Stewart Yetton finally ended his goal drought on Saturday when he headed Weymouth into an early lead to set them on their way to a fairly comfortable home win over Kings Lynn Town.
Weymouth had put in an excellent performance at Chippenham on Tuesday night that had arguably warranted more than a draw, and they made a bright start to this game too.
Just seven minutes in the ball was worked to Chris Shephard who fired just wide from the edge of the area, before the visitors broke down the other end and Liam Hurst had Matthews scrambling across his goal with a powerful drive from 25 yards.
Visiting goalkeeper Alex Street then had to be quick off his line to thwart Ben Thomson when he was played in, before Dean Evans hit a low drive inches wide of the post. But on nineteen minutes the home sides pressure finally paid off.
Jake Wannell sent a pin-point cross into the box, and Yetton rose above his marker to head powerfully into the top corner of the net to score his first goal since September 12th. The celebration told you all you needed to know about how much it meant to him, it was as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Weymouth were well on top, and they came close to doubling their lead minutes later when Chris Shephard’s corner was headed wide at the back post by Evans.
The two combined again shortly afterwards, with Evans playing in Shephard, but goalkeeper Alex Street was again on his toes – charging off his line to smother the shot, and then showing superb reactions to deny Mark Cooper from the rebound.
Ben Thomson then glanced a header narrowly wide with the last chance of what was a pretty dominant first half from Weymouth, but they still only had the one goal to show for it.
They continued in the second half where they’d left off in the first, and Stewart Yetton really should have doubled his tally for the afternoon when he was played in by Shephard, but unchallenged in the box – he dragged his effort wide.
He was almost made to pay for that miss minutes later when in a rare foray forwards – the visitors threatened an equaliser when Toby Hilliard’s shot was blocked by Pat Baldwin, and Sam Mulready failed to keep his composure – firing well wide of the target from the rebound.
Weymouth needed that second goal to calm the nerves, and just past the hour mark they were given a golden opportunity when Matt Catellan scythed down Copp in the box, leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty.
The keeper did well to palm Copp’s initial effort onto the post, but Copp reacted quickest and smashed the rebound into the roof of the net to give the Terras breathing space.
They were in complete control and playing some lovely football. Two nearly became three when Ben Thomson busted a gut to latch onto his own flick on before firing his effort against the post.
Weymouth played out the rest of the game comfortably to secure a sixth home win of the season, and put last weekend’s blip against Biggleswade to bed.
It was certainly their most complete performance on home soil this season. They were dominant throughout the contest, and Kings Lynn could have had no real complaints if they had lost by a few more goals.
The victory moves Weymouth back up a place to third on thirty points after Chippenham didn’t play.
They are one point ahead of Redditch United who moved up to fourth after two goals in the last fifteen minutes saw them condemn Dorchester Town to a fourth league defeat on the spin.
Following their midweek embarrassment at home to Poole Town, manager Mark Jermyn made a number of changes to the starting xi in an attempt to turn things around.
They were certainly much more solid defensively for much of what was a fairly evenly balanced contest at the valley.
United hit the crossbar on twenty minutes, whilst Nathan Walker saw a header cleared off the line in an otherwise cagey first half.
The second half continued in much the same vain with neither goalkeeper having a great deal of work to do, although Redditch keeper Jose Veiga was given a scare when Jake Smeeton struck narrowly wide from a 25 yard free kick in a rare moment of excitement.
It was looking like the Magpies were going to halt their slide with a hard fought point, but with a quarter of an hour remaining disaster struck, when Matt Oldring gave away a penalty and was sent off for a second bookable offence for his troubles.
Luke Shearer tucked away the spot kick with the confidence his famous namesake would have been proud of to put the hosts within touching distance of another three points. And when George Carline headed home from a corner seven minutes from time it really was game, set and match.
A frustrating result for the Magpies, who for so long looked in little danger in the midlands. Their fourth straight league defeat sees them drop to 11th.
Elsewhere, Poole Town were left heartbroken after two goals at either end of the second half saw their dreams of a first ever appearance in the first round proper of the FA Cup come to an end.
Their high-flying conference south opponents Whitehawk looked to stamp their authority on proceedings fairly early on, and they were almost in front in the first minute when talisman Sam Deering’s shot deflected off a defender and flew narrowly wide.
The Dolphins were indebted to goalkeeper Nick Hutchings for making a string of saves during the first half to keep them on level terms, but shortly before half time the match turned in Whitehawk’s favour, when Will Spetch was sent off for picking up two yellow cards.
However, in the first minute of the second half Poole thought they should’ve had a penalty when Luke Burbridge was clipped by a defender, but the referee waved play on. And Poole’s frustrations were compounded when from the resulting counter-attack – they fell behind. Danny Mills did the damage to leave the depleted Dolphins with a mountain to climb.
Steve Devlin came closest to an equaliser when he fired a free-kick on the edge of the box wide, before in the last minute of the game, with Poole committing everyone forwards, their attack broke down and Whitehawk picked them off on the counter-attack again – this time with Sam Deering firing home to book Whitehawk’s place in the first round proper, and leave the Dolphins wondering what might have been.
But the good news for them as they are still top of the league after their nearest challengers Leamington were held a draw by basement boys Paulton Rovers on Saturday.
Poole will look to continue their excellent league form on Tuesday night when they travel to 19th placed Chesham United.
The Generals have been wildly inconsistent in the league, but they’ll go into the contest on a real high after they became the only Southern premier league club to qualify for the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Dorchester Town will look to do what second placed Leamington couldn’t do, and beat winless Paulton Rovers when they welcome the bottom club to the Avenue on Tuesday night. Dorchester have to stop the rot quickly, and a home game against a side who’ve yet to taste victory this season is surely the perfect opportunity for them.
Weymouth have an extra days rest before they make the short trip over the border to face Frome Town on Wednesday night. The Robins currently sit one point and one place above the relegation zone, but they are always a tough nut to crack on their own patch. They are unbeaten in their last four home games, and they’ll be on a high after an 89th minute penalty handed them a rare away win on Saturday.
Add into the equation the fact Weymouth boast a couple of their former players in their ranks, and it’s all set up to be an enticing contest in Somerset.
James Spring
