Media Watch - Yate Town

Martyrs aiming to get cup revenge
Ian Caleb, Celtic Sport

SATURDAY sees a chance for Merthyr Town to gain a revenge over Yate Town, who kicked both the Martyrs and Newport County out of cup competitions this season.

The South Gloucestershire outfit were rooted at the bottom of the Evo-Stik Southern League Division One (South and West) at the weekend despite hitting the headlines this term in the FA Cup by overcoming Newport. And they beat Merthyr in The Red Insure (Southern League) Cup by 2-0 at Penydarren Park in October.

After disappointing attendances in the last two FA Trophy games, despite a rallying call to local football fans by club chairman Meurig Price, Merthyr hope that the supporters will back the players as they bid for a third successive promotion and boost the crowd despite a traditionally difficult time for attendances just before Christmas.

Merthyr were at Hungerford, league leaders, on Monday night. And the battle at the top is hotting up, Tiverton and Poole Town being among the front runners. They have both already beaten Merthyr this season. If Merthyr miss out on the top spot, they will hope for some consolation with a play-off finish in the top five.

Garry Shephard and Danny Carter, managers, will be keen to turn the tables on Yate, who scraped a 1-1 draw at home with Bishops Cleeve on Saturday, before their trip to Bridgwater on Tuesday night.

Yate picked up one win and six defeats from their opening away games, scoring eight times and conceding 17 goals. The Martyrs have won three, drawn one and lost two at Penydarren Park, where they have one of the best defensive records, conceding just seven goals, but they have found the net only eight times.

Matt Groves (2), Ollie Barnes and Michael Meaker netted last month when home side Yate shocked Hungerford with a 4-2 league defeat. So Yate have a habit of producing shock results.

Wandering wrote:Garry Shephard and Danny Carter, managers, will be keen to turn the tables on Yate, who scraped a 1-1 draw at home with Bishops Cleeve on Saturday, before their trip to Bridgwater on Tuesday night.

According to the SL website and the programme for the last home game the Bridgewater fixture takes place on Tuesday 8th January, not next week.

Two New Bluebells
Pitchero SL S & W website

Rob Cousins, manager of Evo-Stik League Southern Division One South & West club Yate Town, handed debuts to two new signings in their defeat to bogey side Cinderford Town in the Red Insure Cup at Lodge Road recently.

Geraint Bater lined up in midfield against the club he left for the Bluebells, while defender Tom Seery also featured after signing from Southern Premier Division side Chippenham Town.

Bater began his career as a professional with Bristol Rovers before having a brief period at Tiverton Town after being released. Spells at Clevedon Town, Brislington and Bristol Manor Farm were followed by a second stint at Clevedon where he remained for three seasons. In the summer of 2005 he made the switch to Taunton Town under the management of Peter Beadle, who he followed to Newport County in October 2005.

After one season with the Exiles he returned to Clevedon in July 2006 and then joined Mangotsfield United in June 2008. He had a spell as caretaker-manager at Cossham Street following the resignation of his dad Phil before leaving the club for Cinderford in the summer. Like Bater, 19-year-old Seery is a product of the Bristol Rovers Academy and has also played for Oldland Abbotonians and Weston-super-Mare.

Cousins is also hoping to add a new striker ahead of the home game against fellow Division One South & West strugglers Bishop’s Cleeve on Saturday, with Mitchell Page still to serve four games of his suspension and Tom Knighton’s recent departure to Chippenham leaving a massive void up front.

YATE TOWN are closing in on a new striker.
Yate Gazette

Assistant manager Michael Meaker has confirmed a seven-day approach has been made to another club for their target, but he is unlikely to be signed in time for the trip to Merthyr Town on Saturday.

Yate have been looking for a replacement for top scorer Tom Knighton since he left to join Chippenham Town last month and their lack of a goal threat was evident in the 1-1 draw against Bishop’s Cleeve in Southern League Division One South and West last Saturday, where they conceded a late equaliser.

Meaker said: “We are still looking and we’re close to signing a striker. We’ve got some cracking players already in the squad so we’ve got to bring in the right person. We were very unlucky against Bishop’s Cleeve. We were 1-0 up until stoppage time but it should have been seven or eight – we didn’t take our chances. We just need a bit of luck. We’re performing well but we’ve got to push on.”

Danny Wring was a surprise omission from Yate’s starting lineup against fellow strugglers Cleeve and Meaker revealed that boss Rob Cousins could start tinkering with the team more in a bid to start picking up some points and move away from the bottom of the table.

Yate have often raised their game against the top sides, as they showed during their run to the first round of the FA Cup and their win over Hungerford last month, and they will now face two top six teams in four days, with the visit to Merthyr followed by a home clash against Cirencester Town on Tuesday (7.45pm).

“We should be up for every game,” Meaker said. “We’ve had a chat with the players and we’re going to change things around by playing certain players in certain games to get the points we need. Against the top teams we perform but against lower league sides we don’t perform how we should. If we get four or five wins on the bounce we’ll be at the other end of the table so we’re not panicking. If we finish in the top half it will be one of Yate’s best seasons for years.”

Yate will welcome back captain Edd Vahid for the game at Merthyr after being sidelined in recent weeks with a groin strain and Meaker (calf) is confident he will recover in time to play, although striker Mitchell Page will miss both games through suspension.

Wandering wrote:

Wandering wrote:Garry Shephard and Danny Carter, managers, will be keen to turn the tables on Yate, who scraped a 1-1 draw at home with Bishops Cleeve on Saturday, before their trip to Bridgwater on Tuesday night.

According to the SL website and the programme for the last home game the Bridgewater fixture takes place on Tuesday 8th January, not next week.

I think the reference was to Yate's scheduled trip to Bridgwater last Tuesday night. As it turned out, the match was postponed.

Bristol Post

Yate Town are closing in on a replacement for recently-departed striker Tom Knighton.

Knighton left to join Chippenham a fortnight ago, but Yate boss Rob Cousins is believed to have made a seven-day approach for an unnamed striker and could have a new face on board by the time the Bluebells host Cirencester Town at Lodge Road on Tuesday night.

Yate continue their bid to climb off the foot of the table when they go to Merthyr Town tomorrow. Striker Mitchell Page is still suspended, but skipper Edd Vahid has recovered from a groin strain. Assistant manager Michael Meaker is expected to shake off the effects of a calf strain to lead the attack.

Yes, The Imp is correct. The Tuesday night referred to was this week (Yate drew on Saturday before their trip to Bridgwater on Tuesday night). The game was postponed. The Express report was written on Sunday.

Yate are home to Cirencester next Tuesday as the Yate Gazette reports.