Chris Shephard put in comfortably his best performance since his return from injury to inspire his side to a fantastic 3-1 victory in south Wales.
The Welshmen went into the game as one of the league’s in-form sides – having won their last four games, and their artificial surface has brought a whole new meaning to the term “home advantage” over the last couple of seasons.
They tried to stamp their authority on proceedings early on, and ex-Terra Rhys Baggeridge went close after just five minutes when he headed narrowly wide from a free-kick.
Gradually Weymouth seemed to adapt to the surface and began to play some nice football. Mark Cooper burst forwards and forced a good save from Merthyr goalkeeper Tom Bradley, before Jason Matthews had to be on his toes to tip a wonderful curling effort from 30 yards over the crossbar.
Weymouth’s ever-solid backline was frustrating the hosts who were being limited to efforts from range. Former Swansea City striker Guillem Bauza tried his luck from range and Matthews fumbled it before Baldwin smashed the ball to safety.
On the half hour mark Weymouth thought they had taken the lead when Stewart Yetton fired home Shephard’s centre from close range, but the linesman had flagged for offside and the hosts had a let off. It was certainly a very close call, although in fairness the lack of protests from the Weymouth players suggested the linesman just got it right.
Ben Thomson and Adam Kelly both went close for Weymouth who finished the first half looking marginally the better side. So it was somewhat out of the blue that Merthyr took the lead just five minutes into the second half.
Ian Taylor used his pace to great effect down the left wing and sent a deep cross in towards the back post for Corey Jenkins to head home to make it 1-0.
But the celebrations had barely died down when Weymouth went down the other end and won a free-kick 25 yards out dead centre. Chris Shephard smashed it into the right top corner leaving the keeper rooted to the spot, able to do nothing but admire the strike.
The hosts were stunned, and just two minutes later Weymouth almost scored again, but Merthyr somehow managed to clear it following a real scramble in the six yard box. Shephard then tried his luck from another free-kick in a similar position– the ball flying inches over the crossbar this time.
It seemed to be only a matter of time before the Terras got a second goal, and on 68 minutes they completed the turnaround. It’s been a while since we saw an Adam Kelly special, but when the ball fell out of the sky on the edge of the D, he struck it perfectly on the volley into the bottom corner giving Tom Bradley no chance.
Weymouth were playing brilliantly, and eleven minutes from time Chris Shephard got his second of the afternoon – seizing on a defensive lapse and firing home from inside the area to put the sixty or so travelling fans in dreamland.
Weymouth had a two goal cushion but the drama wasn’t quite over yet. Goalkeeper Jason Matthews had picked up a knee injury fairly early on when he landed awkwardly but he managed to soldier on. After 85 minutes he finally made way, and with no back-up goalkeeper on the bench, it was left to talisman Stewart Yetton to don the gloves between the sticks for the final few minutes; to ironic chants of “England’s number one” from the travelling fans.
Merthyr threw everything at the Weymouth defence for the final five minutes or so but Yetton had nothing to do, and Weymouth very nearly hit the hosts on the break late on when Dean Evans broke forwards and struck the post. The rebound fell to Thomson but his effort was blocked on the line.
Weymouth played out the final moments comfortably to secure an impressive victory. It was arguably their best performance of the season, and the win moves them to within a point of the joint league leaders Leamington and Redditch United.
They’re level on 34 points with Poole Town, who left it late to snatch a point at Dunstable Town.
The Dolphins got off to a nightmare start when Adam Watkins fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in just the fourth minute, much to the dismay of the Poole players who thought the game should have been halted with Luke Roberts down.
Poole tried to muster an instant response but Jamie White’s header was blocked just minutes later.
Marvin Brooks fluffed Poole’s only other chance of what was a scrappy first half – firing over the crossbar after veteran goalkeeper Paul Bastock spilled the initial shot.
In the second half Poole layed siege to the Dunstable goal but it just wouldn’t go in for them.
Marvin Brooks had a free-header but failed to find the target, whilst Jamie White’s shot was cleared off the line as the hosts desperately clung to their lead.
But in the second minute of injury time their resistance was finally broken. Poole threw everyone forwards for one last corner including goalkeeper Nick Hutchings. Luke Roberts’ header was cleared off the line before his follow up shot crashed back off the crossbar. But it fell perfectly at the feet of Burbridge who smashed the ball home to rescue a point for the Dolphins in dramatic fashion.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Dorchester Town fought off a brave second half fightback from struggling Bedworth to pick up their third straight home win.
The Magpies looked to be coasting to victory when first half goals from Bradley Tarbuck and Ben Watson had them 2-0 up at the break.
But the Greenbacks came out for the second half all guns blazing. They halved the arrears less than five minutes into the second half thanks to some slack marking from Dorchester. Justin Marsden wasn’t picked up from a throw-in, and he surged forwards before unleashing a powerful drive past Walker-Harris.
Just twelve minutes into the second half United levelled it up. This time Lewis Chester used his pace and strength to breeze through the heart of the Dorchester defence before producing a confident finish to haul his side level.
The hosts were stunned, but on 72 minutes they were awarded a golden opportunity to re-take the lead when Bedworth defender Richard Bryan hauled Nathan Walker to the ground following a free-kick. Charlie Davis no doubt breathed a sign of relief when his effort went in off the underside of the crossbar to put the Magpies back in front, and they held on to secure another three points that moves them to within two points of the top five. Not a totally convincing performance, but they got the result in the end.
They’ll need to be better though if they are to progress further in the FA Trophy on Saturday, when they welcome Isthmian league side Kingstonian to the Avenue in the second qualifying round. Kingstonian are currently sixth in their league – just one point off the play-offs with games in hand over their rivals. It’ll be a good test for Dorchester, but before that they play a commemorative game against an Army XI at the Avenue on Wednesday evening to mark Armistice Day.
On Tuesday night Weymouth and Poole meet for the first time this season in the second round of the Red Insure Cup at the Bob Lucas Stadium. One would expect both sides to rest a few players, but they will no doubt be keen to put on over on each other, no matter what competition it’s in, so it should be a good cup tie.
James Spring
