Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South and West

Yate Town 0 Tiverton Town 1

YATE TOWN fought a backs to the wall battle against high-flying Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South and West outfit Tiverton Town at the Jelf Stadium but were undone with a soft goal within minutes of gaining a draw they deserved.

Against a side which was second in the league before Tuesday's clash, Yate boss Paul Britton can be excused playing a defensive combination after the latest defeat for the Bluebells against Wantage last Saturday.

Indeed, they needed that format during the first half as Tiverton had all the possession and the chances to score.

Yate's back four had to be at their best to keep out the visiting attacks, and goalkeeper Harvey Rivers was kept constantly busy as Tiverton pushed forward.

But to their credit, the Bluebells turned around having held Tiverton to a goal-less first half.

Rivers put in a spectacular early save when Jamie Short blasted a ball from twenty yards towards the underside of the home crossbar.

The corner conceded was to signal a raft of similar set-pieces throughout the opening 45 minutes with visiting keeper Joe Perry hardly getting a touch.

And when a clear chance was parried by Rivers on the edge of the goal area, excellent blocking from full back Trey Anderson stopped Nick Hurst from scoring into an empty net.

Britton's formation had left Luke Bryan as the lone striker and, as much as he tried, the supply from the midfield did not give him much to go on in the opposition half.

Tiverton's Glyn Hobbs had a golden chance to open the scoring when through with only Rivers to beat, but he shot straight at the home keeper with a poor effort.

Yate's Cieran Greening fought valiantly in central defence despite having a nasty leg bang which saw him hobbling about at times.

Tiverton's countless corners saw another chance come and go when Short tried a spectacular scissors kick as the Bluebells defence manfully threw their bodies towards the attacker.

Britton put Eugene Keary up front to help Bryan and his presence put some extra impetus into the home attacks.

However, it continued to be more of the same as Tiverton piled on the pressure, forced corners with Yate defending well.

Keary's presence on the right side of attack began to get Tiverton rattled. A brilliant ball from the left into Keary's path from Bryan saw the Yate ace fire high over the visiting bar.

Yet his next effort on seventy minutes was Yate''s best attack of the match so far as Keary fired a rifle of a shot goalwards from the edge of the penalty area and forced Perry into a remarkable save to deflect the ball out for a corner.

However the goal that Tiverton had threatened all evening but Yate had resisted came with six minutes to go. Only seconds earlier, Hobbs had missed a sitter from three yards in front of goal.

But when Short was put through on the right of the penalty spot he made no mistake as he blasted the ball to the left of Rivers.

It was a heartbreaker for the Bluebells because all their hard work deserved at least a point.