Yate Town 1 Clevedon Town 3
Clevedon travelled to sunny Lodge Road, Yate this afternoon and came back down the M5 with all three points after a superb team performance that saw them pull off a 3-1 win over their local rivals to bounce back after two single goal defeats. It’s a foolish person who makes predictions at this early stage of the season, but I’ve always been a bit daft so I predict that if Clevedon can produce this kind of determined team effort and play as a unit as they did today, they will have no relegation fears this term.
The match started with Josh Brigham making his full debut, and Kris Leek in midfield along with Kyle Bassett, both of whom put so much energy into their game they were a joy to behold. Having said that everyone worked their socks off for the team and Mike Symons and Scott Hendy in particular were both prepared to put their heads in where it mattered for the team. It was the visitors who settled first and they went ahead in superb style when Kris Leek picked up a loose ball in the middle of the park, looked up to see the Yate custodian, Martin Horsell, off his line and superbly chipped him from fully 30 yards to the joy of the travelling fans. It got worse for Yate after a quarter of an hour as Danny Maye fell awkwardly and had to be taken off with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder.
This setback actually seemed to motivate the Yate players and a few minutes later they were level after Ashley Williams picked up the ball in midfield, and moved forward to pass the ball to Aaron Blakemore, whose strong run across goal was rewarded with a superb shot across Danny Greaves. Yate stepped up their game and Scott Hendy was on hand to block a shot on the line to rescue Clevedon, before the visitors were denied a clear penalty when the referee gave a free kick for deliberate handball just on the edge of the box, when the offence was clearly inside. To add salt to Clevedon’s wounds, the defender wasn’t even booked and the free kick came to nothing. Although Clevedon were looking strong on the break, Yate were starting to apply a bit of pressure and a great run by Jason Woods was nearly converted on the back post by substitute Gavin Ayre. There were no further incidents however and the half time whistle came with the Clevedon fans still arguing about the penalty that wasn’t given.
The second half began with Clevedon fully fired up after their half time chat with manager Phil Bater over a nice cup of tea and Mike Green and Chris Leek both sent in powerful shots just wide before they went ahead in controversial fashion in the 54th minute. Mike Green sent in an excellent far post cross from the right and Scott Hendy bravely threw himself at the ball, connecting with his head and the ball appeared to the writer to hit the post and go back out again. Scott was hurt seemingly colliding with the post and needed several minutes treatment before getting up to see the players lined up for kick off, the referee having awarded a goal on the basis of the assistant referee’s signal that the ball had crossed the line. Spectators on the other side of the goal all confirmed that the ball had crossed the line but to many of us we only knew a goal had been given when the players kicked off! Less than 10 minutes later, the referee did give a penalty, this time against Rob Scott for apparent handball, but former Clevedon player Matt Rawlins sent his shot too close to Danny Greaves who pulled off a great save. That appeared to mark the end for Yate and Clevedon took over the last quarter of the game with some great tackling and running from midfield, going close several times. They were not to be denied however and man of the match Kris Leek made it 3-1 after robbing Scott Brice and running forward unchallenged before sending an excellent shot past Martin Horsell in the Yate goal. There was still time for Mike Green to bring out a superb save from Horsell in the dying minutes but the game was all over by then and Clevedon comfortably held on for an important result after their best performance of the season.
All in all this was not only a superb result for Clevedon but a sign that if this side continues to gel and play for each other as they did today, they should avoid the last minute relegation worries of last season.
Gallery
Team Sheet
| No: | Name: | Sub: | Goal: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greaves | ||
| 2 | Brigham | ||
| 3 | Bater | ||
| 4 | Scott (Capt) | ||
| 5 | Hendy | 1 | |
| 6 | Trought | ||
| 7 | Green | ||
| 8 | Leek | 2 | |
| 9 | Symons | ||
| 10 | Page | ||
| 11 | Bassett | ||
| 12 | Graffagnino | 5 | |
| 14 | O’Connor | 10 | |
| 15 | Haines | 11 | |
| 16 | - | ||
| 17 | - | ||
| Own Goal | - |
Match Details
| Date: | 27/08/07 |
|---|---|
| Competition: | British Gas Business Premier League |
| Opponents: | Yate Town |
| Venue: | Lodge Road Yate Bristol BS37 7LE |
| Half Time: | 1 - 1 |
| Full Time: | 3 - 1 |
| Attendance: | 253 |
| Match Report: | Steve Small |
| Photographs: | Tony Merrett |
| Notes: |
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Downloads
| Appearances & Goal Scorers | Word Document |
|---|---|
| Team Sheet Matrix | Excel Document |