West Clubs Women’s League Premier Division 2B

WEYMOUTH LADIES 3 NEWQUAY 2

WEYMOUTH did enough to edge out Newquay in what was a tough home contest for the Seasiders.

Captain Wendy Butcher was keen to make the most of her largely available squad, with regular substitutions being a major advantage over the visitors.

Weymouth started strongly with Gina Brown and Jo Brazier working well together to provide threatening through balls to forwards Lynda Drewitt and Emily Austin.

Drewitt and Austin used their skill and experience to create numerous shooting opportunities, which certainly woke the visitors up after their long journey.

Newquay bounced back quickly and thanks to numerous astounding saves from home keeper Megan Eadon-Turner and a goal-line sweep from Alice Craven, Weymouth kept the score goalless.

A clearance from Craven then reached Butcher, who fed Austin. She outmanoeuvred the Newquay defence to open the scoring with two minutes left of the first half.

The second period saw the home side come out firing, eager to extend their lead and they did so in less than 10 minutes of returning to the pitch.

A poor clearance from a Newquay defender reached Austin’s stick who found Drewitt lurking near the back post who fired it home to give Weymouth a 2-0 lead.

With the visitors’ defence becoming strained, tension rose within the Newquay defence after a shot at goal from Katie Ninham was stopped illegally, resulting in a penalty flick. Butcher stepped up to take the flick but uncharacteristically failed to convert.

The visitors responded quickly to this and a quick break saw them reduce the deficit to 2-1.

Butcher immediately redeemed herself and slotted home a straight strike from a polished Weymouth short corner routine to make the scoreline 3-1.

The visitors made a last-ditch attempt to reduce the difference and this time were successful.

Player of the match: Megan Eadon-Turner

Channel Division Two

SALISBURY V 0 WEYMOUTH LADIES II 1

ISSIE Gilliver scored the only goal of the game to send Weymouth to third spot in the table.

The Seasiders started strongly as the ball was moved up to the D by some quick link passes between Olivia Culbreth and Claire Thomasson, with Sonya Hughes’ reverse stick strike just missing.

Salisbury made some counter-attacks which the Weymouth defence cleared. Bernie John made some excellent tackles bringing the ball back up for Weymouth to attack.

After the break, Daena Shah passed the ball Gilliver, who beat a couple of Salisbury defenders and hit the ball cleanly into the left-hand side of the goal, surprising the Salisbury defence to make it 1-0.

In search of a response, Salisbury put pressure on the Weymouth defence with some attacking moves and gained a penalty corner. Weymouth’s new goalkeeper, Ellie Goff, made an excellent save to prevent an equaliser.

The Seasiders managed to hold out to the end despite some imposed changes to the line-up due to injury and gained a vital win.

Player of the match: Jodie Stone