A Dayle Grubb penalty in the 90th minute saw Weston come from behind twice under the lights at The Optima to beat Yate Town 3-2.
Marlon Jackson had the first shot of the game inside the opening 60 seconds, but fired wide from 25 yards after taking down a Reuben Reid flick. Jordan Bastin then went close after skipping into the box, his cross-shot being deflected off of Barnaby Soady and tipped onto the crossbar by Martin Horsell.
The Bluebells were to strike first however when Pierce Mitchell intercepted a Weston attack on halfway and fed Olly Mehew through the centre of the pitch. The speedy striker tore through the heart of the home defence toward the 18-yard box, and his low shot deflected off of Sam Avery and wrong-footed Max Harris for 1-0.
Scott Bartlett’s men were to draw level though when Bastin flicked the ball past his opponent and pulled a cross back to Reid. The No.19 held off his marker, but the ball became loose and Jacob Jagger-Cane poked the ball off for skipper Grubb 12 yards out, and he stayed composed to slot the ball in off the post with Horsell wrongfooted.
James Dodd had an opportunity inside the box when he was found 12 yards out from Keiran Thomas’ pull-back, but his shot took a deflection off of a sliding Yate foot. From the resulting corner, Reid then volleyed wide at the back post from Bastin’s delivery.
Yate were to retake the lead just before the half-hour mark when Leighton Tuodolo got the ball on the right-hand side. His cross was inch-perfect for left wing-back Barnaby Soady, whose unstoppable volley across Max Harris nestled in the top corner for 2-1.
From a short Yate corner, Joe Tumelty and Prince Henry’s one-two saw the former find Ioan Richards at the back post, but his header was held by Harris at his near post. From Weston’s own dead ball situation, Grubb’s free-kick was headed over by Avery.
Weston were to level a minute before the break though when Grubb helped the ball into Dodd’s path. The midfielder broke forward to find Reid on the edge of the area, and taking the chance on, the striker dropped his shoulder before drilling a shot in at Horsell’s near post for 2-2.
The Seagulls were to have two more opportunities before the half-time whistle, with Dodd not being able to stretch enough from Jackson’s hanging cross and seeing his overhead kick easily collected by Horsell. Scott Laird had the final shot of the half when he was played in by Dodd, but the left-back’s shot was gathered by Yate’s No.1
In the second half, Laird had the first two chances when he cut inside from the left onto his right but Horsell was down quick enough to beat away his shot from 25 yards. The player/assistant manager then had a shot from 30 yards take a wicked deflection which Horsell could hold. Henry then had a shot go narrowly wide of the post for Yate on the counter attack, while Tumelty curled a free-kick just wide of the target.
Thomas forced Horsell into pushing a strike from 18 yards over the bar, while Reid failed to bundle in a low Jay Murray cross inside the six-yard box under pressure from a Yate defender. Humphries then had a shot pushed wide by Horsell after he took aim from long range.
The winner would come just as the board to signal the amount of additional time was held up. From a Grubb corner, Reid was hauled down by his marker and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Grubb, and keeping his cool, he fired his penalty into the corner despite Horsell going the right way for 3-2.
FT: Weston 3-2 Yate (Grubb 17, 90 pen, Reid 44 – Mehew 9, Soady 29)
Attendance: 610
Weston XI: Harris, Thomas, Laird (Murray 55), Jagger-Cane (Taylor Jones 85), Humphries, Avery, Dodd, Jackson, Grubb (C), Bastin, Reid. Unused substitutes: Watts, Griffith, Holmes.
MOTM: Keiran Thomas