Weymouth and Poole Town were both left thinking what might have been on Saturday, as both were forced to settle for 1-1 draws.
The Terras welcomed play-off chasing Redditch United to the Bob Lucas stadium, and they could count themselves unlucky not to have taken a lead into the half time break, with Yetton and McPhee forcing the visiting goalkeeper into a couple of good saves, and Shephard firing narrowly wide.
Weymouth continued to press at the start of the second half, and Calvin Brooks was within inches of breaking the deadlock when he got on the end of a Jamie Reid cross into the back post, but he failed to connect properly with his header, and the ball crashed against the post and away to safety.
From that point the visitors began to pose a few questions of the Terras defence, and Calvin Disnley really should have put them 1-0 up when the ball fell to him on the edge of the area, but he failed to keep his composure and fired the ball into the stand.
Then it was Weymouth’s turn to go close, as the game began to open up. Stewart Yetton received the ball and set off on a run. Jamie Reid was in the centre of the penalty area, but Yetton’s attempted cross was hacked behind by the covering defender, much to the displeasure of Reid, who began a rather needless spat with Yetton. Probably a case of frustrations boiling over.
But any ill feelings were forgotten just moments later, as the Exeter loanee Reid made the breakthrough in his final game for the club
A well worked throw in saw the ball played to Yetton, and this time he was able to cross the ball into the feet of Reid. The young loanee did superbly well to hold off his marker, before turning and firing beneath the despairing keeper into the far corner to give Weymouth a precious lead.
Having worked so hard to get into this position, Weymouth would have expected to push on against their out of form opponents and finish the game off, but instead they shot themselves in the foot straight from the restart.
Ashley Wells went in two footed on David Goard and was shown a straight red card. He could have no real complaints – it was rash, reckless and needless.
Redditch suddenly seemed to be rejuvenated, and they set about taking advantage of their numerical advantage by laying siege to the Weymouth penalty area.
Sammons headed just over the crossbar, before United’s pressure eventually told on 75 minutes. Weymouth failed to properly clear a corner and the ball fell to Flanagan, who fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner to haul Redditch level.
Redditch’s tails were up now, and they came to within inches of snatching all three points when Dinsley also tried his luck from range, but his effort flew just over the crossbar.
Both sides huffed and puffed in the final exchanges but neither side was able to create one last opportunity, and the points were shared. Bitterly frustrating for the Terras who had worked so hard to get into the lead, but ultimately the game changed because of a rush of blood.
Weymouth would’ve been no doubt more frustrated when they heard that league leaders Poole Town had also had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Histon.
In a lively encounter, it was the struggling hosts who broke the deadlock just past the hour mark, when Poole keeper Nick Hutchings came for a cross, but failed to hold onto the ball, and it fell to Freeman to fire home and give Histon the lead.
But the Poole response was immediate – Joe Quigley equalising two minutes later to earn the Dolphins a share of the spoils. Not the result they would’ve perhaps been hoping for against a side fighting relegation, but Histon do possess one of the best home record’s in the division – unbeaten on their own patch since the first month of the season, so not the worst result in the world for Poole.
The point kept them two points clear of second placed Weymouth with three games in hand.
They welcome Chesham United to Tatnam on Tuesday night, and they’ll hoping to extend their lead to five points and then put their feet up on Wednesday night, when Weymouth travel to fourth placed Corby Town in a crucial promotion six pointer.
The Steelmen are six points off top spot as it stands, and that gap would become nine points if Poole win on Tuesday night. So should Poole beat Chesham, the loser of the game on Wednesday night would really have a lot to do to win the title from that position.
Corby are in good form – unbeaten in their last six home games, whilst the Terras have lost their last three away games without scoring. The pressure is on both sides, and both will be keeping a close eye on events at Tatnam on Tuesday night, as the race for promotion really begins to heat up.
One side who can now relax a bit are Dorchester Town. Two fantastic wins on the road at Frome Town and Dunstable Town last week have seen the Magpies climb to 17th in the table, and they now have a ten point cushion over the bottom three.
Their latest win at Dunstable on Saturday proved just how much things have changed under Mark Jermyn – with the Magpies recovering from a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3.
The Magpies got off to the worst possible start when Elliot Bailey gave the hosts the lead in just the second minute, but they responded well to the early setback – and on 14 minutes Ben Watson equalised.
Two goals in as many minutes from Jemale Mckenzie-Lowe put Dunstable 3-1 up after 22 minutes, and only a matter of weeks ago that probably would’ve been game over, but not now. Dorchester have re-discovered their fighting spirit and will to win.
They continued to push forwards, and were awarded a penalty after half an hour. The keeper saved Watson’s penalty, but the ball fell kindly for Jack Smeeton who fired home to halve the deficit.
Dorchester were then given a further boost when Dunstable’s Luke Ruddick was sent off. A decision he didn’t take too well – threatening to meet one Dorchester supporter in the bar after the game!
The second half continued at the same frantic pace, and on 52 minutes Lanahan pulled the Magpies level.
There was only one team who was going to go on to win this game now, and sure enough two goals in as many minutes from Dillon and Tarbuck secured all three points for Dorchester in the final quarter of an hour. A quite magnificent fightback.
Dorchester’s next game is a tough trip to Bideford on Saturday. The Robins sit 15th, six points above Dorchester with one of the division’s strongest home records. But Dorchester will go there full of confidence and belief, and another win would surely all but guarantee their safety.
It’s been an unbelievable turnaround since Mark Jermyn came back just five weeks ago. In fact, in his six games in charge, he’s already managed to accumulate as many points as Graham Kemp did in nineteen games!
Football is a funny old game…
James Spring
