Yate Town soared to the top of the league with a ruthless victory over lowly Fleet Town as their unbeaten run continued, writes John Davis.

The youngsters from Fleet looked far from a struggling side in the opening stages and their quick movement and sharp passing belied their position in the table, writes John Davis.

Yate, with home advantage and coming off the back of a morale-boosting win at Evesham, looked strangely out of sorts and did not help their tentative start by giving away far too many free kicks.

Inside the first twenty minutes the visitors squandered three good chances. Meshach Williams was off-target with an unchallenged header, Riccardo Andrady dragged a shot wide and Abdul Rajab's effort on the far post was blocked by the knees of Lewis Thomas in the Yate goal.

Yate then lost Nick Peare through injury and he was replaced by youth team player Takayo Nembhard who got straight into the action by picking up a yellow card for a challenge on Fleet goalkeeper Brendan Norris.

The home side finally shifted up a gear and two goals in a ten minute spell just before the break put them ahead.

Elliott Keightley netted with a close range header after Josh Ford had knocked Adam Price's free kick back across the goal and Jack Twyman curled a delightful shot into the top corner after Nembhard had done well to carry the ball across the edge of the box.

Right on the start of the second half Williams pulled a goal back for Fleet after Thomas had given the ball away and then the Fleet forward had several other shots blocked and deflected when it looked as if the visitors might draw level.

Yate needed another goal to ease some of the pressure and it came in the 57th minute when the ball ran kindly for Adam Pricefollowing a tackle and he ran on to draw Norris and score, much to the relief of the home crowd.

Two shots from Dave Sims-Burgess were then well saved by Norris as Yate began to dominate before Twyman blotted his copybook and received a straight red card after pulling back Williams as he made a clear run in on goal.

Fortunately a fourth goal soon followed, Sims-Burgess netting from the penalty spot after he had been brought down in the box and an assistant referee had kindly helped with the decision making process.

It was Sims-Burgess sixth goal in his la st seven outings and it now puts him level with Nick Peare as the club's leading goalscorer this season.

Our victory returned us to the top of the table and although we now have a two week break the confidence within the squad is high.

The break will help a number of injuries to clear up (Ross Langworthy; Ben Brooks and Nick Peare) and, with Charlie Hitchings and Ollie Mehew returning from suspensions, a full squad should be available for our next match which will be in the the FA Trophy with in-form Blackfield and Langley on October 13th.