Falmouth Town 2 Yate Town 3
Thomas 5, Barner 28 Byrne 22, Christopher 64, Stearn 80
Southern League Div One South
Saturday 2nd November 2024
Yate Town travelled down to Cornwall, with a somewhat patched up side, and showed great character and resilience, in a highly entertaining game, to collect all three points and maintain their place at the top of the table.
With the two Bristol Rovers loanees still unavailable and Dan Dempsey sidelined with an injury picked up in the game against Thatcham Town on Tuesday night, Will Christopher went into the middle of the defence - where he played for 70 minutes on Tuesday evening.
The game, played on a dismal, but dry afternoon, saw the hosts take an early when Luke Barner’s cross from the right set up Kian Thomas to score after only 5 minutes. Yate Town responded and Lucas Tomlinson brought a good save from home goalkeeper Morgan Coxhead after 10 minutes and as the visitors started to assert themselves a fine combination on the left saw Stan Wyatt pass to Lloyd James and his accurate ball into the penalty area saw full back, James Byrne on the end of it, to head the Bluebells level, with Ross Stearn in close attendance.
James Byrne, partially hidden by Ross Stearn, leaps to head the equaliser for Yate Town.
But the hosts, who always looked dangerous, took the lead again after 28 minutes when Thomas and Barner again combined, this time on the left, for Luke Barner to score from close range.
The Yate Town defence, which had only conceded 6 goals in 1080 minutes of football in the League this season, had been breached twice in 28 minutes.
Stung by this, Stan Wyatt, who was a threat on the left for Yate, beat a couple of defenders and his near post shot was well saved by Coxhead and Marlon Jackson then headed straight at the goalkeeper when well placed. Falmouth then had a chance after 42 minutes when Oscar Massey’s diving header was well saved by Aaron Sainsbury.
The second half saw Yate Town eager to get the equaliser and Marlon Jackson had a shot that was deflected onto the post and off for a corner after 51 minutes but a 25-yard shot from Will Christopher, that took a wicked deflection, saw the teams level.
Will Christopher (far left) shoots from outside the penalty area and his shot hits a Falmouth defender on the head on its way into the net.
Christopher then headed a Lloyd James corner over the bar and Marlon Jackson brought a good save from Coxhead with a header following a cross from Stan Wyatt as Yate Town looked for the winner.
Falmouth had a couple of efforts on goal with Jack Webber firing over from 20 yards and Jared Sims shot wide from close range but following a great run by James Taylor, who drove into the penalty area and set up Ross Stearn, who was perfectly placed to slot home the winner from 6 yards.
James Taylor (2) lays the ball back for Ross Stearn to score the winner for Yate Town and below the celebrations begin!
With 5 minutes added time signalled by the officials Yate Town looked to close the game down but, in this period, both teams had a chance to score again. Firstly, Marlon Jackson found himself clear but as he was closed down by defenders and couldn’t quite get his shot away, Coxhead snuffed out the danger.
Marlon Jackson nearly makes it four!
With seven minutes stoppage time played Falmouth broke on the right and were awarded a free kick on the byline. The ball was played back and Oscar Massey thundered a shot from the edge of the area which struck the woodwork and then moments later the referee blew for fulltime.
This was an excellent advert for non-league football and the atmosphere generated by the home fans added to the occasion in a very beneficial way. This was another positive performance by Yate Town, under challenging circumstances and many teams this season will find that Falmouth Town will be tough opposition, particularly, on their home territory.
Yate Town now have a week to prepare for a run of four home games, with no mid-week fixture, starting with the visit of Westbury United next Saturday and manager, Darren Mullings, will be hoping that more of his squad will be available following recent knocks and injuries.
Falmouth Town: Coxhead, Start-Walter, Leivers, Calleja-Stayne, Annear, Jewell (Elock 65), Barner, Webber (Wilson 86), Thomas (Brabyn 65), Massey, Sims (Jones 81)
Unused subs: None
Bookings: Elock (83)
Yate Town: Sainsbury, Taylor, Byrne, Christopher, Larvin, James, Stearn (Staley 87), Guest, Jackson, Tomlinson, Wyatt (Hillier 90)
Unused subs: Felix, McMillan, Mullings
Bookings: Jackson (43), Guest (45+2), Staley (90+4)
Attendance: 403
Referee: Mark Senior
Yate Town Man of The Match: Marlon Jackson