Duharty goal gives Bridgwater win over Yate

Bridgwater Town 1 Yate Town 0: A headed goal from Marcus Duharty halfway through the second period was the only thing that separated the two sides.

A dangerous cross from Jamie Price worried the Yate defence early on before Ryan Bath – a replacement for the injured Sam Duggan – shot over at the other end.

When Yate then went on the attack, home goalkeeper Tom Manley was quickly off his line to foil Joe White.

Yate continued to enjoy plenty of the possession, with Marc Hughes and Zayne Simpson both getting into good shooting positions.

Soon after the restart Nat Pepperell went close from a Steve Orchard cross for Bridgwater while Matt Beadle, playing against one of his former clubs, was only denied by a flying save from Lee Matthews.

The eventual winner came in the 69th minute as Duharty timed his run perfectly to finish off a cross from substitute Graham Mercieca.

White then volleyed over as Yate hit back, while at the other end Matthews had to react smartly to push away a long-range effort from Ben Kirk.

Yate piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser in the closing five minutes but, despite several good chances falling to Jacob Cox, they were not able to break down the Bridgwater defence.