Weymouth lead cut to a point after Poole draw

POOLE TOWN 1

Moore 21

WEYMOUTH 1

C Brooks 1

WEYMOUTH will take a one-point lead into the final day after a 1-1 draw at Poole Town in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South.

Taunton came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 to silence the Terras fans, who had been delirious with Merthyr leading 2-0 midway through the second half.

In truth, the Terras deserved to draw but the Dolphins missed numerous golden chances.

Weymouth made two changes as Ashley Wells and Cameron Murray came in for Josh Wakefield and Yemi Odubade.

Poole meanwhile, saw Marvin Brooks in the starting team to face his brother Calvin who started the match for Weymouth.

Calvin Brooks sent the considerable Weymouth contingent into delirium after he broke forward and got past Poole goalkeeper Luke Cairney to slot in with 15 seconds on the clock.

Further chances came when Abdulai Baggie broke and slammed a swerving effort against the post, before he narrowly failed to break through again soon after.

Yet this was not a good reflection of the half, as Poole spent the vast majority on the attack.

Corners and balls forward rained in, forcing Weymouth to be on the defensive for vast swathes of the first half.

After 10 minutes, James Constable fired wide for the Dolphins.

Soon after there were angry scenes as Moore fouled Calvin Brooks and received a yellow card.

During the fiery aftermath, Marvin Brooks was lucky not to see yellow for a shove on Wells.

The equaliser came after 22 minutes, after a poor pass from Sam Sherring helped Moore get through, before curling a brilliant effort in from the edge of the box.

Grange shot over after 31 minutes and the visitors were looking badly in need of the break.

Two minutes later, the Dolphins should have been ahead.

A dangerous corner was swung in, the ball nodded against the bar, before Marvin Brooks headed over.

Calvin Brooks was proving dangerous for the Terras, their best outlet by far in the first half.

The Terras improved late on in the half and an attack was only ended by a foul from Thomson, while Baggie was cynically fouled by Jake Smeeton when he was breaking away, with a yellow card shown to the Poole man.

After the break, the Terras were much improved.

Thomson fired in early shot straight at Cairney, while Brandon Goodship inside the box saw a deflected shot go wide.

Sherring then made amends for his earlier mistake with a fantastic clearance off the line to deny Poole, with most of the crowd expecting a goal.

Marvin Brooks then headed against the post soon after as Poole nearly took the lead again after 54 minutes.

It was an even half and Thomson almost got through, but his resulting shot was tame and at Cairney.

Moore was then fortunate not to see yellow when he made a late challenge on Baggie but he escaped punishment.

The biggest drama then came from Somerset as Taunton went a goal down, to the delirium of the away fans.

The mood was only buoyed further as Merthyr doubled their lead nine minutes later.

At Poole, a home cross narrowly failed to find a target as the Dolphins went close after a quiet spell.

Moments later Taunton had made up the ground, equalising and dampening the Weymouth fans’ spirits.

Marvin Brooks was receiving heavy-handed treatment from the visitors, with Jake McCarthy seeing yellow for a foul, and Thomson being spoken to shortly after.

Marvin Brooks nearly scored moments later, but saw his shot and the follow-up superbly blocked away to safety.

The Terras appealed for a penalty after 85 minutes, with Thomson going down inside the box but it was waved away.

Weymouth were living dangerously and Bedford again went close with a shot from inside the box.

Yet substitute Josh McQuoid then got through but Cairney ran out and claimed the ball.

Cairney then did well to save a low swerving shot from Jordan Ngalo.

Taunton’s ex-Terra Matt Buse scored as the Peacocks led 3-2, killing the atmosphere in the Weymouth camp as their lead at the top was cut.

Weymouth host Farnborough on Saturday (3pm).

Poole Town: Cairney, Dixon, Smeeton, Leslie-Smith, Whisken, Grange (Clarke 69), Griffin, Moore, Constable (Scrimshaw 61), M Brooks, Bedford. Subs not used: Spetch, Hanfrey, Boote

Terras: McHale, Wells (Odubade 68), Ngalo, Sherring, Zubar, McCarthy, C Brooks, Murray, Thomson, Goodship, Baggie (McQuoid 85). Subs not used: Wakefield, Martin, Baker.

Attendance: 1,596