Yate Men 1sts 2 Cleevillians 1

YATE men’s first team finished their 2017 fixtures in great style with a 2-1 win over Cleevillians who were in the top three of the table before the game.

Reverting back to their well known formation, Yate started much steadier than they have all season and their passing and moving off the ball created problems for Cleevillians all over the pitch.

However, it was Cleevillians who scored first when two Yate defenders collided with each other which allowed the Cleevillians centre forward to round Edwards, in goal, and score.

Yate continued to attack and a fast paced attack down the right wing enabled Jordan Reed drive into the D and lift the ball past the Cleevillians goalkeeper for Matt Child to score from very close range.

As they have done in previous games Yate then sat back and gifted possession which put them under pressure for the last 10 minutes of the first half.

The second half saw Yate maintain a strong defence and they thwarted all that Cleevillians threw at them whilst making fast counter attacks that never quite found their target.

Strong running from midfield saw the Yate half backs cover the length of the pitch to support attacks and then support their defence.

Michael Edwards in goal for Yate did not have his busiest game, for a change, but was still required to bravely save several shots and the Yate defence continued to hold firm.

The game was won when Elliott Smith drove furiously down the left wing and upon reaching the byline he “skilled” two defenders and drew the goalie to the near post then expertly passed to an unmarked Jordan Reed who knocked the ball into an empty goal.

This goal stunned the Cleevillians team and they were lucky not to concede more goals as Yate counter attacked with speed.

As the game approached full time, Yate were able to maintain possession and frustrate their opponents and they closed out the game expertly to finish the 2017 on a high.