Football
Robins make a perfect start

Yate Town 1 Evesham United 2

Southern League Division One South and West

EVESHAM fought back from behind to make it make it a perfect start to the new season on Tuesday night as they followed up Saturday’s 1-0 success against Sholing with victory at Yate.

Boss Matt Clarke made one change to the side that overcame Sholing with youngster Matt Williams coming in for Nick Rhodes at the back.

The Robins made all of the early running and should have wrapped the points up inside the opening 25 minutes when creating a host of chances but they were unable to make them count.

Yate defender Ollie Barnes cleared off his own line to prevent Williams firing United into a fifth minute lead before home keeper Rob Brown, on loan from Forest Green Rovers, was kept busy saving from Leigh Downing, Tesfa Robinson and Roland Agbor as the hosts struggled to get out of their own half.

Therefore, the opening goal of the game came completely against the run of play as Yate stole a 28th minute lead with their first shot at goal. Tom Knighton was brought down just outside the box and Barnes gave Dean Coleman no chance from the resulting free-kick.

It took nine minutes of further pressure for Evesham to equalise when Agbor got between a couple of Yate defenders before being brought down in the box. Leigh Downing stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake from the spot.

The second half saw Yate pose a few problems from set pieces but Evesham remained the more likely to score and the winner arrived with 18 minutes left.

A fine piece of skill from Agbor saw him create an opening for himself with a neat backheel before he prodded past the diving Brown.

Yate’s misery was completed in stoppage time when Adrian Hiroli became their third player to be dismissed in two games after a late tackle on Jamie Hyde.

MARCUS Palmer scored the only goal of the game as Evesham won their first competitive fixture at the Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium against Sholing on Saturday.

The hosts were keen to impress after six years away and clearly meant business from the start.

Skipper Robinson and Nick Rhodes both went close to finding the target inside the opening 15 minutes before visiting keeper Matthew Brown produced a top class save from Luke Corbett.

The opening goal duly arrived in the last action of the first half when Palmer became the first man to find the net in a competitive fixture at the new stadium when he turned home Agbor’s cross.

Sholing upped their game after the break and Coleman had to be at his best to save at the feet of Lee Wort before gathering headers from David Marden and Barry Mason.

Despite that it was the hosts who finished the game the stronger and Simon Tulloch was only denied a second by a fantastic Brown save before seeing a second effort hit the post.

EVESHAM turn their attentions to the FA Cup tomorrow when they travel to Leek Town (3pm) in the Preliminary Round.

They then return to league action on Bank Holiday Monday with a home clash against Merthyr Town, unless a replay is required from Saturday’s clash against Leek which will take place in midweek.

Regional sport »