FOOTBALL: Latest youth football round-up

WEYMOUTH 3

BRANKSOME UTD 2

WEYMOUTH progressed to the Dorset Cup final after substitute Sam Bosworth, making only his second appearance following a broken leg, scored a powerful header to settle the semi-final with Branksome United.

Weymouth started brightly and the strength and pace of Hillyar and Martin up front caused all sorts of problems for the visitors.

Branksome went closest to scoring early on when home keeper Townley brilliantly palmed a strong cross shot away from the top corner.

Another rapid Weymouth attack saw Martin brought down as he cut in on goal and Danny Way fired home the resulting spot kick.

Weymouth lost the unlucky George Christopher to injury, and their rearguard of Joe Watters, Charlie Rogers, Josh Stroud and Josh Crocker then came under increasing pressure but dealt with Branksome's strength superbly.

The solid platform allowed the Weymouth forwards to keep threatening and Martin nipped in to beat the keeper to a ball across the box and double the lead before half-time.

The second period saw the visitors mount a strong fight back despite the resolute home defence, now reinforced by Ben Graham, and with 20 minutes left they broke through to pull one back.

With ten minutes left a strong Branksome shot crept in despite a great effort from Townley. Weymouth refused to wilt and driven forward by Way, Max Ironside, Ryan Baldwin and Liam Thompson they turned the balance of play around.

With only a minute left a clever short corner saw Josh Stroud fire in a cross and substitute Sam Bosworth powered home a header for a spectacular winner.

Under-13 Division Three

WESSEX EAGLES 2

WEYMOUTH VICTORIA 7

A FINE second-half performance saw Victoria claim the bragging rights in this top-of-the-table clash.

The first period started with the Eagles taking the initiative and with only two minutes gone Aiden Richards slotted home calmly from ten yards.

Victoria soon reversed matters and 15 minutes later they levelled through Michael Revell. Connor Wardlaw then put the visitors ahead before the Eagles struck back through Richards' powerful strike to make it 2-2.

Both teams continued to battle but it was Victoria who went into the break ahead thanks to a second from Wardlaw.

That strike seemed to give the visitors the lift they needed and in the second half they dominated. Revell and Max Harris both struck to make it 5-2 before Wardlaw completed his hat-trick.

The Eagles now looked downhearted and after Parsons hit the upright Revell completed his treble to wrap up the result.

Eagles' Man of the Match: Elliot Short

Boissé Man of the Match: Connor Wardlaw.

Under-12 Division One

WEYMOUTH TERRAS 0

POOLE BOROUGH 1

A STRIKE early in the second half settled a closely contested match in Poole's favour.

The decisive goal came from a right wing cross which was converted into the top corner beyond Terras' goalkeeper Jordan Frederick.

The Terras could not reply despite an excellent team effort.

The best chance of the first half came to Poole shortly after kick off when an early shot hit the bar.

With both teams then enjoying good spells of possession it was difficult to see which would break the deadlock.

The Terras defence of Alex Mason, Lewis Martin, Joe Higginbotham and Harry Holland gave good protection to stand-in goalkeeper Frederick.

Under-11 Division Three

DORCHESTER PANTHERS 3

PARKSTONE 1

TWO excellent second-half strikes from Jacob Lee and Dan Manley helped the Panthers grab some breathing space at the top of the table and with other results going their way the title is now a big possibility.

The Panthers put constant pressure on their opponents but it was not until after ten corners and several good saves that they finally broke the deadlock by forcing a Parkstone defender to put through his own net.

Lee was a threat throughout down the left flank but to their credit the visitors held out to ensure they only trailed by one at the break.

Tyler Hindley, Chris Harrison, Patrick Johannes, Kieran Clewett and keeper Ben Skidmore also did well for the hosts.

In the second half the Panthers once again started stronger with Milo Shackleford and Matt Peart showing great energy but Parkstone withstood the pressure before engineering a shock leveller on the break.

The away side enjoyed five minutes of dominance after they scored but Hindley and Harrison marshalled the Town defence well to stop their side from falling behind.

Dorchester began to regain their composure and they soon took the lead again thanks to a great effort by Lee.

The impressive youngster went on one of his trademark runs and this time applied a superb, unstoppable finish into the roof of the net.

Parkstone continued to battle but when Manley latched on to a bouncing ball and cracked a shot beyond the visiting keeper for the home side's third it was enough to kill off their opponents' resolve.

Wyndhams' Man of the Match: Chris Harrison.

