WEYMOUTH made a slight dent in Burton Albion's promotion hopes with a fully deserved point against the Dr Martens Premier Division leaders at the Wessex Stadium.
But it could have been a lot worse for the Brewers had the depleted Terras made the most of their ample chances.
With Ryan Cross and Mathew Hare both serving one-match suspensions, home boss Andy Mason's plans were further rocked when Anthony Tilley (pelvis) and Martin Underhay (groin) both failed late fitness tests.
Former Southampton youth team captain Matthew Davies was drafted into the back three just 24 hours after signing non-contract forms with the Terras, while midfielder Michael Dean was handed only his second start in more than a month.
Albion too had their selection problems with player manager and ex-Liverpool and England star Nigel Clough ruled out by a knee injury.
Neither side was keen to set the pace early on, but the signs looked ominous after the visitors took the lead
following their first real attack on eight minutes.
Simon Browne's slip on the edge of the area allowed Dale Anderson a sight on goal, but as the Albion striker shaped to shoot, the defender was able to recover at the expense of a corner.
Adam Burley sent in the set- piece which defender Mark Blount met with a powerful header that Danny Potter seemed to have covered.
But at the critical moment Anderson added the faintest of backward flicks, which was enough to divert the ball beyond Ian Hutchinson on the goal line and into the roof of the net.
The Terras looked deci-
dedly shaky for the next ten minutes and it took a well-timed interception from John Waldock to deny Christian Moore a clear shooting opportunity following good work by the lively Anderson. And on 19 minutes it was the underside of the bar that came to their rescue after Darren Stride had beaten Potter with a rasping header.
Weymouth eventually began to knock the ball around with some purpose in midfield, but seldom did they trouble an Albion rearguard marshalled superbly by
former Nottingham Forest star Darren Wassall.
Burton should have doubled their advantage on 24 minutes when Burley scuffed a woeful free-kick straight at the base of the Terras five man wall. Somehow the ball found it's way to an unmarked Moore who managed to blaze high and wide from six yards with the goal yawning in front of him.
The Terras equaliser came on the half-hour following a quick break out of defence. Lee Phillips carried the ball forward with Hutchinson and David Laws offering him options either side.
The Plymouth Argyle man chose Laws on the right-hand edge of the penalty area and no one would have blamed the Wearsider for having a pop himself.
But instead he unselfishly squared a delightful return to Phillips who squeezed his shot between two defenders and past Matt Duke in the table-topper's goal.
Things threatened to turn ugly soon after when Waldock was dumped into his own dug out by Neil Glasser's two-footed lunge. But
fortunately a moment of high comedy from referee Mr Greening helped calm the
situation.
The bungling official quite rightly flashed a yellow card at the offender, but thinking wrongly it was his second booking, he then produced a red.
Suddenly the mistake dawned on the man in black and he quickly popped the red one back in his pocket, much to the amusement of players and spectators alike.
Burton approached the
second period like a team happy to settle for the draw and their decision to play it deep began to provide openings for both Laws and Darran Rowbotham. But it was wing-back Matthew Hale who really should have made the visitors pay for their negative tactics after Laws closed down Terry Henshaw inside the Brewers' penalty area on 59 minutes.
As both players battled for possession, the ball broke to the unmarked Hale who dragged his shot across the face of goal when scoring appeared a formality.
Three minutes later Hale was handed a chance to redeem himself when Henshaw's hooked clearance again found him in a great position some 30-yards from the target.
But with defenders closing in from all angles, he was forced to strike a first time half-volley that sailed just inches over the bar.
Burton finally sensed they could get something out of the game and substitute David Holmes held his head in his hands after a glaring miss at the far post 15 minutes from time.
At the other end Browne wasn't a million miles away with an 87th minute header, while full-back Jason Kavanagh saved the day for the Brewers' with a brilliant tackle to scupper Phillips who had his finger on the trigger.
The match ended in bizarre circumstances for the Terras after a stoppage time corner had rewarded Hale's hard work down the left.
But instead of launching the ball into the danger zone where the likes of Laws
and Rowbotham lingered, Phillips and Dean chose
to play a little game of keep ball, much to the annoyance of an animated Mason and director of football, Fred Davies.
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