A much-changed Yetminster side suffered on the scoreline against a ruthless Bakers Arms side in Child Okeford. The Sharks were forced into fielding a make-shift looking outfit as two new signings made their long-awaited Yetminster Sharks debuts.
Manager Ben Jones had been looking to bring in the former generation Sharks trio of Richie Miles, Daryl Reed and Jamie Carter ever since Skippers F.C. went into liquidation in recent weeks, but had to wait to hand debuts to Miles and Reed who both impressed on their first outing with the latest generation of the Sharks as goalkeeper Ben Spreadbury also made his first appearance since suffering a groin injury all the way back in October.
Left-Back Adam Roman found himself in the centre of midfield with Jamie Lukosius, with the pair linking up well considering the pair had not previously teamed up together in the centre of the park, while Nathan Ruscoe and Norton Payne took their places on the flanks after both impressing in training.
Yetminster couldn't have got off to a worse start however, and were 2 goals down within 5 minutes after a pair of defensive blunders. Yetminster began to settle, but found themselves on the receiving end of 4 more goals as they approached half-time, through a combination of mistakes, indecision and ruthless Bakers counter-attacking.
Nathan Ruscoe could've opened the visitors' account but fluffed his lines after latching onto a superb aerial through-ball from the impressive Miles, his right-footed effort tamely pouched by Bakers goalkeeper Jamie Trew.
As half-time beckoned though, the Sharks got the reward that their endeavour deserved, a flowing move down the left flank involving Lukosius and Ruscoe resulted in a Kade Masters mis-hit that fell to Norton Payne, who controlled and then rifled his finish high into the net at the near post from just inside the penalty area.
That would invaraibly prove to be the only high-point for the Sharks though, with defensive errors and inconsistent refereeing dictating the outcome in a second half that saw 5 more Bakers strikes, with Alan Morris' officiating called into question when he failed to award Bakers a penalty after Miles twice felled his opposite number in the box in quick succession, having also failed to take action after Ruscoe managed to stay on his feet after a dubious challenge in the other 18-yard box in the first half.
Craig Biss, Ashley Redford and Max Howard all made appearances from the substitutes bench in the second period replacing Sam Carver, Kade Masters and James Dowding respectively, with Biss and Redford providing pace on demand going forward, while Howard was on hand to make some crucial blocks and interventions at the back, following the lead of debutant Daryl Reed who shone in a struggling backline.
While the scoreline hurt the Sharks it flattered to deceive, with some fine attacking play in the second half going unrewarded with a goal, Jamie Lukosius at the heart of the midfield pulling the strings and running rings around the opposition, assisted by the tricky pair of Ruscoe and Payne. Next up for Yetminster is a home fixture against Team Gryphon Reserves, where the Sharks will look to have shaken off the ring-rust that hampered them so badly.
