Weymouth have gone top of the southern premier league thanks in part to a hard earned draw against Truro City on New Years Day, but also because Hereford United’s demise has resulted in their playing record being expunged, meaning that any points teams picked up against the Bulls have now been lost.
Weymouth never got round to playing Hereford thanks to their FA Trophy run, but Poole picked up a point against them earlier in the season, and Dorchester picked up all 3 points back in September.
The Terras now sit one point clear of Poole Town, and they earned that point in dramatic style on New Year’s Day, when they welcomed fellow promotion chasers Truro City to the Bob Lucas Stadium.
The first half an hour was fairly uneventful, but that all changed when the visitors took the lead ten minutes before the break. A sloppy goal for the Terras to conceede – as a corner was not properly cleared, and after a quick game of pinball on the edge of the penalty area, it fell to Rob Farkins who fired home to give the visitors a lead which they probably just about deserved on the balance of play.
Then just minutes later came a moment of controversy.
The referee awarded the visitors a throw in – a decision which Chris Shephard took issue with.
He went to argue with the ref but ex Terra Craig Duff grabbed him around the waist. Shephard reacted by throwing his arm around, and Duff dramatically fell to the ground as if there was a sniper in the crowd.
The referee showed Shephard a straight red card, and then booked Chris McPhee for arguing.
In truth Shephard shouldn’t have retaliated the way he did, but there’s little doubting Duff conned the ref into sending him off. A big blow for Weymouth who will now be without the tricky winger for three games.
The red card seemed to galvanize the Terras though, who came out for the second half all guns blazing. In truth Weymouth dominated much of the second half, and if anything it looked like Truro with the numerical disadvantage!
Tim Sills headed inches wide of the post, before the visitors broke up the other end and won a free-kick, which Danny Greenslade fired just wide of the post.
Weymouth continued to probe, and on 66 minutes they got their just rewards. Greenslade miss-controlled the ball in the box and presented it straight to Yetton.
Despite the fact he had Yetton running away from goal, the defender still decided to commit a clumsy challenge on the edge of the area, and the referee awarded Weymouth a fourth spot kick in three matches.
Stewart Yetton once again did the business to haul Weymouth level, and set up a thrilling final twenty minutes.
Despite the fact this was their fourth game in eight days, Weymouth looked far fitter than their opponents, and they almost nicked all 3 points with virtually the last kick of the game.
Steve Colwell sent an inviting cross into the area, but Tim Sills was just unable to connect at the far post, and the points were shared.
Certainly a point gained for Weymouth and two points dropped for the visitors, and when news filtered through that Poole Town had only managed a goaless draw at home to Dorchester it looked like an even better point.
In a fairly dull encounter over at Tatnam the struggling Magpies put in a real battling performance, and were more than worthy of their point.
Saturday was a washout, and none of Dorset’s teams were in action.
With Hereford’s demise, Weymouth now sit top of the southern premier league on 51 points, with Poole a point behind having played the same number of games. Corby Town are also on 50 points but they’ve played four games more than both Weymouth and Poole.
At the other end of the table, Dorchester now slip into the relegation zone, but the one bit of good news for them is now only three teams will go down instead of four.
Dorchester have 19 points from 24 games, and sit a point clear of Banbury and two clear of Burnham. They are two points behind Arlesey Town who they were due to play on Saturday, but crucially the Magpies have two games in hand.
One of those is a massive relegation six pointer at Frome Town on Wednesday night. Frome’s win on Saturday has moved them up to 19th place on 22 points, so victory for the Magpies is crucial. They certainly can’t afford a defeat. They’ll need to show the battling qualities they display on New Years Day to come away with the right result.
They then travel to mid-table Chesham United on Saturday, whilst Weymouth also face mid-table opposition in Cambridge City, who have struggled to replicate last season’s form which took them into the play-offs.
Meanwhile Poole Town will look to get back on track after a few dissapointing results when they travel to Biggleswade Town. The Dolphins won there in the FA Trophy a few weeks ago so should go there full of confidence. But the Dolphins lack of firepower up front is becoming a major cause for concern. They’re creating chances but not taking them.
No such problems for Weymouth though, although they have conceded a fair few goals more than the Dolphins. It’s shaping up to be a thrilling title race, and with their games in hand Dorset’s top two now have the chance to build a gap between themselves and the rest of the league.
James Spring
