Weymouth consolidated their place in the top five and moved two points closer to Poole Town after coming out on top in a five goal thriller against play-off chasing Kettering Town.
Due to the inclement weather across the country in recent weeks, Kettering arrived at the Bob Lucas Stadium having not kicked a ball in anger for three weeks, and they got off to the worst possible start.
There were just three minutes on the clock when Ben Thomson’s flick on was met by Shephard. He laid it off to Kelly and made his run into the box, and Kelly played an inch perfect pass into his path, leaving Shephard to round the keeper and slot home coolly into an unguarded net to give the Terras a dream start.
The lack of recent match action coupled with the long coach journey from Northamptonshire must’ve had an effect, as the visitors struggled to get out of their own half in the early stages, and it could have been 2-0 before the tenth minute, as some brilliant hold-up play from Thomson allowed Adam Kelly to try and curl one in from range, but his effort was well saved by Paul Walker.
George Rigg was then sent clear down the left flank but his effort from a tight angle was well stopped by Walker.
Just before the half hour mark both Rigg’s and Walker’s afternoons were ended prematurely when they both went after a loose ball and clashed heads. The ball bounced into the path of Shephard who saw his shot brilliantly blocked on the line by Kettering defender Chris Carruthers.
There was a lengthy stoppage while both players received treatment. Having not named a back-up keeper on the bench, the visitors were forced to hand the gloves to midfielder Brett Solkhon, whilst Rigg was replaced by Molesley.
The lengthy stoppage seemed to work in Kettering’s favour however, and on 40 minutes they grabbed an equaliser. Liam Canavan saw a shot well saved by Matthews, but from the resulting corner Dom Langdon was left unmarked, and he rose highest to power a bullet header into the roof of the net.
It was Kettering’s first real chance of the game and the hosts were stunned. But barely a minute later it went from bad to worse for Weymouth.
Kettering won back possession from the restart, and James Brighton was sent clear down the left wing. He sent in a delightful ball which was met by Canavan to give the Poppies a 2-1 lead going into the break.
Those two quick-fire goals appeared to have knocked the stuffing out of the Terras early in the second half, as they struggled to really get going.
Mark Cooper came on for the injured Jake Wannell and flashed an effort across the face of goal, before Chris Shephard spurned a fantastic opportunity.
The ball fell to him in the middle of the penalty area, and he managed to turn his man before his shot hit the crossbar and went behind for a goal kick.
It was then Kettering’s turn to hit the woodwork a few minutes later, when James Brighton’s free kick was met by Rene Howe, but his effort also crashed against the bar before being cleared to safety. A real let off for Weymouth, and on 71 minutes they took advantage of that stroke of good fortune.
Chris Shephard’s corner was only half cleared to Ashley Wells who gave it back to Shephard on the right wing. He was allowed to advance into the area, and showed great vision to find Ben Thomson in the middle of the box who kept his composure to fire the ball into the roof of the net.
Suddenly Weymouth were well on top and the home crowd were roaring them forwards, and with less than a quarter of an hour remaining they found a winner in truly stunning fashion.
There didn’t appear to be much on when Adam Kelly received the ball on the corner of the box, but he showed terrific skill to turn away from 3 defenders before unleashing a beautiful curling effort that flew into the top corner of the net, sparking wild celebrations among the home fans.
It was a goal worthy of winning any game and so it proved. The Terras withstood a late Kettering siege to make it three wins in a week, and move to within seven points of league leaders Poole, who had to be content with a late equaliser for the second week in a row at Merthyr.
The Dolphins had gone out of the FA Trophy in south Wales earlier in the season, and the Welshmen made a strong start in this one too. Elliot Scotcher hit the crossbar with an early free-kick, before Nick Hutchings produced a good save to deny Kayne McGlaggon.
But the hosts weren’t to be denied, and they took a deserved lead on the quarter hour mark. Corey Jenkins sent a teasing ball into the box, and following a quick game of pinball the ball eventually deflected in off some part of Keyon Raffell to give Merthyr the lead.
The goal seemed to spark Poole into life, and Merthyr were indebted to defender James Bloom for a goal line clearence, before goalkeeper Glyn Garner produced a fine save to deny Burbridge.
The second half continued to be an entertaining end-to-end contest, with both goalkeepers making some good saves and the Dolphins hitting the woodwork.
It looked like the Welshmen would just hold on, but five minutes from time Poole found an equaliser.
The hosts were unable to deal with Devlin’s corner, and Will Spetch was on hand to head home and earn Poole a share of the spoils.
Their lead over second placed Chippenham is now down to just two points, following a frustrating run of just one win in their last six games, although they are unbeaten in that time.
Elsewhere, Dorchester’s play-off aspirations were dealt a blow as they suffered defeat at sixth placed Dunstable Town.
Zack Reynolds unleashed a stunning effort from all of thirty yards that flew in off the crossbar in just the eighth minute, and that ultimately proved the difference, as despite applying plenty of pressure, the closest the Magpies came were a couple of headers against the woodwork from Walker and Watson.
The defeat see’s them drop to ninth but they are still only four points off the play-offs, and they’ll be confident of getting back to winning ways on Saturday when Chesham United visit the Avenue. Despite their FA Cup heroics, the Generals have struggled in the league and currently sit 19th, having picked up just two away wins so far this season.
Weather permitting, Weymouth travel to bottom of the table Bideford on Tuesday night, before a trip to second bottom Bedworth on Saturday. Neither game will be easy, but its games like this Weymouth need to be winning to keep the pressure up on Poole in the race for promotion, and they should be full of confidence after three wins in a week.
The Dolphins themselves face a tough test on Saturday when they travel to fourth placed Redditch, who have only suffered one defeat in their last fifteen games, and smashed eight goals past lowly Bedworth in their last home game.
It promises to be a pivotal weekend in the southern league season ahead of the re-scheduled derby between Poole and Weymouth next week. Things are really hotting up!
James Spring
