WEYMOUTH 4
Lovell 2, Laws, Housley
TONBRIDGE ANGELS 1
WEYMOUTH climbed to third place in the Dr Martens Southern Division table with a thumping 4-1 victory over bottom club Tonbridge Angels.
It was a good day for Steve Lovell, who produced his best performance yet for the Terras on his way to grabbing two goals, and also for Neil Housley, who tucked away his first goal of the season.
Lovell said: “It was a very enjoyable game and I was particularly pleased with my second goal.
“It takes a while to get used to everybody and the way the manager wants you to play but I am delighted with the way it went today.”
He added: “We always looked good on the break and always looked like scoring goals, but we perhaps let them have too much time on the ball in the first half.
“Even though Tonbridge were bottom of the league they came and had a real go at it. It was not until the third goal went in that we could relax and play the way we wanted to – in this league you’ve got to win the battle before you can dictate the play.”
Lovell had a good chance to open his account for the Terras as early as the seventh minute, when David Laws floated in a fine cross to where he was unmarked in front of goal but his glancing header swirled wide.
But he made no mistake in the 15th minute when man of the match Nick Flory took a free kick just out the box on the goal-line and Lovell was once again given plenty of space and nodded the ball home.
Disallowed
After a brief and ineffectual fightback from Tonbridge, Laws found the back of the net with a head midway through the half but referee Carver had spotted a foul on goalkeeper Joe Radford and disallowed the goal.
And Laws went close on another two occasions only to be denied by some swift defending before the half time whistle sounded.
Coming into the match the Angels had only conceded 11 goals in 10 games but this figure went up again four minutes after the break.
Housley and Mark Robinson combined to get the ball in the box, Lee Bradford’s header was not full cleared and Laws sent the ball to the right of the sole defender on the line.
Despite their predicament Tonbridge refused to lie down and got themselves back into the game on 55 minutes when Craig Wilkins rose above the Weymouth defence to head home a deep Wayne Balmer corner.
But this time the Terras were not going to let it slip – on the hour Housley made a wonderful run from the centre line, cut into the box and with a glimmer of his old confidence, skipped over a flailing defender and tucked in his shot perfectly.
Minutes later Ian Hutchinson, in breathtaking form, intercepted a bad pass and produced a well flighted cross which the charging Darren Powell just failed to contact with.
But it was Lovell who was to round off the scoring – Flory dashed clear on the left and sent over a superb cross for the seasoned striker to send into the back of the net.
Weymouth: Myers, Powell, Flory, Browne, Bradford, Mason, Robinson, Hutchinson, Lovell, Laws, Housley.
Unused subs: Waldock, Carr, Jackson.
Attendance: 712