Exmouth Town suffered their first defeat of the Southern League Division One South season, as they were beaten 1-0 by Yate Town at the South West Interiors Stadium.

Town battled valiantly against the league favourites, but a Marlon Jackson goal was enough to separate the two teams.

Yate started the game stronger, with their possession heavy approach leaving the visitors without the ball for long periods of time. 

That being said, Exmouth’s back four were able to keep the home attack from creating anything worthwhile in the early exchanges, although Lucas Tomlinson continued to threaten Town on the left side.

The away side’s first foray forwards came through a set piece, as a Joe Belsten cross was headed by Will Christopher, but not quite where the defender wanted it to go, and Aaron Sainsbury had to be there to claim before Dave Rowe could head on goal.

With half an hour gone, Yate should have took the lead, as a deep cross into the box saw Frankie Phillips and Jackson both miss the ball, falling to Stan Wyatt, who hit the post from just a few yards out.

It wasn’t sticking for Exmouth in attack, as whenever they would win the ball, the efforts of Lloyd James, Dan Dempsey and Will Larvin were usually enough to win the ball right back for the hosts.

Yate started the second half with the same approach, and despite Exmouth having a little bit more possession than they had in the first half, Rowe had to be on hand to make a crucial slide tackle to prevent Oli Jenkins going in on goal.

Unfortunately for Town, the hosts would take the lead after 58 minutes, with a first time cross from Tomlinson being met with a superb header from Jackson, who generated enough power to beat a fully stretched Phillips.

Exmouth had a chance right after conceding, with a long ball from Ollie Knowles catching the Bluebells asleep, but Tom Bath was crowded out before he could get a shot off.

Yate then went up the other end and almost made it two, with a long ball causing problems for Exmouth, and after an important touch from Phillips, Jackson got to the rebound first, but took too long to get his shot on goal and fired wide.

Nelson Iseguan looked to make an impact as he came on, with him winning Town multiple corners through his running at James Taylor, but the set pieces would not come to anything.

As Exmouth chased an equaliser, they would become more vulnerable to the counter attack from the hosts, and this came true following a Town attack, where it ended with a three on two situation for the Bluebells, but Josh Cann did a fantastic job holding up play which allowed the defence to recover and get the ball away.

Exmouth would have one last chance before the end, as the ball was swung into the box, and Levi Landricombe was just inches away from diverting the ball into the back of the net.

It was a resilient performance from Town, who can be proud of their display against the league leaders, who just had a little bit too much quality on the day.

Exmouth have the week off this week, before returning to action in the FA Trophy against Kidlington on the 7th of September.

LINE-UP: Phillips, Belsten, Llewellyn (Iseguan, 59), Rowe, Morison, Knowles, Shipton (Landricombe, 70), Cann, McCue (Ham, 62), Denny, Bath.

SUBS NOT USED: Haynes, Lever