Yate Town vs Poole Town – Match Preview
How do you follow such an amazing performance as the one that we witnessed on Saturday. Seven goals and it could easily have been more. Pat and Joe enthused over the energy and skill levels that the team showed in what must go down as one of the best performances of the last few seasons. However, as we know we cannot live on the memory of that great win, it’s straight onto the next match which comes very quickly on Tuesday evening when we travel to Lodge Road for the second time this season to face Yate Town.
We played them in the FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round in October. After going a goal down in the 73rd minute, Harvey Slade (76) and Antonio Diaz (86) popped up with the two late goals that gave us our passage into the next round.
Yate Town were promoted from Southern League South as champions last season. They won 26 of their 42 matches picking up a total of 88 points. This promotion brought an early end to a short stay at Step 4 as they were relegated from the Southern League South Premier division in 2022/2023 season. They are currently in 15th place in the table (P22 W7 D5 L10 26 points) and come into the match on the back of a credible 1-0 away win at Evesham on Saturday. They have picked up 16 points from their 11 home matches to date and play in front of an average attendance of a little over 400.
The cub is managed by Darren Mullings who signed as a player from Salisbury in the autumn of 2022, he is a former schoolboy under 18 international and England College under 19 international. Following the departure of manager John Rendell in September 2023 Darren took temporary charge of the team being appointed permanently 6 weeks later and winning promotion in his first full season as manager of the club.
Top scorer for the club is Marlon Jackson on 6. He signed for Yate in June 2024 having been at Weston-Super-Mare last season. The 6ft 2 in striker started his career at Bristol City in 2009 and made five appearances for the Robins over the next 3 years whilst being sent on loan to five clubs – Hereford, Aldershot, Northampton, Cheltenham and Telford before being released Bristol City.
The Bluebirds this week announced that the Young Bristol Rovers midfield player, Charlie Moody, who spent the opening weeks of the season with Yate Town but was injured in the FA Cup replay against Westbury United, has returned to the club to complete his loan and will be available for immediate selection.
A regular between the sticks is Aaron Sainsbury, the 24-year-old stopper who joined the Bluebells in the summer of 2023. Sainsbury is an ex-Bristol City Pro having signed a contract in 2019 after being in the Bristol City Academy since a young age. He is currently still employed by the Championship outfit as a goalkeeping coach which involves him in coaching the Juniors all the way up to helping with the First Team.
The Dolphins have confirmed that central defender Owen Dore has signed a permanent contract until the end of the season. He joined us on loan from Salisbury back in September and has stood out as one of our key players ever since joining the Dolphins. The 20-year-old came through the youth ranks at Southampton and Oxford United, before signing for Salisbury in January of 2023 and is now with the Dolphins till the end of the season.
Without doubt the lads will be eager to get back out onto the pitch on Tuesday evening and continue the great form that has lifted us to second place in the league table.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington.