Yate Town vs Poole Town – Match Preview
After many re-arrangements we make the trip to Lodge Road to take on Yate Town on Tuesday evening KO 7.45pm. The Dolphins will be hoping to put behind them the disappointing defeat at the hands of Gosport Borough on Saturday. That loss drops us down to 4th place but still very much in the hunt for one of those coveted play-off places. After taking 10 points from our last six matches we need to step up and improve that return in the final seven matches of the regular season.
Yate Town were promoted from Southern League South Div One 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. However, they have run into a poor run of form recently which has put their place in this division in serious doubt.
Current league position: 20th P35 W9 D8 L18 35 points
Home form: P17 W6 D5 L6 23 points
Last match: Yate Town 0 Weymouth 2
Previous meetings
4th October, FA Trophy at Lodge Road. Yate 1 Dolphins 2
17th January, Southern Premier League South. Dolphins 2 Yate Town 2
We needed a 90th minute penalty to take a point in the reverse fixture. Selim Saied gave us a 29th minute lead but we were trailing 2-1 going in to added time when we were awarded a penalty which Shaq Gwengwe converted.
Form Guide
The Dolphins WWLDWL 10TH
We have dropped to 10th in the form table after taking 10 points from our last six matches.
Yate Town LLLDLL 21ST
The Bluebirds were in 15th place when this fixture should have been played. Since then, they have dropped to 20th in the table taking just one point from their last six matches.
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
Joint top scorer with James Ollis is Marlon Jackson on 9. 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 popular forward, James Ollis, has left the club and signed for Southern League Division One South side Shaftesbury Town. He made his debut for the Bluebells in the 2-2 draw at Weymouth on 1st November. Since then, he has started 17 games and also made 4 substitute appearances for the Bluebells, scoring 9 goals for the club, including a hattrick in the home win against Hungerford Town at the start of last month. No doubt he will be sorely missed.
Enjoy the game.
Neil Wellington.