The Bees fell to a 1-0 defeat in a tightly contested match at Yeovil Town in the Vanarama National League.
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The hosts had the first opportunity in the 6th minute when Dale Gorman collected the ball on the right side of the pitch following a soft clearance by Jamie Turley.
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The Glovers’ No. 8 looked up and crossed into Adi Yussuf who headed down into the ground from close-range to force Aston Oxborough to palm the ball onto the crossbar, up into the air – before eventually claiming it again.
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Darren Sarll’s side broke the deadlock in the 10th minute when Gorman whipped the ball cross towards the back-post after linking up with Daniel Moss.
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Yussuf rose above Jordan Thomas and nodded in beyond Oxborough’s reach.
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Yeovil went close to doubling their lead just before the break when Yussuf got to Gorman’s curling free-kick first and headed narrowly wide of the target.
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Straight after the restart, the Bees tested Grant Smith after Wes Fonguck played the ball to Ephron Mason-Clark, who cut back inside the box and fired goalwards with his right foot to force the Glovers’ stopper into a low save.
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Moments later, Rob Hall spread the ball out to Sam Beard on the left who sent an accurate cross towards Mitch Brundle at the back-post, but the midfielder’s header went just past the target.
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The hosts responded with a period of pressure that saw Gorman test Oxborough through a long-range strike after Sonny Blu Lo-Everton had laid the ball off to him following some clever hold-up play.
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The Bees’ ‘keeper watched the ball swerve through the air before catching it confidently.
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Darren Sarll’s side looked to put the game out of sight in the 72nd minute when Lo-Everton got the better of Jamie Turley inside the box, but he smashed his shot into the side netting.
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Max Hunt was next to test the resilience of the Bees’ backline when Gorman’s corner was flicked onto the towering defender, who headed straight to Oxborough from six-yards out.
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Dean Brennan’s side almost levelled late on when Hall’s corner bounced towards Mason-Clark at back-post before he fizzed it back across goal to Ben Richards-Everton.
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The Bees’ No. 6 struck the ball towards goal but was denied through a late block from a Yeovil defender.
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As the game was coming to a close, Mason-Clark was shown a red card for an off the ball incident with Gorman.
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In search of a late equaliser, Dean Brennan’s side threw players forwards but it was to no avail as the hosts picked up all three points and extended their unbeaten run to 10 games.
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Yeovil: Grant Smith, Dale Gorman (Alex Bradley 90’), Max Hunt, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Daniel Moss, Josh Staunton, Charlie Wakefield (Reuben Reid 88’), Luke Wilkinson ©, Morgan Williams, Matt Worthington, Adi Yussuf (Tom Knowles 73’). Subs (not used): Max Evans.
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Goals: Yussuf (10’).
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Bees: Aston Oxborough, Jordan Thomas, Jamie Turley ©, Rob Hall, Mitch Brundle, Ephron Mason-Clark, Reiss Greenidge, Wes Fonguck (Josh Payne 81’), Harry Taylor, Serhat Tasdemir (Ben Richards-Everton 71’), Sam Beard. Subs (not used): Jake Askew, Sam Granville.
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Attendance: 2,024 (98 away).
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Referee: Ryan Atkin.
Photo by Pinnacle Photo Agency Ltd.