'Twins' torment sorry Magpies
By Derek Bish
WEYMOUTH put months of off-field turmoil behind them in the
best way possible as they swept aside rivals Dorchester Town
with a three-goal blitz in the first Ridgeway derby for nearly
four years.
Josh Llewellyn set up the first for Jake Reid and then scored
the second himself as the terrible twins
the nickname they were christened with by manager Ian Hutchinson
last week proved to be the difference between the two
sides.
Even though the Magpies forced 16 corners they only seriously
troubled Ryan Harrison once and Simon Radcliffe sent the travelling
fans back across the Ridgeway with their tails between their
legs with the third goal, midway through the second half.
Between 200 and 300 visiting supporters made the short trip,
swelling the gate to 1,032, and cranked the atmosphere up
at the start by unveiling a banner that read: Weymouth
a town with no history, a club with no future.
But it is Dorchester who have no future in the FA Trophy
after going down 3-0 at the Wessex Stadium in this third qualifying
round tie, leaving the home fans celebrating their neighbours
demise.
Weymouth named an unchanged starting 11, meaning the returning
trio of Chris Allen, Scott Dixon and Dean Smith were only
worth a place on the bench.
Dorchester made two changes, with Ashley Vickers returning
from suspension in place of Neil Martin, meaning Ollie Barnes
shifted across to left-back. Andre McCollin was also rewarded
with a start on the left wing, in place of fellow Yeovil loanee
Louis Lavers, following his match-changing contribution at
home to Worcester last week.
It took just 48 seconds for the first opportunity to be created,
when Radcliffes right-wing free-kick had just too much
height on it for Jordan Rose to direct it towards goal at
the back post.
The wet and windy conditions did not allow either side to
settle as the match stuttered along like a typical derby.
Dorchester struggled as much as Weymouth to create anything
and only had a deflected Mark Jermyn shot, which was followed
by two corners, to show for their endeavours.
Llewellyn tangled with Vickers when chasing a high ball,
but the only shouts for a penalty were being made by those
gathered in the Carlsberg Stand behind Regan Cowards
goal.
But the Terras front man was involved when Weymouth
made the breakthrough in the 25th minute.
Reid showed some neat skill and flicked over the top into
the right channel for Llewellyn, who held the ball up and
returned it to his onrushing strike partner. Reid barely had
to break stride before he smashed the ball beyond Coward at
his near post, much to the delight of the ecstatic home supporters.
The county town side tried to respond but Vickers missed
from two set-pieces he had a header deflected beyond
the left angle of the goal and then saw Steve Devlins
corner, which had been missed by Harrison, bounce of his legs
and wide.
Jermyn fired over after a mistake from Jamie Frampton but
the Terras full-back more than made amends with a goal-saving
tackle on Devlin.
McCollin, who swapped sides with Devlin midway through the
half, should have made himself a chance but gave the ball
straight to Slocombe when he only needed to touch it beyond
the full-back and run clear.
The Yeovil loanee was nearly made to pay when Vickers slipped,
releasing Llewellyn on the right, but Simon Radcliffe could
not make proper contact on the strikers low cross and
Coward gathered comfortably.
Rose shot straight at Coward from distance when a pass through
would have been the better option and Gary Bowles barely tested
Harrison with a similar effort.
Bowles had to be alert at the other end to block Llewellyns
shot after another slip from Vickers, but three-quarters of
the Wessex Stadium greeted the half-time whistle with a cheer.
The Magpies assistant-manager was hauled off by Roy
OBrien at half-time, to be replaced by Neil Martin,
and the visitors came out after the break with their managers
words ringing in their ears as they forced two corners inside
the opening 90 seconds.
However, they could not keep it up and Phil Walsh nearly
gifted the home side a second when Radcliffe latched on to
the defenders wayward pass across goal, but could only
blaze over.
Walsh did force Harrison into the best save of the match
when his header from Selleys corner was tipped over,
but the Terras doubled their lead thanks to a little help
from the weather.
Roses floated cross caught in the wind, deceived Coward,
came back off a post and Llewellyn was on hand to fire low
into the bottom right-hand corner an important time
to score his first goal for the club.
Weymouth needed just two more minutes to put themselves out
of sight when Ollie Barnes slipped, allowing Terra Matt Groves
to cut in from the right and square to Radcliffe.
The Terras winger had the freedom of the penalty area
to pick his spot and clip over Coward, a goal which saw tempers
flare in the stands and the Weymouth supporters start chanting,
we want eight.
Youngsters Louis Lavers and Jamie Symes, making his debut
at just 16, were thrown on for the visitors but it made little
difference, even though Symes nearly crafted a goal before
Framptons important tackle.
Weymouths Groves fired narrowly wide after exchanging
passes with Radcliffe before being replaced by Chris Allen
to a standing ovation.
Llewellyn was handed similar treatment by the Wessex Stadium
faithful, but the biggest cheer was saved for the final whistle
and the Terras left the field to rapturous applause.
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