Under-14 Division One

DORCHESTER MAGPIES 3

WAREHAM RANGERS 0

Dorchester continued their good form by beating Wareham in the county town. The Magpies were rewarded within minutes of the kick off. Howard Smith pounced on a poor clearance by the visitors' keeper and finished with aplomb.

The home side played with confidence for the remainder of the first half but could not convert their chances.

The defensive line-up of Roch, Bailey, Quinton and Hewitt stood firm with Wareham finding it hard to get near the host team's goal.

The second half saw Dorchester continue to control the game spreading the ball wide to Osborn and Lloyd thus opening up the play in the middle of the park.

It wasn't long before the Magpies were two up, Jamie Symes receiving the ball and hitting a superb long-range shot that went over the keeper and dip just under the bar.

The home side's third goal was a bit controversial. Joe Hallet met a cross and his shot seemed to have been cleared off the line.

However, the assistant referee had adjudged it to have crossed the line and a goal was given.

The last quarter saw Wareham put up a strong fight back but Eddie May in the Magpies' goal made some superb saves.

Magpies' Man of the Match: Eddie May

Under-14 Division Three

DORCHESTER STARS 3

DORCHESTER DYNAMOS 3

THE honours were even in the county town derby as the Stars and the Dynamos shared an enth-ralling draw.

The Dynamos fought back to take a 2-1 lead but the Stars equalised late in the first half.

The teams could not be separated in the second period, with each scoring a further goal.

The home side started confidently but were nearly caught out when the Dynamos broke quickly and hit the post.

From the resulting corner the Stars counter attacked with Luke Gatehouse finding Tomlin who put Nick Beale in for the first goal.

The Dynamos replied when an unmarked Cole converted a well-taken corner. They took the lead following a defensive mix up and their forward fired in.

The Stars responded when Beale was bundled over and Matt Fry scored the resulting penalty.

The second half saw the Stars pushing forward but the Dynamos looked dangerous on the break.

On one fast counter-attack, the Stars failed to challenge the Dynamos' attacker in the penalty box and the visitors were again in the lead.

A second penalty was awarded for Stars when Fry was challenged and he calmly slotted in his second.

There was still time for a winner and both sides went close with Gatehouse's long-range shot going inches over just before the end.

Dorchester Stars' Man of the Match: Luke Gatehouse

Under-10 County Cup Semi-final

POOLE TOWN 5

BRIDPORT JUNIORS 1

BRIDPORT crashed out of the County Cup as they were outplayed by a dominant Poole Town. The visitors were under par with several of the players suffering with a virus. The Poole team took an early lead but the Bees came back with Freddie Woolner equalising. However, Poole outplayed the visitors with some fine passing and subsequently the lead grew to finish 5-1 to dump Bridport out of the competition.

Under-11 Division Three

Weymouth Eagles 1

Bridport 2

DAVID Persey saved a last-gasp penalty to complete a fantastic fight back for Bridport.

The Bees went behind midway through the first half despite dominating possession but hit back on the stroke of half-time through Conal Judd-English.

They continued to dictate play in the second half, edging ahead through Zac Hawker before Persey had the final say and successfully protected the three points.

Daniel Gibbons, Callum Pattinson, Thomas Jones and Ryan Gall were all in fine form.

Man of the match: David Persey

Under-9 Section Two

WEYMOUTH COLTS 2

POOLE TOWN 2

AFTER last week's jubilation from their win, the Colts were brought back to earth by a well organised Poole side.

Most of the first half belonged to the visitors who continually attacked the Colts' goal and stout defending held them at bay until shortly before half-time when they took the lead.

However, this was short-lived as the Colts fought back and made it all square at the break with a fine goal from Connor Moore.

Poole continued to dominate in the second period and despite good saves and brave defending the Colts could not contain the visitors and they eventually bagged a second goal.

This looked to be the winner but the Colts' never-say-die attitude earned them the equaliser after a shot deflected in off a Poole player with just a couple of minutes to go.

The Colts held on and grabbed a deserved point.

Colts' Man of the Match: Lewis Cockram

Under-9 Section One

Weymouth 6

Dorchester Gladiators 1

WEYMOUTH hit the Gladiators for six in the second half, this despite being a goal down at the interval.

Dorchester started the brighter and forced four consecutive corners and they took the lead when breaking away from a Terras corner.

Weymouth came out determined for the second period and were awarded a penalty for handball.

Luke Yardley stepped up and made no mistake for the equaliser.

The home side took the lead when Billy Hicks struck past the Gladiators' keeper.

Great defending from Stuart Cookson saw him find Ben Sanders who sidestepped a defender and put Conor Davis in whose shot slipped through into the corner.

