That man Chris Shephard was on target yet again last Saturday to earn the Terras a hard fought point in a bruising encounter at St Neots Town.
Having hit a resurgent Slough Town for a six the previous week the Terras named an unchanged side, but the five hour coach trip appeared to take its toll in the first half, as the Terras struggled to get going – giving away possession far too easily on too many occasions.
The saints had a good early chance when Tom Meechan was sent clear down the right wing but his cross landed on the roof of the net. At the other end – a couple of speculative long range efforts from Copp and Kelly were the best the Terras could muster.
On twenty minutes they hosts were almost in when Meechan was again sent clean through, but goalkeeper Andrew Dawaber was quick off his line and dived bravely at the strikers feet to claim the ball.
The young Fulham goalie then showed his worth again five minutes later. Remy Gordon produced an outrageous flick over the Terras defence and Meechan beat the offside trap, only for Dawber to produce a stunning save – palming the ball behind for a corner. But the reprieve was short lived.
From the resulting corner Sweeney’s shot was blocked on the line by McPhee, but the rebound fell for Matt Mitchell-King who rifled the ball into the roof of the net to give the hosts the lead on 27 minutes.
On the half hour mark the home side were absolutely convinced they should have had a penalty when Isaac Galliford’s cross appeared to strike the arm of a defender, but the referee waved away the protests, much to the dismay of the home side who continued to plead their case at every stoppage in play for the next quarter of an hour.
Remy Gordon forced another excellent save from Dawber, whilst at the other end Mark Molesley tried his luck from the edge of the area, but his effort only troubled the travelling supporters behind the goal.
Ben Thomson was then forced off with a hamstring problem, and he was replaced by Stewart Yetton, but the hosts continued to look more likely to find the second goal.
Ryan Frater could and probably should have doubled the lead when he rose unmarked from Galliford’s corner, but headed wide of the mark in what proved to be the last action of the first half.
The Terras needed to be much better in the second half, and after an early scare when Galliford volleyed over the bar, the Terras began to settle into the game and cause their hosts some problems.
Chris Shephard used his pace to get around a defender and get a shot at goal, but St Neots goalkeeper Andrew Wilton got down well to save at his near post.
Weymouth were beginning to play some neat football, and they came within inches of an equaliser on the hour mark. Adam Kelly went on a superb run – beating three Saints players before delivering an inch perfect cross for Stewart Yetton, but the striker headed against the crossbar and the ball was hacked clear.
Billy Lowes then forced an excellent diving save from Wilton, before Molesley tried to curl one in from 30 yards, only to see his effort hit the junction of the post and bar, and St Neots somehow hung on.
But two minutes later their resistance was finally broken.
Defender Calvin Brooks set off on a run forwards and worked his way to the byline, before pulling the ball back for Chris Shephard who turned the ball home from close range to bring the Terras level.
Weymouth began to sense all three point might be there for the taking, and only another good save from Wilton denied Adam Kelly, before Tim Sills’ header from the resulting corner landed on the roof of the net.
There had been a few rough challenges going in throughout the afternoon, and five minutes from time things boiled over when Ben Jones went in hard on Jordan Copp in front of the two dugouts. Copp reacted and within seconds both sets of players and management were pushing and shoving. Once things had calmed down both Copp and Jones were given their marching orders, leaving both sides to play out the final five minutes with ten men apiece.
Chris Shephard came close to winning it for the Terras with what would have been a contender for goal of the season. He somehow danced his way around five defenders before one last ditch tackle stopped him pulling the trigger.
That proved to be the last chance of an entertaining game. On balance a draw was probably a fair result – with the hosts having dominated the first half and the Terras the second, although it must be said Weymouth certainly created the better chances and will feel somewhat frustrated not to have nicked all three points late on.
Nevertheless it’s a good point from a long away trip, and with the sides around them all dropping points they didn’t lose any ground.
They remain 15 points adrift of Poole after the Dolphins twice threw away the lead in a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Slough.
The Dolphins looked to be cruising after half an hour as goals from Jack Dickson and Will Spetch had them 2-0 up. But Slough gave themselves hope on the stroke of half time – George Hallahan finishing off a quick breakaway to halve the arrears going into the break.
Slough came out for the second half all guns blazing, and twelve minutes into the second half they completed the fightback, although it was not without controversy.
Everyone seemed to stop expecting the referee to blow for a foul on a Poole defender, but the whistle never came, and James Jepson played on and finished well into the corner of the net to make it 2-2.
Parity lasted just ten minutes though – Lee Wort restoring the Dolphins advantage after his initial effort was saved.
It looked like staying that way until two minutes from time – when a simple hopeful punt into the box happened to fall perfectly at the feet of Hallahan, and he kept his composure – firing past Hutchings to snatch a point for the visitors.
In fact it could have been even worse for Poole, when deep into injury time Slough broke with lightning pace, and Charlie Mpi missed an absolute sitter to win it for Slough.
A frustrating afternoon for Poole. They’d looked to be cruising but their normally rock solid defence went missing on this occasion, and they’ll definitely view it as two points dropped.
They remain 12 points clear of their nearest challengers Chippenham however, as the Bluebirds needed a last minute penalty to snatch a draw at Dorchester.
The Magpies had looked to be on course for all three points when Charlie Davis converted a 68th minute penalty, and the visitors had been reduced to ten men.
But in the final minute of normal time Oakley Hanger hauled down Ollie Taylor in the box leaving the referee with no choice but to award a second spot-kick, and Andy Sandell did the honours from the spot to deny Dorchester a second straight home win.
They’ll have the opportunity to take some momentum into the Boxing Day derby against Weymouth when they face Cirencester Town for the fourth time this season on Tuesday night. Cirencester have collapsed from 2nd to 18th over the last couple of months, and Dorchester will be confident of finally getting one over on the Centurions at the Avenue.
Elsewhere Poole Town welcome Hitchin Town to Tatnam. The Canneries have really snuck under the radar this season, and find themselves lurking just outside the play-offs on goal difference with games in hand on the sides around them. They’re also unbeaten in their last eight games so it promises to be a tough encounter for Poole.
James Spring
