WEYMOUTH LADIES 2 BRISTOL LADIES UNION 2

WEYMOUTH Ladies continued their remarkable improvement in the South West Premier Division with a well-earned draw against Bristol Ladies Union.

On the face of it, a draw against one of the top teams in the South West of England was a great achievement, but the result could and probably should have been even better.

Weymouth, who are sponsored by Cafe Oasis, welcomed back Bryony Webb and Emma Acott, who replaced the unavailable Karen Perkins and last week’s player-of-the-match Annie Redding.

On a perfect pitch at Weymouth College, the home side soon settled into their high-tempo game and Bristol were having difficulty coping with wave after wave of attacks.

Unfortunately, after 15 minutes, influential striker Georgia Rogers then suffered a pulled muscle, which put her out of the rest of the game, but this did not deter Weymouth, who took a deserved lead soon after.

Jess Turk sped away down the right and when her precise cross found Shannon Peaty, she did the rest with a fine finish to beat Northern Ireland Youth international keeper Katie Farrell, who was left with no chance.

Things then went from good to even better a few minutes later when Peaty scored her second.

This time she beat Farrell from 30 yards to put her side into dreamland at 2-0 up.

However, that effort seemed to spark a reaction out of Bristol and a combination of them upping their game and Wey-mouth’s youngsters taking their foot off the pedal, saw the momentum change.

It resulted in a breakaway goal just before half-time, which cut the deficit back down to one and set up an intriguing second half.

Weymouth knew they were in a fight now and, 15 minutes into the second half, they conceded again when a corner was somehow bundled over the line.

The Terras could have easily buckled at that point but their new found resolve kicked in and to the amazement of everyone watching, they came back stronger and went on to dominate the final half-hour.

Turk and Webb had the best of the chances to win it but unfortunately for the hosts, they could not quite make their pressure tell.

Weymouth can be immensely proud of their performance, which saw Peaty take the plaudits with two great goals and Molly Hyde, pictured, pick up the player of the match award for her fantastic display at the heart of the defence.

Next up for the Ladies is another home game at Weymouth College tomorrow (2pm) when they entertain championship-chasing Downend Flyers.