Weymouth kicked off the FA Trophy first qualifying round action with a trip to Winchester City on Friday night, and they put their name in the hat for today’s draw thanks to second half strikes from Dean Evans and Jordan Copp in an entertaining clash in Hampshire.
In the early stages Weymouth were playing the better football but it was the south & west division high flyers who created the better chances. Rob Flooks had a free header but couldn’t keep it on target, and Jason Matthews had to be on his toes to make a couple of saves.
At the other end Billy Lowes and Ben Thomson went close for Weymouth, but otherwise they struggled to create any clear cut chances, and Winchester took a deserved lead on the half hour mark.
Warren Bentley has attracted plenty of interest this season for his goal scoring exploits, and he was on hand to stab home from a low cross on 30 minutes. The ball was scrambled away by a defender and it was tough to tell if the ball had crossed the line, but in fairness the linesman was right in the corner to make his decision.
Weymouth tried to muster an instant response, and Winchester were indebted to goalkeeper Brendon Norris for keeping them in front when he got down sharply to save Jordan Copp’s driven free-kick from the edge of the D, before palming Adam Kelly’s curler behind for a corner.
The referee then became the centre of attention right on the stroke of half time when he waved away Weymouth’s desperate penalty appeals after a Winchester defender had pulled off a pretty good save! Remarkably, and even to the surprise of the home side nothing was given, and Weymouth went into the break a goal down. Needless to say, the travelling Terras fans weren’t afraid to tell the ref what they thought of him as he made his way to his dressing room!
Perhaps the feeling of injustice helped spur Weymouth on, as they hit back with an equaliser less than 90 seconds into the second half – the ball being worked to Dean Evans in space inside the box, and he fired home into the bottom corner to haul the Terras level.
The pace was frantic and both sides had good chances to go in front. Stewart Yetton had a glorious chance when he was played through by Kelly, but he tried to place his shot and in the end hit it straight at the keeper.
Minutes later Jason Matthews rolled back the years with a stunning point blank double save to deny Winchester, and having done his bit, the player-manager was celebrating seeing his side complete the turnaround on 72 minutes.
Some patient build up play eventually saw the ball played to Copp on the edge of the box. He wriggled his way past a couple of defenders and kept his composure – firing under the keeper and giving Weymouth the lead to the delight of a big and rowdy away following.
That goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Winchester, and Copp was inches away from doubling the lead just minutes later when he tried his luck from range, only to see his effort smash the crossbar and bounce to safety.
Weymouth played out the remaining minutes in a professional manner to seal their place in the second qualifying round. It wasn’t comfortable and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done – and in the cup that’s all that matters.
And what chance of a Ridgeway derby in the next round? After the Magpies sealed their place in the hat in the draw in dramatic fashion with two last gasp goals to see of Chippenham Town.
Having hit six in midweek, the Magpies looked to carry on where they left off, and they had a good chance early on when Chippenham defender Greg Tindle slipped while trying to make a clearance, but Chris Dillon failed to keep his composure and blasted the ball high and wide.
It was then the turn of the visitors to go close. Smeeton lost possession in midfield and Andy Sandell went on a surging run in the box. He found Tom Jones 8 yards out, but he failed to connect properly, and his shot sailed harmlessly wide.
Chippenham goalkeeper Kent Kauppinen was then called into action – first making a fairly routine save from Tarbuck before producing a stunning finger tip save to deny player-manager Mark Jermyn. Neil Martin then hit a free-kick straight down Kauppinen’s throat with the last action of the first half.
The second half was pretty uneventful and it looked destined to be a 0-0 draw, but with seventeen minutes remaining the tie was lit up by a moment of magic from Tom Jones. There didn’t appear to be much on when he received the ball 30 yards out, but the former Aberdeen and Reading man let fly and Alan Walker-Harris could only watch as the ball flew into the top corner of the net to give the Bluebirds the lead.
Having failed to create much all afternoon, and with the Bluebirds solid defensive record it looked like the Magpies were heading for another early cup exit, but with five minutes remaining they looked like they’d snatched a replay. Tarbuck did well to work himself some space on the right wing to send a dangerous low cross into the six yard box, and Ben Watson was on hand to fire between Kauppinen’s legs to level things up.
In truth a draw would probably have been a fair reflection of the game, but the Magpies had no intentions of settling for a replay, and with just a minute of normal time remaining, they came up with a winner.
Neil Martin’s cross was met by the head of Watson whose effort was saved by Kauppinen, but Oldring was in the right place at the right time to stab home a dramatic winner. The home crowd erupted and once the celebrations had died down, the Magpies played out the four minutes of added time comfortably to seal their progress in the most dramatic way possible.
There was also late drama for Poole Town, but the boot was on the other foot as they fell to a third defeat in a week against fellow southern premier league side Merthyr Town.
Both sides were in the midst of an injury crisis and were missing a number of key players each, and it probably showed in what was a fairly dull and uneventful clash in south Wales.
Merthyr had the ball in the net in the first half but it was ruled out for offside, whilst Luke Roberts had Poole’s best chance when he fired wide following some decent build-up play.
In the second half Burbridge hit a free-kick straight at goalkeeper Tom Bradley, whilst Elliot Scotcher came agonisingly close for the hosts when he struck the post with a free-kick of his own.
As the match wore on, Merthyr began to commit more men forwards – obviously not too keen on the idea of a midweek trip to Dorset, and just five minutes from time their pressure finally told when Gethin Jones rose above the Poole defence to head the Welshmen into the next round, and send Poole tumbling to their third defeat in separate competitions this week.
The Dolphins will be in cup action once again on Tuesday night when they host Shaftesbury in the Dorset Senior Cup. They will no doubt use it as an opportunity to rest a few players before they travel to Dunstable Town on Saturday.
A lot was expected of Dunstable this season after they appeared to be throwing a bit of money at it in pre-season, but they’ve made a fairly indifferent start and currently lie 12th in the table with four wins and three losses from their seven home games so far. They have been picking up lately thoiugh – they thrashed Cirencester Town 5-1 on their own patch in the Trophy on Saturday and are unbeaten in their last seven games, with twenty goals scored in the process.
Weymouth will be hoping for better luck in Wales than Poole on Saturday. Merthyr have also made an inconsistent start but they appear to be finding some form now and go into Saturday’s clash on the back of four straight wins, including wins over St Neots and Hungerford.
Elsewhere Dorchester will look to make it three straight wins when they welcome struggling Bedworth United to the Avenue on Saturday.
The Greenbacks have struggled to adapt to life in the southern premier league after promotion last season and currently sit second from bottom. They’re yet to win an away game, and given Dorchester’s strong home form they’ll surely fancy their chances of picking up another three points.
James Spring
