St Nicholas 1 Yate Town U18 Blue 2
Everson (10) Roberts (80)
Bristol U18 Football Combination League Division 3
Sunday 2nd February 2025
Yate Town U18 Blue moved into second place in the table with a hard-fought win over local rivals St Nicholas on Sunday, to keep the pressure on leaders Westbury Park.
The young Bluebells were quickest out of the box and forged a couple of early chances before taking the lead with 10 minutes gone. Winger Pete Roberts showed quick feet to beat a defender, and squared the ball back for Freddie Everson to finish into the bottom corner for his fifth goal in six games since signing for the club.
However, St Nicholas had looked dangerous on the break and scored an almost instant equaliser after Yate failed to deal with a ball over the top, a combination of poor defending and lack of communication presenting the forward with a simple chance.
Yate continued to push, but St Nicholas did enjoy a ten minute spell of dominance before half-time, and the Bluebells were perhaps fortunate to go in level at the break.
A frank half-time team-talk saw Yate come out with renewed vigour in the second-half and, although the game was very tight. Chances were at a premium with Yate trying to unlock the home defence while St Nicholas’ direct style saw them dangerous on the counter-attack, with the defence, superbly marshalled by Man of the Match Sam North, repelling everything that St Nicholas had to throw at them.
But the key moment arrived with ten minutes to play, as good work from substitutes Luis Matthews and Harvey Cotter created a chance for Pete Roberts, and he made no mistake to register his seventh goal of a productive season.
Yate Town U18 Blue now sit three points behind leaders Westbury Park, with a game in hand and a home match against the leaders to play. They have a Sunday off this weekend before returning into action in the U18 Plate the following week.
Starting XI: Kalel Caswell; Archie Stanton, Sam North, Leyton Bath, Logan Briggs; Kris Olah, Ollie Barton; Pete Roberts, Freddie Everson, Jayden Brown; Cyprian Klawitter.
Substitutes: Harvey Cotter, Archie Morrison, Nasro Baghori, Luis Matthews.
Man of the Match: Sam North.