders Walton & Hersham. Last Saturday they drew 1-1 at Hanwell Town with Shaquille Gwengwe, the divisions leading goal scorer, netting after just three minutes. The previous Saturday the Dolphins put seven past Plymouth Parkway with Gwengwe scoring a hattrick.
Their previous 10 games have seen Poole Town win six times (including the Plymouth Parkway result), also beating Basingstoke (1-0), Berkhamsted (2-1), Havant & Waterlooville (3-0), Uxbridge (3-1) and Wimborne (2-0), drawing twice, a 2-2 draw at home to leaders Walton & Hersham and an amazing 5-5 draw at home to bottom club Tiverton.
The Dolphins have lost just twice over this period, at Farnham (1-2) on November 18th and at home to Sholing (0-1) on December 20th.
Their league record this season is; played 25, won 14, drawn 6 and with 5 defeats, whilst scoring 54 goals and conceding 29 times.
Previous meetings
Prior to the meeting in the FA Trophy last October, the last time that the teams played each other in a League game was when the Bluebells were previously in the Southern League Premier Division South, in the early 2020s for a couple of seasons. In season 2021/22 Yate Town won 2-1 at home with two goals from Luke Hopper and they got the double by winning 2-0 away with goals from Ricardo Rees and Ollie Mehew. The tables were turned the following season (2022/23) when the Dolphins did the double, winning their home game 5-0 and 3-2 at the South West Interiors Stadium with Ross Staley and Rex Mannings scoring for Yate Town in front of a crowd of 261.
The Dolphins and the Bluebells have played each other 16 times before (14 in the league, once in the FA Cup and once in the FA Trophy) and these 16 games have seen Yate Town win 8 times, Poole Town winning 7 times and there being just one drawn game. Yate Town have scored 46 goals to the 28 by Poole.
James Taylor scores the opening goal in the FA Trophy game at the South West Interiors stadium in October, after 72 minutes, but two late goals from Poole’s Harvey Slade and Antonio Diaz saw the Dolphins through to the next round.
Getting there
Address: Poole Town FC, BlackGold Stadium, (Off) School Lane, Oakdale, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3JR
Entrances – The Black Gold Stadium is situated next to Oakdale Junior School. There are two main turnstiles, one at the end of Well Lane for those walking down from Tatnam Road and those walking from the School Car Park, the other turnstile can be accessed through the wooded area at the junction of Tatnam Road and Stanley Green Road. The Well Lane Entrance can be accessed from the Car Park in School Lane as well as from Well Lane itself. When a large crowd is expected or where segregation is advised, there will also be a further turnstile open further along Stanley Green Road referred to as The Fleetsbridge Turnstile.
Directions: – If arriving from the West or South West, leave the A35 towards Poole Town centre at the Fire Station roundabout. Continue towards Poole and at the first round about with MacDonalds on your left, turn left onto Broadstone Way. Turn right at the first set of traffic lights into Willis Way. At the end of Willis Way, turn right onto Fleets Lane. Fleets Lane becomes Stanley Green Road. Just opposite Elite Signs, turn left into Palmer Road then at the mini roundabout, turn right into School Lane and the car park is straight ahead.
For those who use What3Words for navigation this by far the easiest way to find us:
School car park – https://w3w.co/charm.scam.bounty
Path from car park to Well Lane Turnstile: https://w3w.co/sunk.calculating.drip
Well Lane Turnstile – https://w3w.co/leaps.holds.bravo
Tatnam Road Turnstile – https://w3w.co/ample.form.scared
The travel time from Yate should be just over 2 hours for the 74-mile journey.
Parking: Parking is free in the School Lane car park and on match days overflow parking may also available at the industrial area opposite the stadium in Stanley Green Road.
Parking is not available at the ground
Ticket prices: By using the Fanbase platform, digital tickets can be purchased in advance. However, if you wish to purchase tickets on the turnstiles Poole Town accept cash or card, the ticket prices are as followed (Turnstile prices): - Adult – £15; Concession – £10 (Over 60, Serving Armed Forces with Valid ID, Veteran of the Armed Forces with valid ID, Student with Valid ID, NHS with Valid ID, Disabled); Under 18 – £7 (ID Verification Needed*) Under 13 – £3