Havant & Waterlooville 1-3 Yate Town
Seager (34)| Mannings (7,49), Taylor A (71)
Saturday 25th April 2026
Southern League Premier Division South
A run of five wins in their last six games, seven undefeated, has propelled Yate Town up from 20th position in the Southern League Premier Division South to 13th place and this emphatic win has not only secured their Step 3 status for next season but has seen them become the form team in the division during the final 6 games of the season, topping this table, showing the resilience and quality of the entire squad during this period.
Yate Town manager, Darren Mullings, was forced into one change from the side that beat second placed Gloucester City last week, and replaced the injured Will Larvin with Charlie Moody, who was available after injury.
The Bluebells got off to a dream start, when after just 8 minutes, Rex Mannings chased a through ball from Dan Ball and as Havant & Waterlooville defender Nathan Patten and goalkeeper Matt Kerby collided, it left Mannings the simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net.
Rex Mannings sends the ball goalward to put the Bluebells in front.
Havant & Waterlooville then had more of the possession and won a number of corners which the Yate team defended well and restricted the home side to just a couple of half chances. However, after 35 minutes, following a corner, Havant & Waterlooville’s leading goal scorer, Ryan Seager managed to finish from close range to score his 39th goal for the season.
The second half started in a similar fashion to the first half and the persistent Rex Mannings latched onto a long ball down the right and again put the home defenders in trouble and somehow the ball ended in the net after a number of deflections, with Mannings claiming the goal (although the final touch may have come off defender Nathan Patten).
Rex Mannings closes in on goal and the ball eventually ends up in the net to regain the lead.
Havant & Waterlooville went close when a cross to the far post hit the woodwork and bounced off Yate Town goalkeeper Aarron Sainsbury before going out for a corner but Yate Town started to completely dominate the game and at times created panic in the home defence as Josh Bennett, Marlon Jackson and James Taylor all went close whilst Omar Taylor-Clarke crashed a shot against the crossbar after 67 minutes.
Four minutes later, following a corner from the right, Archie Taylor managed to get his head to the ball and score from close range to add to the score.
Archie Taylor scorers with a close ranger header and shows his joy with Marlon Jackson close by and Omar Taylor-Clarke behind with arms raised.
A 30-yard pile driver from Yate substitute, Alex Monks, brought a fine reaction save from Matt Kerbey as Yate Town looked for a fourth goal and after five minutes added time was concluded the opportunity to celebrate this fine win and squence of results could begin, with their objectives achieved.
This was the end of a season that threw up a number of challenges for the newly promoted Yate Town, 52 weeks since winning the Southern League Division One South, but the squad and management team have responded to these challenges and can be proud of their achievements and with their player presentation evening on Friday 8th May, the club has much to celebrate during this event.
Players and fans celebrate after the final whistle.
The squad, with Chairman, Mark Thorne and below: Yate Town manager, Darren Mullings, assistant Paul Tovey and coach Nuno Felix show their joy.
Havant & Waterlooville: Kerbey, Taylor F. Wilson, Seager, Maloney, Whittingham, (Atangana 81) Thorpe (Rooney 55), Aston (Giwa-McNeill (55), Laidlaw, Fosu (Pendlebury (55), Patten
Unused sub: Warren
Bookings: Taylor F. (57)
Yate Town: Sainsbury, Taylor (J) (Jenkins 90+1), Moody (Sady 76), Ball, Bennett, James, Guest, Jackson (Zebroski 81), Mannings (Mehew 87), Taylor (A), Taylor-Clarke (Monks 72)
Unused subs: None
Bookings: Taylor J. (53)
Attendance: 812
Referee: Thomas Berry
Photographs by Bob Chester