Yarmouth 2, Saffron Walden 0Yarmouth emerged from a fog-bound gloomy Wellesley with another three points to maintain their unbeaten home Division One record.
Yarmouth 2, Saffron Walden 0
Yarmouth emerged from a fog-bound gloomy Wellesley with another three points to maintain their unbeaten home Division One record.
However, for the first half the Bloaters failed to illuminate a tightly-fought game against a Saffron Walden side with the next best defensive record in the division.
It may have been manager Paul Tong's half-time words or the fact that Stewart Roach changed his boots, but Yarmouth were a different side after the interval, giving the visitors' third-choice goalkeeper something to warm his hands at last.
They finally went ahead after 75 minutes through Steve Best's first goal for Yarmouth, even if it was a scrambled affair after Bloods' 'keeper Harvey had pushed a Roach shot off his line.
Five minutes later, substitute Fernando Vide lit up the match with a marvellous second after receiving a Roach pass and wriggling his way through the Walden defence.
Michael Hilton kept his 13th clean-sheet of the season thanks to a brilliant diving save near the end and an earlier goal-line clearance from Olly Savage.
“It was tough, but I didn't expect anything else,” said Tong. “They're a quality, hard-working side, but my lads worked hard, kept it tight defensively and after we changed things at half time the game opened up.
“It was a battle but we deserved to win for our second-half chances. Steve Best gave us a star performance in the defence and then provided the breakthrough goal, while another new signing, Luke Fell, also gave us quality on the ball.”
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