The Bees fell to a 1-0 defeat in a tightly contested match at Yeovil Town in the Vanarama National League.
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.
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.
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.
Yussuf rose above Jordan Thomas and nodded in beyond Oxborough’s reach.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Bees’ ‘keeper watched the ball swerve through the air before catching it confidently.
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.
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.
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.
The Bees’ No. 6 struck the ball towards goal but was denied through a late block from a Yeovil defender.
As the game was coming to a close, Mason-Clark was shown a red card for an off the ball incident with Gorman.
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.
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.
Goals: Yussuf (10’).
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.
Attendance: 2,024 (98 away).
Referee: Ryan Atkin.
Photo by Pinnacle Photo Agency Ltd.
