Ben Thomson was on target twice in the second half on Saturday to hand Weymouth a second straight home win, but they had to ride their luck against a Stratford side who will probably still be wondering how they went away empty handed.
Stratford went into the contest without a win in eight, but just six minutes into the contest they hit the front. Ashley Wells fouled Jamie Sheldon in the box, and Richard Gregory converted the spot kick to give the visitors the perfect start.
Weymouth hadn’t got started, and they almost found themselves 2-0 down after a quarter of an hour when Jordan Copp gave the ball away to Jack Roberts who set off on a surging run from midfield, only to fire into the side netting.
It took the Terras twenty minutes to really create anything. George Rigg fired a free-kick wide, and Stewart Yetton clipped the woodwork, as the Terras finally began to get into their stride.
Ben Thomson and Mark Molesley both forced visiting goalkeeper Andy Kemp into good saves, before Yetton set up Rigg to volley narrowly wide just before the break.
After the break, Weymouth began to commit more bodies forwards which left them exposed at the back, and Stratford had numerous opportunities to double their lead.
Tyrone Fagan somehow managed to blaze his effort into the carpark from six yards out, and a few minutes later he failed to keep his free header on target. And sure enough, just past the hour mark he was made to regret those missed chances.
Chris Shephard hadn’t been on the pitch long, but his first contribution was to deliver a wonderful ball into the bath of Ben Thomson, and the big striker made no mistake to level things up.
That goal gave the home crowd a huge lift and they began to roar their side forwards. And with a quarter of an hour remaining the turnaround was completed, as Thomson pounced on a loose ball in the area following a corner, and fired home from close range to the delight of the home fans.
The Terras were on course for all three points but Stratford were not lying down, and Simeon Tulloch really should have done better when a routine ball into the box wasn’t cleared, and he fired wide from the edge of the area.
The visitors then saw their desperate pleas for a second penalty waved away late on when Cooper appeared to foul Dior Angus, as tempers began to flair in the dying minutes.
But the Terras held on to secure back-to-back victories which leave them seventh in the table, five points adrift of the play-offs after fifth placed Leamington put a dent in Poole’s promotion hopes with victory at Harbury Lane.
Ben Mackey’s 57th minute proved decisive. He helped divert Lee Wort’s shot past Hutchings for his 22nd goal of the season, and it was enough to give the Brakes all three points.
Just seven points now separate the top six sides. Poole stay top but their lead has been cut to just three points over Redditch, Chippenham and Hitchin.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Dorchester bounced back from their midweek defeat to Bideford in perfect fashion with a hard fought 2-1 victory at Kings Lynn, despite playing much of the contest with ten men.
Franklyn Clarke picked up two yellow cards in the first half, but right on the stroke of half time Nathan Walker gave the Magpies a shock lead.
They held on until the 71st minute, but then in the last minute of normal time Walker was on hand again – finishing off a counter attack to give the Magpies all three points which leave them 11th in the table, seven points off the top five.
They’ll be hoping to get their play-off push back on track this week as they face a double header against Leamington – away on Tuesday night before welcoming the Brakes to the Avenue on Saturday.
Elsewhere Weymouth will be hoping to pick up their third straight win when they travel to basement boys Bideford on Tuesday night, before another away game at Slough on Saturday.
League leaders Poole have no midweek game, but welcome relegation bound Bedworth to Tatnam on Saturday.
James Spring
