Match Report
Bideford AFC 1 Yate Town 1
Roberts 32 Adams 55
Southern League Division One South
Saturday 22nd March 2025
Yate Town came up against a direct Bideford side on a tricky pitch to share the points in game that was played at a frantic pace at times but generally lacked quality.
Yate Town manager, Darren Mullings, made three changes to the side that won at Westbury, the previous Tuesday, bringing back Lucas Tomlinson after his two-match suspension and starting with both Nick McCootie and Marlon Jackson up front, these three taking the place of Stan Wyatt and Ross Stearn, who reverted to the bench and the unavailable King Baidoo.
The first real incident of the game came after 10 minutes when it appeared that there was a handball by a home defender in the Bideford penalty area as Nick McCootie challenged for the ball but referee Billy Wootten waved play on. Bideford threatened when Javan Wright shot wide however the game was generally a midfield tussle but on the half hour Bideford won a couple of corners and then broke forward and Scott Robinson was fouled on the edge of the Yate penalty area. Finn Roberts took the free kick, slightly right of central, and found the bottom corner of the net with a well place shot to put Bideford in front.
Shortly after this Nick McCootie had to leave the field with a back injury and was replaced by Ross Stearn but both sides found it difficult to create chances, as defences held firm.
Yate Town came out in a more determined mood in the second half and got the equaliser ten minutes into the half when James Byrne won possession and after good work from Marlon Jackson and James Taylor, who manged to keep the ball in play, found Jamie Adams in the six yard box and the midfield player was able to get the ball from under his feet, and despite pressure from the home defenders, squeezed the ball over the line.
James Taylor manages to keep the ball in play and below Jamie Adams equalises.
Yate then had a chance to take the lead when a Bideford defender slipped and James Taylor was clear on the right but his cross only found a home defender with Marlon Jackson in plenty of space, unmarked in the Bideford penalty area.
Bideford started to get back into the game and fierce shot, from an acute angle, by Finn Roberts just cleared the crossbar and then they had a goal disallowed following a foul on Will Larvin in the six-yard box.
There followed some intense pressure from Bideford and Isaac Finch was forced to make an excellent save from Ryan Turner and then blocked another close-range effort. Yate Town responded with some late pressure that saw a Will Christopher cross headed goal wards by Ross Stearn but Bideford goalkeeper, Michael Searle, pulled off a save to push the ball just over the crossbar. A James Byrne cross then caused havoc in the Bideford penalty area before Ross Stearn’s effort was cleared for a corner and in the final minutes of the game a Lloyd James’ cross was headed just over by Will Larvin.
Will Larvin’s header is just off target.
On the balance of play this was a fair result but the gap at the top of the table is now just 3 points. However, the Bluebells are in pole position with their fate is still in their own hands. Coincidently both Yate and Evesham, who are in second place, have an identical goal difference and each has scored 60 goals in 36 matches whilst both have conceded 33 goals.
Next up for the Bluebells is the visit of fourth placed Bemerton to the South West Interiors Stadium next Saturday before they have consecutive Saturdays on the road down to Cornwall to play relegation threatened Helston Athletic and then third placed Mousehole – followed by 3 more games, two at home and one away. It promises to be an exciting final 6 games of the season!
Bideford AFC: Searle, Winsor, Byrne, Moyse, Gardner, Slough, Roberts, Reay, Robinson, Turner (Hearsey 85), J. Wright (Ewing 62)
Unused subs: Shearer, Simons. S. Wright
Bookings: Winsor (47), Robinson (76), Roberts (86)
Yate Town: Finch, Taylor (Christopher 76), Byrne, Larvin, Hall, James, Tomlinson (Nderemani 90+3), Guest, Jackson, McCootie (Stearn 35), Adams
Unused subs: Lenihan, Wyatt
Bookings: Taylor (20), Larvin (30), Guest (64), Byrne (89), James (89)
Referee: Billy Wootten
Attendance: 349
Photographs by Bob Chester
Yate Town Man of the Match: James Byrne – in action at Bideford
