Yate Town vs Poole Town – Match Preview
It will be the third time of asking for this away fixture at Lodge Hill when we hope to play Yate Town on Tuesday evening. It was only a few weeks ago that we were held to a 2-2 draw at the Tatnam by The Bluebirds. We go into the match on the back of a very efficient 3-1 home win over Hungerford on Saturday. After some disappointing results we certainly looked back to our best, that win keeps us in third place and the run is going to be very exciting.
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 in a pretty comfortable mid-table position and will be hoping to put in a late push to climb further up the table.
Current league position: 15th P28 W9 D7 L12 34 points
Home form: P14 W6 D4 L4 22 points
Previous meetings
4th October, FA Trophy at Lodge Road. Yate 1 Dolphins 2
17th January, Southern Premier League South. Dolphins 2 Yate Town 2
Form Guide
The Dolphins WDDWLW
We have taken 11 points from our last six matches with wins against Plymouth, Walton & Hersham and Hungerford.
Yate Town LDWDWL
The Bluebirds turned in an impressive performance at home to Hungerford last Tuesday when they ran out 6-2 winners, however they lost at home on Saturday to Dorchester 0-1
The Manager
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.
Ones to watch
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.
Yate Town confirmed this week that Corey Evans, who spent 4 months on loan with them earlier in the season, has now returned to the club following his departure from League Division Two side, Newport County. Corey scored 7 goals in this time and was keen to link up with Darren Mullings’ squad again.
The Dolphins will be hoping to maintain their current form and keep the pressure on those top places.
Enjoy the game.
Neil Wellington.