Two goals early in the second half saw Weymouth fight back from a goal down to seal a priceless three points at home to Hungerford Town on Saturday.
The Terras went into the game with key players such as Chris Shephard, Pat Baldwin and Mark Molesley unavailable, whilst Jordan Copp was only fit for the bench after suffering a bout of food poisoning.
That meant George Rigg and Adam Kelly coming into the starting xi, whilst Chris McPhee retained his place at the back in place of Baldwin.
Unusually, the hosts attacked the old speedway end in the first half, and perhaps that had something to do with their very slow start, as it was the visitors Hungerford who were on top from the off.
They had the games first chance eight minutes in when James Clark sent in a teasing free kick which was headed towards goal by Mike Jones and forced a sharp save from Jason Matthews.
Matthews had to be on his guard again minutes later when another teasing ball forced him to race off his line to punch clear, clattering into the big front man Stefan Brown in the process.
Weymouth hadn’t started at all, and sure enough they fell behind on 17 minutes through a goal that their normally faultless defence won’t be wanting to see again anytime soon.
Mike Jones sent a low corner into the box which missed two players before falling to Nat Jarvis. He failed to control the ball first time but Weymouth failed to clear it, and Jarvis managed to get a weak shot at goal away on the turn and it somehow dribbled through a sea of claret an blue shirts into the bottom corner of the net to give the visitors a deserved lead.
That goal finally seemed to spark Weymouth into life, and from the restart they created their first chance of the game when Mark Cooper found Ben Thomson with a cross. His strike took a wicked deflection off a defender, but Hungerford goalkeeper Paul Strudley got down quickly to make the save.
Weymouth were still struggling to get into the game though, and Hungerford continued to search for a second goal. A long punt forwards was headed clear but only as far as James Clarke 30 yards out who saw his name in the lights, but only managed to fire his volley onto the twelfth green of the golf course.
Yetton had the final chance of the first half when he rose above two defenders but headed narrowly wide, as the Terras went in 1-0 down.
It had to be much better in the second half, and the hosts got the perfect start thanks to Mark Cooper.
Jake Wannell’s cross fell to Cooper whose first shot was blocked, but he got a second bite of the cherry, and duly notched his first goal for the club with a powerful drive into the bottom corner that gave the keeper no chance.
Suddenly Weymouth’s tails were up, and just nine minutes into the second half the turnaround was complete.
Cooper won the ball back in midfield and Dean Evans set off on a surging run forwards before laying it off to Rigg, whose cross was only cleared as far as Wannell. His shot from range bounced off a defender to Ben Thomson who headed it back to Yetton, and his knockdown was rifled into the bottom corner by Adam Kelly to set off wild celebrations behind the goal.
Hungerford were rattled, and they made a triple substitution on the hour mark in a desperate attempt to turn the tide.
They were resorting to long throws and punts into the box but by and large the Weymouth defence stood firm.
Harry Goodger had a lopping header which just grazed the top of the crossbar before landing on the roof of the net, before a golden opportunity fell to talisman Mark Draycott when Stefan Brown drilled it into the area, only for Draycott to fire over from close range.
Draycott then went close again when he forced a good save from Matthews, and luckily for Weymouth both Goodger and Brown fluffed their lines with the follow up efforts.
The visitors threw the kitchen sink at Weymouth but they couldn’t take their chances, and Weymouth held on to secure a priceless three points that moves them up into the top five.
It’s difficult really to deny that Hungerford were very unfortunate not to at least take a share of the spoils, but sometimes you do have to win ugly, and Weymouth won’t mind how it comes as long as they get the points.
Poole Town were also left hanging on at the death on Saturday as they very nearly let a three goal lead slip away to Conference South strugglers Hayes & Yeading in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.
The Dolphins got the perfect start when after just ten minutes – Michael Walker rose above his man to head home Steve Devlin’s corner.
They made it 2-0 just before the half hour mark when a long ball over the top fell for Richard Gillespie who beat the offside trap, and with the goalkeeper in no man’s land – he calmly chipped him from the edge of the area to put the Dolphins in control.
The hosts could and probably should have halved the deficit before half time when Jake Nicholson’s long ball into the box was headed onto Ishmael Ehui, but left alone on the edge of the six yard box – he could only head weakly straight into the grateful arms of Nick Hutchings.
Hayes & Yeading knew they had to score the next goal and they threw on Josh Scott at half time which very nearly paid dividends at the start of the second half when the ball fell for him on the edge of the box, but his low drive was well gathered by Hutchings.
That miss nearly proved costly shortly afterwards as they almost gifted Poole a third goal, when Nicholson presented it to Devlin 25 yards out who played in Marvin Brooks, but his effort was straight at goalkeeper Dan Lincoln.
But Brooks’ blushes were spared on 53 minutes thanks to Will Spetch, when Michael Walker’s header split the defence, and was finished off from the edge of the six yard box to surely kill off any lingering hopes of a comeback.
Well not quite, as just two minutes later Josh Scott pulled one back for the hosts when he was allowed in on goal thanks to a rare mistake from Jamie Whisken.
Dylan Kearney then curled an effort just wide before more hesitation in the Dolphin’s defence allowed Howard Hall to get to the by-line before his pullback was put behind for a corner which came to nothing.
Ehui then tried his luck from range and saw his shot deflected away for another corner, and this time they made it count – Ehui left unmarked to head home at the back post to make it 3-2 and set up a tense final quarter of an hour.
Dylan Kearney tried a drive from 30 yards which flew well over the crossbar, and the Dolphins really should have finished it off on the counter attack when Moore played in Burbridge, but his first touch let him down, and in the end he pulled it back for Devlin whose effort was deflected for a corner to eat up some valuable seconds.
With time almost up, the hosts launched one last hopeful ball into the box which was eventually cleared away as the full time whistle blew, much to the relief of the Dolphins.
In truth it should have been far more comfortable for them, and they made it hard for themselves by giving away a couple of soft goals, but they held on to secure a place in the third qualifying round.
Winning away to a conference south side certainly won’t do their confidence any harm. After all, that’s where they want to be next season.
To get there they’ll need to continue picking up points in the league on Tuesday night when they travel to struggling Bideford.
The Robins currently occupy the final relegation spot and are yet to win at home this season. They’ll also be smarting from a 7-0 hammering at Gosport in the cup on Saturday.
Elsewhere Weymouth face a tough trip to third placed Cirencester who – like Weymouth, were dumped out of the FA Cup 3-1 by Petersfied over the weekend! Weymouth are proving tough to beat this season though and Saturday’s result should give them plenty of confidence that they can come away from the game with a positive result.
And Dorchester return to action after a weekend off when they welcome Merthyr Town to the Avenue. The Welshmen have had a real mixed bag of results so far, and the Magpies will be confident of maintaining their unbeaten home record.
James Spring
