YATE Town were beaten 2-0 by Bashley in their opening game of the Southern League Division One season.

Brett Williams and Conor Whiteley scored either side of half-time to hand Bashley all three points in a game where Yate will feel they should have taken at least a point out of. 

Kyle Tooze had a penalty for The Bluebells saved by keeper Ross Casey, who made a number of top saves to keep the away side at bay, three minutes after the restart.

Bashley then held on to secure the victory and leave Yate travelling home frustrated.

The game started brightly and throughout the match, Yate found home goalkeeper Casey, Bashley’s Player of the Year last season, in fine form as he produced save after save to thwart the visitors.

Yate's first chance was wasted by Will Sage and the next chance saw his effort blocked by both Casey and home defender Jamie Webber.

With the wind at their back, the home side started to press and Aaron Sainsbury made a fine save from Harvey Slade and it was one of Bashley’s new signings, Brett Williams who broke the deadlock when firing home on 28 minutes following a corner.

But just prior to the break, Yate had a great chance to equalise when Tooze was brought down in the area by Webber. The striker stepped up to take the resultant penalty but Casey produced a fine save.

The keeper's afternoon got better from there and it wasn’t long before he produced more acrobatics as he flew through the air to tip away Tooze’s long-range effort at the start of the second half.

It was, however, the home side who went on to score a crucial second on 60 minutes when Lowes and Williams combined for Whiteley to smash the ball into the roof of the net.

Tooze’s afternoon came to an end when he was injured in a goalmouth scramble and needed ten minutes of treatment before leaving the pitch with a heavily bandaged head.

Despite this setback, Yate continued to press forward and Joe Hall forced a double save from Casey before the ball was cleared.

But even with a long period of stoppage time, Yate could not find a way through and left the match empty handed.