WIMBORNE & COLEHILL v WEYMOUTH

MATT Lawes stands in as skipper for Weymouth’s Premier One encounter with Wimborne & Colehill tomorrow (1pm), as the Seasiders are forced into making a number of changes to the side that beat Ferndown Wayfarers last time out.

Lawes, who led Weymouth during the 2013 campaign, takes charge of the team with captain Kieron Womble one of several players unavailable for the trip to The Leaze.

Will McKay, Dean Janaway and Sami Rathnayake are also missing for the visitors, while Dan Hutchens and Neil Walton remain on the sidelines.

However, Weymouth can call on Paul Payne, Simon Browne and, for one match, Jonny Armfield.

A combination of work, weddings and holidays mean Weymouth will have a much-changed line-up to that which saw off Ferndown at Redlands, but Womble is hoping the side can maintain their good form nonetheless.

“We have had three really good wins this season and things are looking good,” he said. “But there are a fair few changes to the side this week.

“It just happens that a lot of people are away for this one match, but we should have players back for the next fixture against Parley.

“Hopefully we can win this one at Wimborne and go into the Parley game with a lot of confidence.”

And Womble has every faith in Lawes leading again, adding: “Matt was captain last year and he is more than capable of doing the job again.

“He knows the score and has got a lot of momentum to take from the previous three games we’ve played.”

Wimborne & Colehill, champions in 2012, sit one from bottom in the league table, 19 points behind third-placed Weymouth after six games.

Assessing the opposition, who won the corresponding fixture last season, Womble said: “It’s one of those games where the team we are playing have very similar strengths to us.

“We’ve had some very good games against each other over the years and, even though they are near the bottom of the table at the moment, anyone can beat anyone in this league.”

Wimborne’s solitary success this season came at Ferndown and last Saturday they were beaten at The Leaze by Stalbridge.