Weymouth were forced to settle for a point on Tuesday night following a lacklustre performance at bottom side Paulton Rovers.
Rovers have only won two games this season and already look doomed to relegation, but a very boggy surface proved a real leveller, and it was the hosts who made the better start – captain Darren Mullings forcing a comfortable early save from Jason Matthews.
Weymouth responded with a dangerous cross from Jake Wannell only being headed half clear to Stewart Yetton, but he failed to control the ball and it was cleared up field.
Former Paulton favourite Dean Evans tried his luck from range but his shot was well held by goalkeeper Ben John, before Yetton also forced the keeper into a straightforward save shortly after.
Weymouth were having all of the ball but they were struggling to fashion any clear cut chances against a dogged and determined Paulton defence.
Adam Kelly was causing the full back a few problems and his teasing delivery was met by Molesley whose looping header drifted narrowly wide of the far post.
Weymouth were still marginally on top heading towards the interval, but the home side continued to put their bodies on the line – blocking shots from Shephard and Molesley, and ensuring their goalkeeper had relatively little to do in the first half.
Shephard cut in from the right and tried to curl one into the top corner but his effort drifted wide, and that proved the last chance of the first half.
The Terras picked up in the second half where they’d left off – continuing to dominate possession but struggling to create anything clear cut. Paulton were content to keep eleven men behind the ball and launch it out of play every time Weymouth gave it away.
Kelly and Molesley linked up again shortly after half time but Molesley’s header was straight at Ben John.
Minutes later some neat build up play resulted in Chris Shephard having a shot blocked, but it drifted wide for Adam Kelly to cross back into the area, and his in swinging delivery evaded Yetton by inches.
As the game entered the final half hour Weymouth began to show a few signs of frustration, and Paulton were visibly growing in belief and began to look a threat on the break.
Kelvin Douglas latched onto a long ball forwards and began to bear down on goal, only for Dean Evans to make a brilliant last ditch tackle just as Douglas was about to pull the trigger.
But on 68 minutes, out of nothing – the hosts did make the breakthrough. Alex Grimshaw won possession and knocked the ball forwards for Darren Mullings. He crossed it into Josh Ford who drove the ball home into the roof of the net via a very heavy deflection off McPhee to give the hosts a shock lead.
That goal seemed to spark Weymouth into life, and they suddenly began to play with an urgency that had been missing for the first 70 minutes.
Bournemouth loanee Sam Surridge was introduced to the action having been stood ready to come on for about ten minutes prior to that, and he made an instant impact.
He was sent clear down the left hand side and sent a dangerous low cross into the box that evaded the Paulton defence, and Dean Evans ghosted in to stab the ball home from close range to haul Weymouth level with eighteen minutes left.
There was then a bit of a melee when goalkeeper Ben John appeared to kick out at Yetton as he tried to retrieve the ball.
When the game got back underway Weymouth continued to push for a winner but they just couldn’t fashion another clear cut chance – the Paulton defence continuing to deal with any crosses that came their way.
Weymouth had appeals for a penalty turned down when Sam Surridge was chopped down inside the area, and tempers began to boil over when John squared up to the youngster, apparently thinking it was a dive.
The Terras huffed and puffed but couldn’t force a winner. They had another penalty appeal deep into injury time when Adam Kelly went down but the referee was unmoved, and shortly afterwards the full time whistle blew.
A 1-1 draw at the basement club is a disappointing result, and in truth it was a disappointing performance from the Terras. They were unable to find that killer pass, and they failed to really trouble the home goalkeeper for much of the night.
A victory would have put them third in the table. As it is their eleventh draw of the season sees them slip a place to seventh – a point adrift of the play-offs.
There’s no doubt the Terras are difficult to beat, but they must start converting more of these draws into wins. The bottom line is you have to be able to go to places like Paulton, like Frome, Bideford etc and win ugly. That’s the difference come the end of the season. That’s why Poole are where they are – they’ve become the very best at winning ugly, and that’s something Weymouth need to start doing fast, especially with their next three away games all being against bottom five sides.
Saturday’s home cash with Hitchin Town now becomes a vital game. The Canneries have proved to be the surprise package this season – taking advantage of a significant number of games in hand to move up to third in the league, 12 points adrift of leaders Poole with four games in hand. But a win for Weymouth would move them back above their opponents into the top five.
James Spring
