WEYMOUTH 2 BURNHAM 1

ANOTHER second-half turnaround saw Weymouth claim their fourth successive league victory, as they edged past Burnham at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Boss Jason Matthews claimed earlier this week he wanted to keep the continuity within his squad for the remainder of the season, and he was able to name an unchanged starting XI for the second game in a row.

Having started languidly against the Blues in their away clash on Saturday, the Terras came out firing early and striker Stewart Yetton had the ball in the net within the opening minute, only for the goal to be chalked off due to an offside decision.

Winger Adam Kelly also looked lively in the opening exchanges for the Terras, he cut in off the left flank with five minutes gone and forced a smart save from Adam Lawrence in the visitors’ goal.

But disaster then struck and the hosts were stunned as Burnham opened the scoring with their first effort of the contest.

Striker, Nicke Kebamba, who came on as a second-half substitute when the sides last met, shrugged his man off on the turn and fired the ball low into Matthews’ bottom corner to give his side the lead after 10 minutes.

The Terras then tried to rally with an instant response as Yetton latched on to a ball from deep and slid the pall past the goalkeeper, but his effort didn’t possess enough pace and was dug out from the six-yard box by a covering defender.

It was Burnham who then had the chance to double their lead and they let the Terras off the hook with half an hour gone, defender John Munday’s low effort was beaten away by Matthews, and scrambled clear through a melee of bodies as the frustration grew among the home fans.

Plymouth loanee Isaac Vassell then did his best to get into the game as he skipped away from his man down the left and squared the ball across goal for Kelly, only to be denied by a last-ditch challenge from Burnham skipper Ashley Smith.

After the interval, the Terras started much the brighter and nearly found an instant response.

Replicating a move that got them a goal last time out at the Gore, Vassell flicked the ball on at the near post for Kelly, who failed to find the target from five yards out.

As the hosts piled the pressure on during the second period, Yetton rose highest from a corner and looped his header on to the top of the crossbar.

But it didn’t take long for the Terras’ prolific forward to find the mark and level the game up on 55 minutes.

He latched on to a neat back heel through a sea of bodies and slotted the ball into the back of the net from close range to grab his eighth goal in seven games.

And after another half-chance for Kelly, Vassell netted his third in three games to put Weymouth ahead.

He moved sharply to race on to a perfectly-weighted pass from Steve Colwell and stroked the ball past the despairing Lawrence to give the Terras a decisive winner.

Frustration was starting to show for the visitors as they racked up the bookings in the second period and in an almost carbon copy of Saturday’s third for the Terras, Vassell was set free on the counter-attack once again.

He burst past the last defender and rounded the goalkeeper, only for his shot from the narrowest of angles to clip the far post and roll to safety.

The result means that Weymouth secured their 10th home win of the season, and sit comfortably in the Southern Premier Division’s top 10 with 55 points.

Terras: Matthews, Wells, Green, Colwell, Hutchings, Richards, Kelly, Jagger-Cane, Yetton, Rigg, Vassell. Subs not used: Poole, McClements, Sharpe, Holland, Walker.

Burnham: Lawrence, Boultwood (Abreu, 62) Stevens, Munday, Pilbeam, Smith, Couch, Lavender, Kebamba, Driver, Hippolyte. Subs not used: Mallinson

Weymouth bookings: None

Burnham bookings: Pilbeam (foul), Hippolyte (dissent), Lavender (foul), Munday (foul), Driver (foul), Kebamba (dissent).

Referee: Adam Ricketts (Bristol)

Attendance: 321