Match Report
Wimborne Town 4 Yate Town 1
Williams (38, 45+2), Munn 89, Smith 90+6 Evans 8
Southern League Premier Division South
Tuesday 14th October 2025
In a game that saw Yate Town start with purpose and skill, they took an early lead but defensive frailties were their undoing as they lost on the road again.
Yate Town manager, Darren Mullings, changed his side from the 0-0 draw at home to Berkhamsted, with Rex Mannings returning in place of Aaron Evans-Harriott and Chris Zebroski in place of Marlon Jackson. Corey Evans also started in place of Lucas Tomlison with Matt Britton also starting, with Charlie White on the bench.
Yate Town started in fine form and dominated the opening period with a Chris Zebroski header putting Corey Evans through on goal, but Wimborne goalkeeper, Cameron Plain, was able to spread himself and keep out Evans’ effort. But Evans was not to be denied when, with 9 minutes on the clock, Will Larvin surged forward and his perfect pass found Corey Evans who skilfully clipped the ball over the body of Plain to put the Bluebells deservedly in front.
A new rule this season for goalkeepers, who are not allowed to keep the ball for more than 8 seconds, had the crowd initially confused when Yate Town goalkeeper, Aaron Sainsbury, was punished for this with less than 10 minutes of the game starting, when referee Simon Mitchem awarded Wimborne a corner for this offence; the first time that anyone I spoke to had seen this, in live games or televised matches.
Yate continued to play their passing football and an Oli Jenkins overlap saw Rex Mannings take his pass and test Plain who was at full stretch to push his shot away for a corner.
With a quarter of the game gone, Lewis Williams shot wide for the home side and after 38 minutes, when Wimborne were awarded a free kick, just outside the Yate penalty area, Williams’ shot beat Sainsbury to level the scores.
Wimborne started to get more into the game and with two minutes added time played in the first half, and with the ball going towards the corner flag, Aaron Sainsbury decided t rush out from his goal, was beaten to the ball by a Wimborne player, who crossed for Lewis Williams the accept the gift and put Wimborne in front.
Buoyed by this lead Wimborne started the second half on the front foot but Yate Town generally dealt well with any pressure that the home side put on their defence. Aaron Sainsbury made a couple of regulation saves and Joe Smith then shot wide following a breakaway. With 15 minutes remaining, Billy Walker powered a heard just over the bar, following a corner and 10 minutes later, after another breakaway, Sainsbury saved well from Wimborne substitute Max Macaire, whilst Joe Smith, another substitute, was thwarted by Sainsbury.
Yate Town had created a couple of good chances to equalise, with a Chris Zebroski header going straight at Plain, when the Yate forward was well placed, whilst following a corner substitute Dayle Grubb saw his shot go just wide of the post.
With one minute of the game left, Yate Town failed to clear the ball and Cam Munn’s powerful shot flew into the net to put the hosts 3-1 up. And if to rub salt into the wound, with the allocated 5 minutes added time passed, from a breakaway, Joe Smith scored the fourth.
Yate Town are finding the Southern League Premier Division South a challenging league to play in, following their promotion last season, but they are not far away from getting it right, however, defensive frailties will need to be sorted out in order to stay out of the relegation places as a first target. At present, they are in this position, being in 18th place.
They now move onto hosting top of the table Walton & Hersham, at the South West Interiors Stadium, on Saturday, for the club’s Community Day, when it is a Pay What You Want fixture.
Wimborne Town: Plain, Escott-Young, Jackson, Walker, Roberts, Williams (Borges 70), Fletcher (Smith 46), Munn (Scorey 90), Roundell-Prince, Carmicheal (Mcquoid 77), Burchall (Macaire 27)
Unused subs: None
Bookings: Fletcher (37), Jackson (76)
Yate Town: Sainsbury, Taylor (White 46), Larvin, Ball, Jenkins (Tomlinson 79), Britton, Taylor-Clarke (James 65), Monks, Zebroski, Evans (Evans-Harriott 79), Mannings (Grubb 65)
Unused subs: None
Bookings: Ball (20), Taylor (37) Taylor-Clarke (46), Zebroski (49), Tomlinson (89)
Referee: Simon Mitchem
Attendance: 515