Football: Yate celebrate seventh home win in a row against play-off rivals Paulton (From Gazette Series)

Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South & West: Yate Town 3 Paulton Rovers 0

7:12pm Saturday 23rd February 2013 in Sport By Rob Iles

A PERFECT mix of style and substance helped Yate Town see off play-off rivals Paulton Rovers with relative ease.

The Bluebells demonstrated their battling qualities to keep just their second clean sheet of the season and both their goals in the first half came from players chasing what many others would have seen as lost causes with Karim Rendall scoring 20 minutes into his home debut and Matt Groves setting up Scott Wilson seven minutes before half time to continue his record of scoring in every home game since joining the club.

Player-assistant manager Michael Meaker has played in the top flight with QPR and he added the sparkle to Yate's performance with a goal of Premiership quality 14 minutes from time to wrap up a seventh successive home win.

This local derby with plenty at stake was bitty at times and both sides struggled to find any rhythm early on but one quick and slick move from back to front by Yate saw Wilson get his first sight on goal after 15 minutes, only to drag wide from 20 yards.

At the other end Marcus Mapstone was well placed in the box after fellow ex-Yate man Nick McCootie pulled the ball back from the left byline but he harmlessly shot over from 15 yards.

The opening goal came out of nowhere. Rendall chased what appeared to be nothing more than a hopeful ball over the top from Gerain Bater and after it bounced high into the air off the hard surface he rose above goalkeeper Kyle Phillips to head into the net from the edge of the box despite Stuart Pearson's best attempts to clear off the line.

Another Bater delivery caused problems for Paulton's defence eight minutes later but this time his dangerous free kick was headed just over by captain Tom Warren.

Yate doubled their lead when Groves' persistence paid off as he robbed the ball off Paulton defender Stuart Tovey, who was trying to shepherd the ball out of play for a goal kick, and managed to find Scott Wilson from the right byline to turn the ball into the net.

A suddenly buoyant Yate could have gone into the break with a greater advantage as they launched a quick counter-attack with Tom Seery releasing Groves to play a fine ball across to Rendall in space but his fierce shot was tipped over by Phillips.

Yate continued in the ascendancy at the start of the second half as Harley Purnell had a shot blocked by Tovey after linking up well with Wilson and Rendall volleyed just wide from the edge of the box one minute later.

Fifth-placed Paulton offered little threat going forward and Yate looked comfortable before Meaker added the coup de grace.

After Paulton made a hash of clearing their lines Bater picked the ball up in space and found Meaker lurking on the edge of the box towards the left touchline. The veteran striker took one touch before curling a beautiful shot beyond Phillips' reach and into the opposite corner of the net.

The win moved Yate to within a point of Paulton and they will climb above them if they avoid defeat in their next game at home to Didcot Town on Tuesday night (7.45pm).

Yate Town: Ancin, Warren (c), Cox (Barnes,80), Seery, Thomas, Bater (R Cousins, 90), Groves, Purnell, Meaker (Sarr, 80), Wilson, Rendall. Subs not used: Greenwood, S Cousins.

Ref: Mr A Nunn

Att: 215

Gazette star man: Karim Rendall - Has made great start to his Yate career with two goals in two games and was a constant threat.