Terras thumped

EASTLEIGH 5 Smith 40, 45, McAuley 44, Forbes 52, Gillespie 90

TWO deflected strikes in a five-minute blitz at the end of the first half saw Eastleigh claim a flattering win over Weymouth at the Wessex Stadium last night.

The Terras looked solid for much of the first period but when Danny Smith converted a swift counter attack on 40 minutes the home side completely lost their way.

Two deflected goals, which saw Shaun McAuley double the lead and Danny Smith add a third on the stroke of half-time, then left the Terras dumbfounded as they returned in the second half and conceded two more through Andy Forbes and substitute Richard Gillespie.

With an encouraging attendance of 931, Weymouth’s display will be viewed as a disappointment but with the squad having been built completely from scratch during the summer this type of result in the early stages of the season was perhaps always on the cards.

Terras’ boss Matty Hale made three changes to the starting XI that began Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Lewes with Ollie Barnes and Danny Bennett replacing Matt Groves and Carl Preston, who dropped to the bench, and Tom Piotrowski making a surprise return to the club to fill in for Joe Arnold, who has a thigh injury.

Piotrowski, formerly of Team Bath, spent a spell on trial at the Wessex last month only to be released.

Another new face in the squad was 17-year-old striker Tyler Sibbick, who was named amongst the substitutes following a fine hat-trick for the reserves at the weekend.

As for Eastleigh, they included three ex-Weymouth stars in their ranks with goalkeeper Jason Matthews and Tony Taggart making the starting line-up and full back Trevor Challis grabbing a spot on the bench.

The Terras lined up in a rigid 4-4-2 formation with Barnes slipping in at left back and Martin Slocombe occupying the left wing in a midfield that included ex-Eastleigh man Andy Harris, Dean Smith and Danny Bennett.

The opening exchanges were pretty edgy with neither team able to retain possession. Instead the ball was pumped into the channels with very little reward, as both defences remained solid.

On 11 minutes the Terras forced two successive corners, which saw Kyle Critchell have a shot blocked and Scott Brice send a header wide, but other than that the quality in the final third from both sides continued to be limited.

Eastleigh did not create their first chance until the 22nd minute when Brett Poate’s cross from the left found McAuley at the far post but his header looped harmlessly over the bar.

McAuley also sent a shot from the edge of the area wide of the target a few moments later but Hale could be happy with his side’s shape and work rate, which was proving hard to break down.

Weymouth’s problem was that they were still struggling to retain possession. When they did work the ball on the floor it caused Eastleigh’s rearguard problems but all too often the final delivery into the box lacked direction.

A breakthrough from either side was looking unlikely until five minutes before the interval when the visitors caught the Terras on the counter attack.

With Harris and Dean Smith both having bombed forward Eastleigh took advantage of the extra space and when McAuley slipped in the unmarked Danny Smith, he fired the ball past Ryan Harrison.

Moments later, Ben Reiffer replaced the injured Dean Smith but Weymouth had now lost their shape and in the closing stages of the half the Spitfires cruelly punished them with two more goals from outside the area, both of which found the net via wicked deflections.

McAuley got the first of them on 44 minutes when his strike found the bottom left corner after flicking off the onrushing Ollie Barnes. That was then followed just 60 seconds later by Danny Smith’s second, which completely wrong-footed Harrison, who could do nothing but sit and watch the ball dribble past him into the middle of the goal.

Eastleigh did not deserve their 3-0 lead at the interval at all but it served as a tough lesson for the Terras of the dangers of switching off, even for a moment.

The hosts came out in the second half determined to gain some pride back and on 48 minutes some clever play saw Matt Cooper slip in Piotrowski but he took a touch and shot wide of the near post when he really should have hit it first time.

Unfortunately for the Terras, Eastleigh were now full of confidence and just four minutes later a poor defensive header from Critchell ended with Forbes stumbling past Harrison and firing into an empty net.

Weymouth responded with an effort from Danny Bennett that Matthews did well to hold at his near post but the rest of the game witnessed very little goal-mouth action as Eastleigh saw out the remaining minutes with ease and added a fifth late on through Gillespie.

Weymouth: Harrison, Critchell, Brice, Townley, Barnes, Harris, Smith (Reiffer 43), Bennett (Preston 84), Slocombe, Cooper, Piotrowski (Sibbick 68). Subs not used: Evans, Thorne.

Eastleigh: Matthews, Clarke, Poate (Challis 85), Smith, Jordan, Martin, Adeniyi, Forbes (Oliver 73), Williams (Gillespie 59), Taggart, McAuley. Subs not used: Goodhind, Howells.