Yatton & Cleeve Utd 1 Wrington Redhill 2

In their penultimate game of the season the point required to clinch promotion back to the Premier Division of the Somerset County League was more thanattained by earning all three in the midweek evening fixture away to near neighbours Yatton and CleeveUnited running out with a 2-1 victory.

The large following of supporters joined in the celebrations which returns the Club back to the top division after an absence of four seasons. This was a fantastic achievement for the management team of Leigh White, Mark Brown and Sam Clements who took over the reins when the team was at its lowest ebb in the winter of the 2018/2019 season, regrettably to late to save the team from relegation although seeds were sewn to turn the Club’s fortunes round with the emphasis on bringing young talented players in and developing their steps into senior level football.

The following two seasons were effectively wiped out by the Covid 19 pandemic, but Leigh, Mark and Sam remained optimistic and set their sites on gaining promotion within three seasons and gladly they have delivered by producing a hugely talented squad of players who play with lots of energy, exciting attacking play with some magical skills displayed which the faithful clan of supporters has had the privilege to witness.

The on-field celebrations were carried on when the whole squad and the management team travelled back to the Wrington Sports and Social Club to revel in their superb achievement as what was surely a rehearsal for the end of season Presentation Night the coming Saturday being hosted at the WSSC.

The last defeat suffered was at the hands of Yatton and Cleeve in the home fixture back in February followed by an eleven undefeated run which got the team over the line. In this evening’s game it was the same starting eleven from the resounding win over Uphill Castle and they soon settled down and made their mark on the game with some neat and flowing football.

As usual the front three of Reece Ferguson-Obamwonyi, Joe Creese and Jack Hutchings were in the thick of the wave of attacks and with a little more composure in front of goal early chances could have been converted although keeper Tom Murphy made a couple of good saves. With Ollie Clements holding the midfield together this allowed Sam Harvey and Ayrton Phillips to continually probe forward.

It was a matter of time before the lead came with a delightfully worked goal. A superb ball through two defenders was into the path of Hutchings who fired across Murphy and into the net to the roar of the supporters and Wrington Redhill had to settle for a 1-0 half time lead.

Having narrowly missing out on promotion themselves it was clear that the hosts were not content to make up the numbers and upped their tempo in the second period. Their wingmen, particularly Reilly Civil-Holt was bringing the best out of Jordon Bonner and their stalwart striker Alex Bird had to be carefully watched by Dan Ferguson and Ethan Johnson and Josh Pitt showed some exquisite skills when converting defence into attack from his right back slot.

Harvey drew second breath and got his team lifted with some dazzling work rate and shrewd passing and it was fitting that from his pinpoint corner Phillips was able to connect with a bullet header to increase the lead with about ten minutes left on the clock. George Fake replaced Hutchings and Leigh White on for the impressive Clements to see out the game.

The home side did score very late in the game depriving Matt Hill of another clean sheet which he would have deserved but this was too late to save the eventualoutcome and the celebrations that followed.

So, one game left against Somerton Town on Saturday which they will be doing all they can to win the game to clinch third spot and join Wrington Redhill in achievingpromotion. This game is being played at Worle Recreation Ground with a 3.00pm kick off.

Keep an eye on the website for updates on the Club’s activities and plans ahead and a report on the Presentation Night awards and a full round up on the promotion season story coming soon.
Player of the Match was awarded to Ayrton Phillips

Team:
Goalkeeper: ​Matt Hill
Defence:      ​Josh Pitt, Dan Ferguson, Ethan Johnson, Jordon Bonner
Midfield:​Ayrton Phillips, Sam Harvey, Ollie Clements
Forwards:    ​Joe Creese, Jack Hutchings, Reece Ferguson-Obamwonyi  

Substitutes:​George Fake (for Jack Hutchings), Leigh White (for Ollie Clements), Ryan Pugh(unused), Kyran Garrett (unused)