Aldershot and Farnham II 2 – 4 Weymouth

Weymouth continued their title charge with a 4 – 2 win against a tough opposition.

The match started of with both sides playing poor hurried hockey. With neither team able to get control of the game early on, both teams continued to lose possession and give away silly fouls.

Weymouth grabbed a hold of the game when former skipper Ben Thomas came off the bench to hold the ball up and start creating chances in the final third of the pitch. This creativity led to Weymouth’s first goal.

Thomas picked the ball up just inside the opposition’s half and carried the ball towards the home side’s defenders. Thomas then played an aerial ball over the advancing defender for Patrick May, Weymouth’s top goal scorer with 34 goals in 14 games, to run onto. As May hit the circle, he drilled a cross into the back post for in form winger Sam Drewitt to bundle home.

Weymouth’s second quickly followed from an almost identical pass across the face of the goal, this time from Steve Membury, for Drewitt to slide home his second.

These goals led to arguably some of the best hockey played by Weymouth this season. This domination left Ben Thomas to finish off a superb move, when the away side passed through the home side’s defence with clinical precision.

The start of the second half was again a stuttered start from Weymouth with Aldershot coming flying out of the blocks. Aldershot won a short corner in the opening minutes and scored with a well work routine that somehow crept under Dukes’ pads.

Almost instantly Aldershot created another goal scoring opportunity. With a reverse stick shot coming from the top of the circle Dan Dukes made an uncharacteristic error. As the shot looked to be going with Dukes threw out his hands to cover the shot and the ball took a wicked deflection off of his outstretched stick and deflected into the net.

The game second half became a scrappy affair again after Aldershot’s two quick goals. With the game struggling to flow another flash of brilliance from Ben Thomas the game was all but over with Weymouth scoring their fourth. Another mazy run, from midway in Aldershot’s half, led to Thomas beating three players and slotting the ball between the keeper’s legs.

Skipper Dan Dukes said “After a superb end to the first half it was a shame we conceded two poor goals. We’ll be looking for a clean sheet next week and another comprehensive victory!”

Lazy Lizard Man of the Match: Matthew Underhill
DOTD: Dan Dukes