Weymouth produced easily their best performance of the season so far as they romped to a comfortable 3-0 victory at third placed Cirencester Town on Tuesday night.
Having come from behind to beat Hungerford at the weekend, Jason Matthews named an unchanged side, but there was no such luxury for Cirencester who were missing a host of players through injury.
But it was they who produced the first chance of the game when Ollie Knight’s effort was comfortably saved by Matthews.
Minutes later George Rigg had Weymouth’s first chance when he broke clear and forced a good save from goalkeeper Glyn Garner, before a Terras free-kick from around 25 yards fizzled just wide, as Weymouth gradually began to get on top.
They were moving the ball around really well, and they were inches away from breaking the deadlock when Stewart Yetton pounced on some rather lackluster defending and fired a shot against the post, before Adam Kelly tried his luck from range and forced a stunning save from Garner, and Chris McPhee saw a header fly just wide of the post.
Weymouth were well on top, and they finally made their pressure count after 38 minutes when Ben Thomson latched onto Jake Wannell’s cross. His shot took a deflection and bounced over the keeper into the net to give the Terras a thoroughly deserved lead going into half time.
Cirencester made a bright start to the second half but the closest they came was when Charlie Griffin blazed well over the bar, before a moment of magic from Jake Wannell put the Terras in control.
The ball fell out of the night sky, and Wannell was in the right place at the right time to fire a stunning volley from all of 25 yards beyond the despairing reach of Garner into the corner to double the lead eight minutes into the second half.
Weymouth were cruising, and their ever strong back-line was doing a superb job of keeping the Centurions normally prolific strike force quiet.
Cirencester were on the ropes, and with fifteen minutes left Chris Shephard came on in place of Thomson to land the knockout blow.
Calvin Brooks set off on a surging run forwards and teed up Shephard who fired a half volley home with just his second touch since coming on to seal it for the visitors.
The only thing that could possibly have made it a better evening for Weymouth would’ve been a goal for Stewart Yetton, but despite his best efforts it simply won’t go in for him at the minute.
Having hit the post in the first half, he was left cursing the woodwork again late on when his effort from close range cannonned back off the crossbar and away to safety.
But it couldn’t take the shine off of what was a stunning performance from the Terras and a magnifficent three points. They dominated from start to finish, and played the type of football that took them to the top of the table at the end of 2014.
It’s now five games unbeaten in the league for Weymouth, who still possess the league’s best defensive record, and the goals are finally beggining to flow.
The win takes them up to third in the table – ahead of their two Dorset neighbours who enjured mixed fortunes.
Poole Town managed to grind out a 2-1 victory away to Bideford, who had drafted in a couple of ex Terras in Ed Palmer and Ben Gerring as their injury crisis mounted.
The Dolphins took the lead in somewhat controversial fashion ten minutes before the break when Luke Burbridge latched onto a through ball and fired home amid strong protests from the hosts that he had used a hand to control the ball in the build up. But their protests fell on death ears and the Dolphins went into the break a goal to the good.
The referee certainly wasn’t endearing himself to the home side, and he compounded their frustrations further eleven minutes into the second half when he dissalowed Matt Hockley’s equaliser for a foul on goalkeeper Nick Hutchings.
This was a fixture the Dolphins won 6-0 last season but this was a much closer contest, and they had to wait until five minutes from time to give themselves a two goal cushion when Michael Walker snuck in at the back post to head home Steve Devlin’s corner.
But the comfort of the two goal cushion didn’t last long, as Bideford pulled one back two minutes later.
The referee ruled that one of the Poole wall had handled Ed Palmer’s free-kick, and Palmer fired home at the second attempt to halve the arrairs. But they were unable to force an equaliser, and Poole held on to secure a fourth away win of the season.
Meanwhile it was a frustrating night for Dorchester who were made to settle for a draw by ten man Merthyr Town at the Avenue.
The Magpies were missing Ayunga, Walker, Smeeton and Tarbuck, and in truth it showed as they lacked that spark going forwards.
Despite that it was the Magpies who came closest to breaking the deadlock in a somewhat uneventful first half, when Merthyr keeper Tom Bradley produced a stunning point blank save from Tony Lee’s diving header at the back post five minutes before the break.
The game really came to life in the second half though.
It was Merthyr who took a surprise lead just six minutes into the second half when a free-kick into the box was only half cleared, and it fell to Spannish striker Guillem Bauza who drilled a powerful shot into the back of the net.
It could’ve been 2-0 straight from the restart but Tony Lee put his body on the line to block Ryan Prosser’s volley to deflect it wide.
That block proved even more signifficant on 57 minutes when – out of nothing, Dorchester equalised.
Nick Crittenden broke down the right and drilled a cross in which struck the arm of the sliding Ashley Evans, leading to a spot kick which was calmly dispatched by Charlie Davis to pull the hosts level.
It was turning into a fiesty affair, and it began to boil over just past the hour mark when Merthyr’s Ryan Prosser appeared to elbow Tony Lee, and once the ensuing 22 man fracass had been broken up – he saw a straight red card, leaving the Welshmen with 25 minutes to hold out a man light.
But despite going a man down, Merthyr actually looked the more likely side to score, although they were limited to efforts from range which failed to really test Shane Murphy.
Dorchester huffed and puffed but didn’t create a clear cut chance – player-manager Mark Jermyn coming closest when he headed wide from a corner late on, and they were made to settle for a point. A frustrating result having played ten men for the last 25 minutes, but not the end of the world given the players they were missing. And they remain unbeaten at home this season.
They will hope to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they travel to 15th placed Chesham United. United have been extremely inconsistant so far this season, and have only managed three league wins so far, so the Magpies will be confident of picking up a positive result.
Poole Town face a tough test at home to sixth placed Redditch United, whilst for Weymouth Saturday will be a special occasion as they celebrate their 125th anniversary at home to struggling Bedworth United.
The Terras will be wearing their famous 70s kit to commemorate the occasion, and there will even be some 70s pre-match music for a bit of nostalgia!
As far as the match itself is concerned – Bedworth have found it tough to adapt to life back in the Southern Premier league, but they finally moved off the bottom of the table on Tuesday after a thumping 3-0 win at home to Kings Lynn.
But Weymouth’s performance on Tuesday night suggests everything is beggining to click together, and they will be extremely confident of picking up another three points and making it a perfect week.
James Spring
