Match Report
Yate Town 3 Shaftesbury 1
McCootie (pen) 35, 45+1, 55 Hoey 16
Southern League Division One South
Saturday 1st March 2025
Yate Town extended their lead at the top of the table with a convincing win against Shaftesbury to move 9 points clear of Evesham with a game in hand. A Nick McCootie hattrick helped secure all the points in a game played in sunny conditions with a good crowd of 527 in attendance.
The game started slowly and after Nick McCootie went close the visitors were gifted their goal on 16 minutes when Yate Town goalkeeper, Joe Thomas, took too long on the ball and was closed down by Jack Hoey who robbed the custodian of the ball and gleefully scored from just six yards out.
With the visitors showing some good touches, it took some time for Yate to start asserting their authority and after McCootie had had a goal chalked off he equalised in the 35th minutes from the penalty spot after a handball from a Shaftesbury player in the area – this being Yate Town’s 50th League goal this season.
Nick McCootie scores the equaliser from the penalty spot.
With the first half in stoppage time Nick McCootie spotted hesitation by a Shaftesbury defender and took advantage to run through and shoot past Shane Murphy in the Shaftesbury goal.
Nick McCootie scores just before half time.
The second half started with Yate on the front foot and King Baidoo broke clear on the left and into the penalty area but when well placed chose to pass to the more centrally placed Lucas Tomlinson but his pass was cut out by a Shaftesbury defender. In the 55th minute a good move down the left saw Will Christopher’s excellent cross reach Nick McCootie who scored with precision and accuracy to complete his hattrick. Shortly afterwards McCootie went close again and the influential Jamie Adams had a goal disallowed.
Nick McCootie goes close.
On the hour both sides made three substitutions and Yate Town’s Ross Stearn immediately got into the thick of the action and forced a good save from Shane Murphy, later combining with fellow substitute Marlon Jackson inside the Shaftesbury penalty area, keeping possession for a while before but the ball was eventually cleared.
The substitutions changed the intensity of the game and with Yate Town manager, Darren Mullings, aware of the busy scheduled ahead, made two further substitutions. With 10 minutes to go Joe Thomas pulled off a fine save tipping Conor Cocklin’s 25 yards shot over the crossbar at full stretch as Shaftesbury looked to get back into the game. Thomas then saved well from Moss Collis but Yate continued to have much of the possession and with second half stoppage time having been shared Cocklin was sent off for a heavy tackle on Ross Stearn, having also been booked in the first half.
This was another accomplished performance from Yate Town against a side that has improved lately but apart from the opening period they were well in control for much of the game but not quite at their best. For Shaftesbury they were the victim of a Yate Town player scoring a hattrick for the second time this season, as James Byrne scored three times in the 4-0 win at Shaftesbury in December.
The crowd created an excellent atmosphere and the players are in for a busy week with a home game on Tuesday evening against Willand Rovers and then travel to Evesham when it’s first against second.
Yate Town: Thomas, Taylor (Byrne 60), Christopher, Hall, Dempsey, James (Wyatt 87), Adams, Guest, Baidoo (Nderemani 60), McCootie (Steran 60), Tomlinson (Jackson 74)
Unused subs: None
Bookings: Wyatt (90+2)
Shaftesbury: Murphy, Wright, McCann (Monk 60), Beard, Moore, Cocklin, Morris, Santos D’Abadia (Collis 80), Burbidge (Davidson 60), Rogers (Nixon 60), Hoey
Unused sub: McKeown
Bookings: McCann (29), (Cocklin 31 & 90)
Sending off: Cocklin (two bookable offences)
Referee: Harley Hetherington
Attendance: 527
Photographs by Aaron Norman
Yate Town Man of the Match: Nick McCootie with match sponsors YZ Designs.