Weymouth were now fully on top and Rhys Lucas chasing a lost cause found Hicks whose shot deflected in for 4-1.

Next came the goal of the game. Cookson found Yardley who passed to Lucas and sent Sanders away. His turn and pass were superb allowing Davis time and space to control and smash home Dorchester then came back into the game and Dempsey in the Weymouth goal made two great saves to keep them out.

Just before the whistle Hicks sealed his hat-trick when he smashed the ball straight back over the keeper to make it 6 -1.

Man of the Match: Rhys Dempsey

Under-8 Section One

WEYMOUTH TERRAS 1

SHERBORNE TOWN 2

IN A riveting match, the Terras went ahead in the opening seconds but conceded two goals by half-time and couldn't claim a point despite a furious onslaught in the second half.

Straight from the first whistle Moses Lewis took possession for Dylan Jenkins to finish the manoeuvre with a superb goal to put the Terras ahead.

Jenkins saw another attempt parried by Sherborne keeper Jack Willey.

The visitors hit back from a corner which was punched away by Terras keeper Scott Gair but the rebound was deftly placed by Sherborne striker Ollie Gittins.

Just before half-time Jack Williams made an impressive drive through the Terras' defence to slot home a second for Sherborne.

There followed an exciting second half with several attempts at a third by Adam Harris, but the Terras' defence held strong.

Weymouth showed some inspired teamwork in the closing moments as Joe James and Haydon Parker made a worthy attempt to even the score but Sherborne kept them at bay to hold on for victory.

Hopes fading for Wanderers

Under-12 Division Two

LYTCHETT 5

WEYMOUTH WANDERERS 3

THIS defeat at the hands of Lytchett effectively ended the Wanderers' hopes of promotion.

It was a crazy 15-minute spell in the first half which did the damage as the hosts ran up a 4-0 lead. Wanderers started much the better of the two sides, and hit a post early on and saw another shot saved.

Lytchett stormed back with good football, but dreadful defending in and around their own penalty area by the Wanderers contributed hugely to the half-time deficit.

Manager Paul Hutton's half-time talk called for more pride and passion in the Wanderers' game, coupled with some tactical changes.

In a much better second half, Wanderers' keeper Sam Dalkins made a penalty save, but could do nothing to stop another spot-kick minutes later.

Now trailing 5-0, Wanderers never gave up and created numerous chances.

Eventually Jamie Dalkins got on the end of a Gair cross for a deserved goal, and then the latter scored his first ever goal for the club with a close range shot.

Zac Richards scored with a right-foot shot to make the score 5-3 and it was all Wanderers at the end.

Man of the Match: Harry Tucker

Under-11 Division Three

WEYMOUTH WANDERERS 1

SHAFTESBURY 1

A SAM Hull goal ten minutes from time was enough to take a share of the points for Wanderers and continue their recent run of good form.

Both teams started brightly but it was Shaftesbury who looked the more threatening and they went ahead on nine minutes after a mix-up in the home defence left an easy tap in.

Wanderers responded well and nearly equalised when Oscar Lawlor shot wide from the edge of the box.

Luke Knight and Ed Barber were strong in the home defence, but only a great save from Wanderers' goalkeeper Ryan Jolly denied Shaftesbury going two up just before the break as both teams created good chances.

The second half was as competitive as the first and the visitors were unlucky when two efforts hit the crossbar.

Wanderers should have levelled when first Hull and then Billy Lively saw their shots go wide. Both teams continued to attack but Wanderers were not to be denied and after good link up play by Kyle Shapcott and Lawlor they worked the ball to Lively.

His threaded pass found Hull who coolly rounded the keeper and slotted in the corner for the equaliser.

Under-15 Division Two

TWYNHAM 3

BRIDPORT 0

BAD luck in front of goal contributed to Bridport's second successive defeat.

The visitors could not cope with Twynham's physical approach and slip back one place in the league, but could still finish better than last season with a good run over the next five games.

There was little of distinction in the match as Twynham prevented Bridport from playing in their usual passing style and their route one philosophy eventually paid dividends as Bridport tired.

Once again a commanding performance from Tom Knott saw him gain another man of the match award.

Under-14 Division Two

Bridport 4

Durweston 2

TITLE favourites Bridport maintained their unbeaten record with a strong display against a physical Durweston side.

The Bees were outsized in stature but not in talent and took the lead from a fine Dan Tolman strike.

Brandon Scadding volleyed them further ahead before Durweston hit back after the break.

A brilliant strike from Charlie Bell restored a two-goal cushion and spurred on by superb performances in midfield from Dan Brown and Billy Fleet he added a second before the final whistle.