Yate Town 2 – 4 Wealdstone
Yate Town2 - 4
WealdstoneStones struggled in the first 15 minutes to put more than 2 passes together while Yate passed the ball around on the slick surface well and it was no surprise when they went a goal up after about 20 minutes when Swain saved a one on one, but their forward was on hand to put the rebound in. They also missed a great chance when their player dragged the ball wide of the far post.
Slowly but surely Stones got back into the game, mainly through Donnelly showing what he can do with some good passing. On the 25 minute mark Fergus More headed over an open goal and was it going to be one of those nights? A minute later a deflected cross from Monty was nodded home from close range by Robinson for . 1-1.
Stones took over completely and should have added at least 2 to their total, especially when Donnelly found himself free from 25 yards out with the keeper on his a**e, but chose to try and chip him than drive the ball home and his effort hit the top of the bar. The second half saw Stones come out firing on all cylinders and both Papali and Robinson were denied by Puddy in the home goal. Dellissier saw his fierce low 20 yarder skim past the outside of the post. Surely it was only a matter of time before we scored?
But in their first serious attack of the half, Yate managed to take the lead with a good finish after Swain had come off his line.
Within a minute, Robinson found himself in with just the keeper to beat, but blazed his effort over the bar. It wasn’t looking good…..
The turning point came on about 55 minutes when Yate had a golden chance to put the game to bed with a free header which was just wide. Two minutes late, great work by Robinson saw Papali level with a cool finish into the far corner to spark some great celebrations behind the goal.
On about 74 mins, good work by Donnelly sent Robinson clear, and he blasted the ball past the keeper to put Stones into the lead! Stones had them on the ropes, and after more Stones efforts just past the post by Andre Dellissier, Robinson and Papali, it was Papali who scored with a great finish, squeezing the ball home from a tight angle to keep Stones in the Premier Division!!!!
The final whistle saw some really good celebrations by both fans and players and most importantly. STONES ARE SAFE!!!!
Wealdstone: Mitch Swain, Lee Chappell, Fergus Moore, Carl Martin, Ben Martin18, Scott Donnelly s79 Dean Clark, Andre Dellissier s89 Josias Carbon, Graham Hall, Theo Robinson 25,74, Dean Papali66,88,Graeme Montgomery Subs not used: Leigh Wooldridge, Sheyi Adegoke, Bernard Collingnon
Report by Adam Williams
Harrow Times
Yate Town 2 – 4 Wealdstone
By Steve Paull
Superb Stones saved from relegation….
SUPERB Wealdstone twice came from behind to finally lay to rest all thoughts of relegation. This remarkable end of season run-in has secured four successive victories and only one defeat in eight games.
What a difference to the rest of the campaign. Twenty minutes of largely chanceless football had passed before Yate opened the scoring with the sort of goal that Stones have been conceding all through the season-a misplaced pass in attack and a quick long ball found the Stones defence flat-footed and on the turn.
Mitch Swain, diving to his left kept out the initial shot from Chenoweth but Blakemore got to the loose ball first and Stones were a goal behind.
Suddenly the game opened up, Fergus Moore headed over and Blakemore screwed a shot wide with only Swain to beat. A cross from Graeme Montgomery caused all sorts of panic in the Yate defence and Theo Robinson at the far post managed to get enough contact on the ball to ensure that Pearce in the home goal was unable to keep it out.
Wealdstone took charge now, realising how slow and cumbersome the home defence was. Montgomery’s shot was deflected wide and after Robinson’s pace had seen him reach the ball before Pearce, Scott Donnelly chipped the keeper only to see his effort hit the top of the bar.
Into the second half and Andre Delisser fizzed a low 20 yard shot just wide early on, then Robinson again exposed the limitations of the home defence, but after rounding Pearce he tried to get the ball on to his stronger foot and the chance evaporated.
However, a cross field ball found the Stones defence stretched again, Swain started to come out and hesitated, and Anyinsah’s lob from the corner of the box again saw Stones a goal down. Blakemore was off target again with a free header but the majority of the chances were at the other end where the lack of pace of the Yate defence continued to be exposed regularly.
Robinson and Dean Papali both slashed great chances wide before an amazing cross field ball from Donnelly picked out Papali. The Stones top scorer had had a quiet evening up until this point but in a flash the ball was down and the shot screamed past Pearce into the far corner. Donnelly again was the provider as Stones took the lead for the first time seven minutes later. His pass through the middle sent Robinson clear and, with time to compose himself before shooting, the goal was a formality.
For a time it was all one way traffic in Wealdstone’s favour. Papali shot wide and Pearce saved at Robinson’s feet, but the lack of another goal to make the game safe was exposed when Sim’s header skimmed the crossbar.
With one minute of normal time remaining that goal came. In a similar scenario to the opening Yate goal Robinson put in a shot which Pearce, diving left, managed to keep out only for the poacher Papali to be on the spot to put it in before the keeper could recover.
So Stones once again have avoided relegation and the final game at King’s Lynn can be a mini celebration.