It was a scoreline made all the more frustrating given how competitive they had been for much of the contest. A red card, two penalties, and a late collapse left the Crusaders with little to show for their efforts on a night that unravelled rapidly.

Travel disruption forced manager Danny Robinson into reshuffling his side before kick‑off, with Jerry Gyebi arriving late replaced by Ty Duffus returning from injury. Louis McGrory, back after concussion, replaced Rhys Tyler at wing‑back.

Despite the upheaval, the first half was evenly balanced. Kyle Tooze and Charlie Austin both troubled Yate goalkeeper Aaron Sainsbury early on, while McGrory forced the home stopper to tip a free‑kick over the bar after 20 minutes. Hungerford felt aggrieved moments later when Tooze appeared to be hauled down by Will Larvin when clean through, only for the referee to wave play on.

Five minutes before the interval, Yate struck the opener. Former Hungerford forward James Ollis saw his effort take a deflection that wrong‑footed Luke Cairney, giving the hosts a narrow half‑time lead.

Hungerford responded brightly after the restart and were rewarded almost immediately. Another ex‑Crusader, Alex Monks, was penalised for handball in the area—an arguably harsh decision—but McGrory dispatched the spot‑kick with confidence to level the scores.

The momentum shifted dramatically moments later. Jordan Rose was shown a straight red card for pushing Ollis in the face, an incident that left the visitors with a mountain to climb. Ollis recovered quickly and soon punished his former club again, firing home his second of the night to restore Yate’s advantage.

Even with ten men, Hungerford showed spirit and briefly clawed their way back into the contest. With 20 minutes remaining, Tooze broke down the right and delivered a pinpoint cross for Duffus, who finished calmly to make it 2–2 and raise hopes of an unlikely point.

Those hopes evaporated almost instantly. Straight from the restart, Yate were awarded a penalty when James Taylor was bundled over in the box. Marlon Jackson converted, and from there Hungerford’s resistance crumbled.

Ollis completed his hat‑trick with ten minutes to play, before late strikes from Lucas Tomlinson and Omar Taylor‑Clarke added further gloss to the scoreline as the Crusaders capitulated for the second time in as many weeks.

After the optimism of Saturday’s win, this was a sobering reminder of the challenges ahead for Hungerford—both in discipline and defensive resilience.

Team : Cariney, McGrory, Blackford (Brandao), Rose, Berry-Hargreaves, Duffus, Shepherd, Bowdery (Francis), Squires (Gyebi), Austin (Lynch), Tooze
Star Man : Kyle Tooze