Weymouth show fight to earn St Neots win

WEYMOUTH rode out a late spell of pressure to beat ten-man St Neots Town 2-1 at Rowley Park in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier.

Brandon Goodship had put the visitors into a fifth-minute lead following a fine move, finishing from Harry Baker’s accurate pass.

Matt Tubbs then saw a goal chalked off for offside before the break, but Weymouth added a second when Goodship returned the compliment for Baker with a superb ball, allowing the striker to fire home.

St Neots pulled a goal back with a little under 30 minutes remaining through Johnny Herd.

But the Terras held firm to withstand a serious examination in the closing stages and secure their fourth straight win after Saints’ midfielder Kyran Wiltshire saw red for a second yellow.

Weymouth manager Mark Molesley named an unchanged starting XI to the one that began the 6-2 victory over Farnborough on Wednesday.

There was only one change to the Terras’ matchday squad as a whole, with Antonio Diaz coming in for the suspended Sean Stewart. Ben Thomson, Toby Down, Josh Wakefield and Joe Prodomo kept their places on the bench.

For the Saints, Luke Knight was suspended, while Ryan Horne missed out through injury.

That meant there were places in the home starting line-up for Tom Wood and Liam McDevitt.

After a bright opening from the hosts, which saw them enjoy the majority of possession, Weymouth scored with their first shot on target following a patient move.

The Terras were able to work the ball deep into St Neots’ half, tapping passes around in the area, before Baker picked out Goodship to lash home low into the bottom corner on five minutes.

St Neots responded to the concession of that goal by deploying a series of long throws, which created two chances.

Firstly, the Saints fashioned an opening at the back post which was harmless, before Johnny Herd’s long throw-in forced a fine stop from Mark Travers, who moved sharply to parry away Scott Sinclair’s fizzing shot.

Weymouth saw a second goal ruled out when Goodship’s strike clattered against the post, enabling Tubbs to apply a finish from an offside position.

The Saints were not dispirited by the Terras’ clear opportunities and created one of their own only to see striker Tom Meechan fire over the bar.

At the other end, Weymouth were given an indirect free-kick but Wiltshire cleared the danger for a corner which the Saints easily dealt to limit the deficit to 1-0 at half-time.

And Molesley’s men began the second half as they did the first with a wonderfully-worked, early goal.

Goodship this time turned provider for Baker, showing the awareness to find his fellow striker with a brilliant pass.

In-form Baker then did the rest, placing a shot beyond Mike Emery in the St Neots goal to score his third goal in four days having notched a brace against Farnborough.

On the hour mark Charlie Davis tried an audacious shot from the halfway line and was unlucky to see his effort float over the bar.

But three minutes later, St Neots found a way back into the game after a lovely team move.

Moments after Dion Simbie-Ferris was denied, the Saints constructed a sequence of passes before left-back Herd applied the finishing touch to make it 2-1.

Davis almost replenished Weymouth’s two-goal cushion with a trademark free-kick, but Emery produced a diving stop to touch his shot over.

St Neots should have equalised when Simbie-Ferris put Meechan through on goal but, with only Travers to beat, he contrived to fire over the crossbar.

As the half endured, Weymouth sat ever deeper to protect their winning position and were indebted to a brave block by Ashley Wells to keep out a goalbound effort with 10 minutes remaining.

When Wiltshire received his second yellow for a foul, there was just one minute of added time to play and the Terras were able to see it out and claim a victory which saw them drop a place to sixth on goal difference after Redditch defeated St Ives 4-0.

St Neots: Emery, Herd, Parr, Wood, Bradshaw, O’Malley, Wiltshire, Sinclair, D Williams, Simbie-Ferris, Meechan. Subs not used: Butler, A Williams, McDevitt, Nurettin, Rudman

Terras: Travers, Brooks, Cooper, Wells, Buckley (Down 73), Carmichael, Davis, McCarthy, Baker (Wakefield 60), Goodship, Tubbs (Thomson 66). Subs not used: Diaz, J Prodomo

Attendance: 348