Page 4 - Yate Town FC v Chesham Utd 091021

Good afternoon everyone and a warm welcome to yet another home game
at the South West Interiors stadium. Today we host Chesham United who
have made the journey down the M4 for our ninth league tie of the season,
we hope the Generals enjoy their visit to the West Country today and have
a safe journey home.
We start today after a first defeat on the back of three consecutive victories.
Tuesday saw the Bluebells run out with nine changes to the starting line up
who defeated Redhill in the FA Cup last Saturday. Of note Stuart Fleetwood
captained the side from the centre of defence with number 2 GK Callum
Brain getting a first start. Among the Cirencester line up we welcomed back
old boys Des Peare, Elliott Keightley and Jake Lee who captained the side.
Yate showed plenty of the pace in attack we are now getting used to,
playing a high game with Allen, Rees and Owen Brain giving the
Centurion's defence nightmares, however despite this it was the visitors
who took the lead. A trade mark low cross from Peare caused some
defensive confusion in the box before the ball fell to Ben Whitehead who
added to his tally for the season. Yate soon equalised just ten minutes later
with Owen Brain superbly finishing a fast sweeping move that began in our
own area. The rest of the game was fairly even and the dreaded penalty
shoot out began to seem inevitable however a high ball into the heart of the
Bluebells defence somehow ended up with Aidan Bennett one on one with
Callum Brain and finishing a relatively easy chance to give the visitors the
lead on 80 minutes. Yate nearly equalised a minute later but the shot went
over the bar and Cirencester were able to hold on to secure a place in the
next round of the League Cup.
So we head into our first league game since the 4-0 victory over
Beaconsfield on 25th September, just two weeks ago but (should be) three
fixtures passed in that time. Of course the visit to Taunton never happened
for well publicised reasons and is yet to be re-scheduled. Chesham
currently sit five places below Yate in the table but with a game in hand and
only three points the difference. Chesham’s last match (on Tuesday) was
also against Beaconsfield where they netted three unanswered goals in the
League Cup. In the league victories over Wimborne Town and Merthyr
Town stand out against some tough defeats to Truro, Gosport and
Farnborough. Today will be a tough game.

Looking ahead to next weekend’s away trip to Dover we head into the 4th
Qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time in nine years.
Geographically it is hard to think of a tougher draw with the team coach
departing at 8 am and two drivers on board because of the distance. To
provide some context to the challenge facing Paul Michael’s squad Dover