Easter revival in vain as Bluebells go down

YATE Town's season has ended in relegation from the Southern League Premier South division.

A 2-1 defeat to Swindon Supermarine in their final home game ended a mini-revival that had sparked a glimmer of hope.

The Bluebells started April with a 5-1 defeat at promotionchasing Chesham United, extending their losing streak to 11 matches despite Lucas Tomlinson opening the scoring early on.

But the Easter weekend saw two Yate beat top-half sides in quick succession.

An early own goal and a second from Kyle Tooze on the hour sent the Bluebells on their way to their first win since February 1 over Metropolitan Police on Easter Saturday, surviving late pressure from the visitors after a 30-yard free kick in the 71st minute made the score 2-1.

Easter Monday's trip to Merthyr Town saw the Bluebells recover from an early goal, with Lucas Tomlinson levelling after 20 minutes and Calvin Dinsley scoring the winner on 75, burying a rebound after Kyle Tooze's shot was saved.

April 15's home game against Swindon Supermarine started with a minute's silence for club stalwart Richard Jordan, who has died aged 88.

Involved with the club since the age of 12, Richard served on the committee for 50 years and had been trainer, kit man, run the hospitality lounge and helped plant many of the 300 trees at Lodge Road.

A club spokesperson said: "Richard was one of the nicest people in football and we offer our very sincere condolences to his wife Pat and his whole family at this very difficult time."

On the pitch, Kyle Tooze's equaliser on 70 minutes could have been followed by a penalty for Yate, but the referee waved away strong appeals for handball and Supermarine scored a late winner, to relegate the Bluebells before their last fixture at Harrow Borough, who are also down.

Manager John Rendell, who took over from Peter Beadle in October, said it had been a "really tough ask" to stay up after a "summer of turmoil and minimal preparation for the 2022/23 season".

He said: "We really wanted to keep this club at this level and the management team gave everything we could in trying to do so in the time we had left of the season."

He said the side's "horrendous run" had been down to a mixture of loan players being recalled and lengthy injuries to other key players.

He said: "The club requires a bit of refresh and I plan to work closely with the new chairman, Mark Thorne, on implementing the necessary infrastructure throughout the club, which will in turn help improve the first team performances and fight towards regaining step 3 status."