Keynsham Town Under 18s 1 Yate town Under 18s 2
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
The young Bluebells finally saw off a well-drilled and previously unbeaten Keynsham side to climb to the top of the WCL North Division. In front of an extremely vocal — and at times hostile — home crowd, Yate produced some attractive football, though chances were hard to come by.
Captain Tyler Wood set the tone early, driving at defenders and causing problems. On the half-hour mark, he burst into the box and appeared to be clipped, only for the referee to wave away appeals. Tyler’s protests earned him a 10-minute spell in the sin bin, leaving Yate a man light. Despite the setback, the visitors continued to dominate. Max Davies almost opened the scoring with a fierce long-range effort that drew a strong save, but the effort proved costly as he jarred his ankle and had to be withdrawn.
His replacement, Kevin Contreras, immediately made an impact, using his pace and power to stretch the Keynsham defence. Jacob Batt’s dazzling footwork also threatened, but it was younger brother Antony who made the difference. Just before the break, the tenacious forward forced his way through and buried the opener to give Yate a deserved lead at half-time.
The second half started scrappily, with Keynsham finding a foothold. Their pressure told when a high ball in the box was bundled home to level the scores. That setback only seemed to refocus Yate, who soon regained control. Midfield maestro Yigithan Kapil began pulling the strings, dictating play with composure and vision.
Frustrations among the home side grew as Yate’s physicality and commitment shone through, winning 50/50s and battling hard for every ball. The tension boiled over when the referee penalised the Keynsham goalkeeper for exceeding the new eight-second rule. The resulting corner saw the keeper sin-binned, with a striker forced to deputise between the posts. Yate peppered the stand-in with a number of efforts; one spectacularly tipped onto the post.
Just as the regular keeper was about to return, Yate struck again. A surging run down the left from Jacob Batt ended with a smart cut-back to his brother Antony, who smartly placed the ball into the top of the net for his and Yates second of the evening.
Keynsham threw everything forward in added time, desperate to preserve their unbeaten start, but the Bluebells held firm. Managing the final minutes with maturity, Yate sealed a fantastic away victory and moved to the summit of the table.
Goals: Antony Batt (2)
Man of the Match: Antony Batt