7:22pm Saturday 5th December 2009
By Ky Capel
Dorchester 2 R Hill 65, Groves 82
HAMPTON & RICHMOND 1 Wells 18
ASHLEY Vickers notched his first win as caretaker-boss, as the Magpies came from behind to defeat nine-man Hampton & Richmond Borough at the Jewson Stadium.
Dorchester trailed at half-time to a Dean Wells header but the hosts improved in the second period and Ryan Hill smashed home a 20-yard free-kick after last-man John Scarborough saw red for bringing down Matt Groves.
The Beavers lost their discipline once more and skipper Wells was the next man to go for a high challenge on debutant Kyle Critchell.
And just three minutes later the Magpies took full advantage as Groves grabbed the winner to see Dorchester move five points clear of the Blue Square South trapdoor.
Vickers took matters into his own hands after the 4-1 Dorset Senior Cup defeat to Wimborne in midweek.
The temporary manager dropped Gary Bowles in favour of himself, recalled Hill in place of Harry Montacute, handed a debut to Critchell at the expense of Jamie Gleeson and started Steve Devlin ahead of Ollie Barnes.
Jake Smeeton returned to the substitutes’ bench following his one-month loan at Gillingham Town and he was joined in the dugout by former reserve-team manager Phil Simkin – offering a helping hand while Vickers took to the pitch.
The Magpies made a positive start and tested opposing keeper Matt Lovett inside five minutes. Hill, making his first appearance back at the Jewson Stadium since rejoining the club, fired in an angled free-kick from 25 yards but Lovett was equal to it and tipped the ball over the top.
The hosts failed to build on their early opening and the visitors forged ahead after 18 minutes.
After two fruitless corners, it was a case of third time lucky as Smith’s third delivery found the head of Wells and the skipper made no mistake.
Dorchester picked themselves up and a decent exchange between Mark Jermyn and Critchell saw the latter aim goalwards but his shot was easy for Lovett.
Ryan Moss also fired too close to the keeper before Hill’s second free-kick of the afternoon went three yards wide.
At the other end, Scarborough headed off target from another Smith corner but it was the Magpies who went closest to scoring before the half-time interval.
Lovett tried to keep a deflected pass in play but only succeeded in spilling the ball to Groves who crossed low for striker partner Moss.
However, he was denied at the near post by Scarborough’s crucial intervention.
Jermyn twice went close to hauling the Magpies level as the second half got underway. First the home skipper saw a low drive parried away for a corner, and from the resulting set-piece, taken by Hill, Jermyn nodded the wrong side of the right-hand post.
Hampton wing-back Craig Tanner came within a whisker of extending his side’s lead, sending a dipping volley just wide of Regan Coward’s goal.
Walsh had two great chances to draw level within seconds of each other. An Ian Selley corner was kept in at the back stick and Walsh’s header was cleared off the line by an opposing defender.
The rebound fell to the county town man once again but he could only stab the ball over the bar.
The Magpies were in the ascendancy and got the goal their efforts deserved, seeing the visitors reduced to 10 men in the process.
A long punt from Coward was allowed to bounce and Groves would have been left with a clean sight of goal had he not been hauled down by Scarborough.
The offender was shown a straight red and Groves placed the ball on the spot expecting to take a penalty.
The referee thought otherwise and awarded a free-kick. But the Magpies’ disappointment proved academic as Hill stepped up and blasted home with a ferocious drive.
Jermyn could and probably should have completed the comeback three minutes later but he was denied one-on-one by Lovett.
Neil Martin was next to test Lovett, via a 35-yard pile driver, while Walsh blasted high from the edge of the box.
The Magpies found themselves another man to the good in the 79th minute as captain Wells joined Scarborough for an early bath.
The big Hampton defender went in for a 50-50 challenge with Critchell but followed through and his studs crashed against the chest of the Magpies’ debutant.
Dorchester cashed in almost immediately as a long searching ball from Critchell was nodded down by Jermyn and dispatched, via the inside of a post, by Groves for his eighth goal of the season.
The Magpies had the perfect opportunity to wrap the game up in the first of five added minutes but Jermyn skied Groves’ pull back with the goal at his mercy.
Selley was then guilty of wasting another good chance but the Magpies, watched by former Weymouth chairman Malcolm Curtis, saw the game out and, as a result, climbed above the Beavers in the table.
Dorchester: Coward, R Hill, Martin, Selley, Walsh, Vickers (Bowles 81), Jermyn, Critchell (Gleeson 87), Moss, Groves, Devlin. Subs not used: Smeeton, Nodwell, Barnes.
Hampton & R: Lovett, Fernandes, Tanner, Jeffrey, Scarborough, Wells, Lake, Collier, Dundas, Yaku (Matthews 65), Smith (Tarpey 73). Subs not used: Inman, Hodges.
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