JAMIE Barron scored twice and Warren Bentley once as Winchester City rose to fifth in the Southern One South & West with a wet, windswept 3-0 win over Yate at the Denplan City Ground this afternoon.

The game – the only one in the division to survive another Saturday wash-out – began in driving wind and rain and it was Yate who started the better with the breeze at their backs, writes Wendy Gee.

City ‘keeper Brendan Norris did well diving to his left to turn away Lewis Powell’s angled strike after the Yate forward had made good ground down the left.

Winchester’s first threat came on 12 minutes when skipper Warren Bentley picked out Adam Roberts just inside the right of the area. ‘Keeper Josh Dempsey was quick to close him down and Roberts lifted his shot over.

City picked up two bookings in two minutes as a bit of frustration crept in – Jamie Barron shown yellow for a late tackle and Zach Glasspool for dissent.

But that frustration quickly turned to elation when the home side capitalised on a defensive error by Yate to go in front with 23 minutes gone.

Goalkeeper Dempsey sold his defence short and, as the visitors tried to pass their way out of trouble on a wet surface, Greg Andrews slipped and Barron was in like a shot to bundle the ball home.

City immediately went in search of another but, to everyone’s surprise, Matt Benham was booked for diving when he went down under Jamie Laird’s challenge while attempting to link up with Roberts inside the area.

Winchester had had no real chance to play flowing football against the wind but, incredibly, they managed to go two up with half-an-hour gone.

The second goal came off the magic boot of top scorer Bentley.

Seemingly with nothing on, he skipped across the edge of the area and caught Dempsey unawares with a low left-foot strike that skidded across the greasy surface – his 40th goal of a prolific season.

Yate’s Powell joined the City trio in referee Ben Cobb’s notebook for a foul on Winchester right-back Jake Newton.

Then, as the game approached stoppage Time, George King curled a decent effort over for the visitors.

Half-time: Winchester City 2 Yate Town 0

With the wind playing havoc in Yate’s defensive third, you sensed more City goals would be on their way after the break.

And so it transpired as they made it 3-0 with 54 minutes gone – and a well-worked goal it was too considering the conditions.

Bentley neatly brought Micky Hubbard’s forward pass under control and crossed for midfielder Barron to steer in his fourth goal in the last three games.

Bentley then fired a good chance over before his cross just eluded new signing Craig Feeney, on as a 57th-minute replacement for Zach Glasspool.

Yate came into the game more, creating a couple of chances for Kane Ingram, but City’s alert ‘keeper Norris pushed one shot away and blocked the other.

The young Canadian came up with an even better stop on 80 minutes, denying Powell one-on-one with his feet.

With sub Harlan Basker joining Bentley and Feeney on the pitch, Winchester had plenty of energy up front but, predictably they eased off being 3-0 up on a miserable afternoon, and were just happy to pocket the points.

Full-time: Winchester City 3 Yate Town 0