Aldershot & Farnham 2-4 Weymouth

Aldershot & Farnham 2-4 Weymouth

In form Weymouth travelled to strugglers Aldershot & Farnham, who had not taken points since their first game of the season. The visitors played well throughout but it was not until the second half that they fully imposed themselves on the hosts and by the final whistle had established themselves as deserved winners.

Weymouth were again without left back Matthew Metcalfe, but Joseph Foot stood in once more to fill the gap. Similarly Daniel Bowles dropped back from midfield to centre back to cover for the injured Michael Westlake, who is likely to be out for several weeks.

The two sides had not played each other for a few seasons and the first stage of the match was as a result a cagey affair. Weymouth were relatively untroubled at the back during this period and had several chances of their own, but true to form it was their opposition that were first on the score sheet. Aldershot found their way through the Weymouth defence and a squared ball to the top of the circle was struck past keeper David Civil.

The Seasiders showed good strength of character to fight back with an equalizer with their first attack following the restart. Link up play between right back and skipper Simon Harvey and forward Luke Drewitt allowed Harvey to carry to the edge of the circle where a foul resulted in a penalty corner. Weymouth executed a well worked routine, the fifth touch of which was Christopher Fry's deflection into the backboard of the goal.

At the break Weymouth were perhaps disappointed not to lead but recent games had shown their fitness to give them more of an edge in the second half.

Weymouth took the lead fairly soon after play recommenced. They squandered their first penalty corner of the half but Patrick May made no mistake with the second and fired his drag flick into the top right corner. The visitors were now dominating and finally gained a two goal cushion and doubled their lead with a goal from midfield Matthew Lawes who connected with low reverse hit tight into the bottom left corner of the Aldershot goal.

The Seasiders then exposed themselves to a slightly uneasy spell after Foot was sin binned for breaking down play within 5 metres of an opposition free hit. During this period Aldershot grabbed a goal back with a penalty stroke awarded when a ball was deemed to be on target as it struck last man Steven Membury's foot. Aldershot may have got on to create further chances on goal were it not for some important tackles made by the stand in centre back Bowles.

Foot returned to the field but with a hamstring strain, however an injury to forward Andrew Stiles meant that a substitution wasn't available. Thankfully May then completed his brace to restore a comfortable lead and settle any Weymouth nerves. The goal came from an excellent pass from the middle of the pitch by Bowles which picked out Sam Drewitt by the left post. Drewitt, put under immediate pressure by the Aldershot goalkeeper squared a pass to May who squeezed a shot past his marker. The renewed lead allowed the Seasiders to see of the remainder of the game without much trouble.

This Saturday Weymouth will host Havant, a team with a similar record this season. Now 5th in the table, Weymouth will hope that a win will cause them to move a place or two higher, given that 3rd and 4th placed Salisbury and Bournemouth also meet this Saturday. Push back is at 2pm at Redlands Sports Centre and, as usual, support is much appreciated.

Man of the match - Daniel Bowles

Goals - Christopher Fry, Patrick May x 2, Matthew Lawes

Green Cards - Samuel Drewitt
Yellow Cards - Joseph Foot