Page 4 - Yate Town FC v Hartley Wintney 220122

Today we welcome Hartley Wintney to the South West Interiors stadium. For those that travelled to the
away fixture you will remember a bitterly cold Tuesday evening and a Reece Wylie long range effort that
levelled the scores at 2-2 in the 88th minute after goals from Luke Hopper and Olly Mehew had given
the visitors the lead. That match was in a run of mixed form for The Row with the draw against the
Bluebells being the sole point gained in an unlucky series of six matches. Since then however impressive
wins against Met Police and Gosport Borough, and a very close 1-0 loss on New Years Day to League
Leaders Farnborough, illustrates that although our visitors today currently sit in 18th place this is not
reflective of The Rows footballing quality. One to watch - Jordan Edwards, central midfielder but prolific
in front of goal with 10 to his name already this season.
With regards to the Bluebells recent form then from our last seven outings we last dropped points in
our draw against Salisbury back on 11th December. Whilst there has been some impressive
performances in that run, there has also been some gritty wins such as last Saturday. The match had
begun with some early chances for Olly Mehew and James Harding, plus a speculative shot from Matt
Bower bouncing off the cross bar, any or all of these could have made the match so much more
comfortable. As it was a 6th minute penalty was well taken by Luke Hopper and gave the Bluebells an
early lead and something to protect. After the penalty, and those early missed chances, it was the
visitors who dominated for much of the game finally getting a well deserved equaliser on 80 minutes.
It seemed that the match was heading for a draw and for those supporters that accepted this and left
early you missed a thriller. Due to a lengthy stoppage for treatment to Liam Angel, following a nasty
clash of heads, the referee indicated an additional 10 minutes. The Bluebells seemed to find another
gear for the last period and pressed for a winner putting the visitors onto the back foot. Just when it
seemed we were going to run out of time a shot by Olly Mehew was touched behind by the Borough
keeper for a corner and potentially the last play of a 100 minute game. The ball was played into a very
crowded goalmouth and after the inevitable scramble it eventually came back off the post for Nick
Rhodes to head home and enter into Lodge Road folklore. Despite his late goal it was Andy Hannah who
was rightly named star man (by match reporter John Davis) for pulling off a number of excellent stops
to keep the visitors at bay.
Mid-week we headed to local rivals Tiverton. Due to the weather this was the first time the hosts had
played on their pitch since the 18th December, and with further postponements due to frost and COVID
the first competitive match since a 3-1 defeat at Taunton on 3rd January. On the night the pitch was
very soft and proved very heavy going for both sides. Tivvy seemed to cope better and were able to
create plenty of early opportunities and looked the likeliest to score however the breakthrough came at
the other end. Olly Mehew latched onto a long ball after a defensive slip but just as he was about to
shoot the hosts’ Austen Booth was deemed to have pushed him in the back and a penalty was awarded.
This was compounded as the hosts No. 6 was shown a red card after the referee consulted with his
assistant. Luke Hopper stepped up to strike home his second penalty in two matches and with a man
advantage and a lead to protect the Bluebells looked well placed to secure the points. As it was Tivvy
continued to press and created plenty of opportunities, and although a nervous game for the
management and travelling support, the defensive unit proved resolute and put ‘bodies on the line’ to
protect the goal. Tivvy will be wondering how they didn’t at least equalise. It wasn’t all one way traffic
and Olly Mehew proved a useful target man on the left flank, tying up the defence and was unlucky not
to claim a very good assist when he set up Luke Hopper with a low cross only for Lewis Williams to make
an excellent save in the hosts goal and prevent the Bluebells from doubling their score. A few late
attacks by Tivvy kept the game alive right up to the final whistle but ultimately Yate came away with
the points, but some very tired legs.
Looking ahead the latest fixtures are listed later in the programme and you will notice that the visit to
Wimborne Town has now been moved to 8th March and is a 7.30 pm KO. We are still trying to agree a
date with Taunton for the match postponed from 7th December. We head to Chesham United next
Saturday and a coach will be running departing from the club at 10.15 am. If you would like to travel
with us please email the club at yatetownfootballclub@outlook.com. The following Tuesday 1st February
we make the short trip to Mangotsfield for the GFA Senior Challenge Cup semi-final, keep an eye on
Mangotsfield United FC@MangotsfieldUtd for details. The other semi-final is between Slimbridge and
Cirencester on 22nd February.
C’mon you Bluebells……….

Regards,
Iain