A TOM KNIGHTON brace was not enough to stop Yate falling to their eighth defeat from nine league games at Paulton.

Ben Lacey gave Paulton the lead in the 23rd minute when he latched onto a pass from Craig Loxton and fired across Josh Dempsey into the bottom corner.

Yate equalised ten minutes later when Loxton was adjudged to have brought down Mike Bryant in the area and Knighton sent Kyle Phillips the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Knighton was denied a second by a brilliant save from Phillips as he headed towards goal from a corner, while Josh Dempsey blocked Scott Brice’s effort at the other end.

Yate went in front two minutes after the break when Knighton seized on a mistake by former Yate and Almondsbury Town defender Marcus Mapstone and slotted the ball past Phillips.

Paulton levelled the scores again on the hour mark when James Billing slid the ball through to Loxton, whose shot went under Dempsey and into the net.

Rovers won an enthralling match against local rivals, Yate Town, in a game where the quality of the football bellied the position of both clubs at the start of proceedings.

Mitchell Page was twice denied by Phillips before Paulton scored the winner in the 75th minute when Lacey crossed for Billing to head home.

Yate remain four points adrift at the bottom of the table and will be looking for their first home league win of the season against Abingdon United on Tuesday night (7.45pm).