The Peacocks play their first Southern League fixture for three weeks when they travel to Yate Town tomorrow afternoon (13th November), ko 3.00pm.
A sequence of six unbeaten League games was brought to a halt in Town’s last outing when they lost 2-0 at Hendon which was followed by the FA Trophy exit at Weston-super-Mare before they regained the winning touch with victory over Truro City in the Southern League Cup in midweek. Town are now down to 8th in the table and although having games in hand on some sides above them will not want to lose touch with the leading pack.
It will be far from easy though tomorrow against a Yate side who have hit the headlines this season after reaching the 1st Round Proper of the Emirates FA Cup. Despite losing by a wide margin to Yeovil Town in last weekend’s 1st Round tie, the Bluebells proved their calibre by knocking out National League Dover in the previous round and come into tomorrow’s match undefeated in five League games and having won their last three, most recently a 5-2 thumping of Salisbury at the beginning of November. This good vein of form sees them lie in 9th position, two points short of the Peacocks but with a game in hand.
Yate have had much the better of recent meetings, having done the double during the 2019-20 campaign with a 4-0 victory at the Cygnet Health Care Stadium followed by a 4-1 win later in the season at Lodge Road. However the Peacocks were successful in their two visits prior to that, winning 2-0 in the promotion season of 2017-18 and a 5-1 victory the previous year.
The Peacocks welcome back Gethyn Hill and Joe Guest after their one game suspension while Joe Budd is in line for his first League start since signing on loan from Bristol Rovers. Toby Holmes and Ben Adelsbury also return to the squad following injury, but Zac Smith, Ollie Chamberlain and Ross Staley are not yet ready. Head of Football Rob Dray remarked:” It’s a big week this early in the season. Apart from the injuries we still have, we are in a good place but will have to turn up properly for the three games this coming week starting tomorrow with a tough test against a side in form. It’s a tough place to get a result with a hard pitch to play so the team will all need to be putting in 8’s and 9’s in terms of performance.”
Traveller Info
Ground: South West Interiors Stadium, Lodge Road, Yate, Gloucestershire BS37 7LE
Ground to Ground: 56.6 miles
Directions: Leave M5 at Junction 16. Take first exit onto A38. Continue for just under 3 miles before taking right turn onto B4427 Church Road signposted Iron Acton. Continue until reaching traffic lights and take left turn signposted Yate. At first roundabout take first exit onto Iron Acton Way, Take first left turning onto North Road, then left again onto Lodge Road. Ground is at bottom of road on the right.
Admission: Adults £10, Concessions £7, Under 18’s £5, Under 11’s £1