MERLEY COBHAM SPORTS 4 WEYMOUTH RES 1

A FOUR-GOAL blast from Merley Cobham Sports ended Weymouth Reserves’ bid to rock the league leaders at Cobham Sports & Social Club.

After a couple of early opportunities for the visitors, who were impressive during the entirety of the first-half, a slick four-man move gave Weymouth the lead on nine minutes.

Former Dorchester Town man Josh Tennant linked up nicely with Sean Zima and Szymon Matuszewski then squared the ball back for striker Conor Jevon to finish confidently and give his side the advantage.

Tennant then latched on to a cross from Sammy Nichols and headed wide from close range, and former Westland Sports midfielder Matuszewski tried his luck from inside the area, but put the ball just past a post.

“We played so well in the first half, we defended resolutely and I was very proud of them at half time,” Weymouth boss Jake Rich-mond told Echosport.

But whatever Cobham manager Ollie Cherrett said to his players at half-time sparked his side into life, as they roared back with an equaliser from experienced marksman Stuart Cannie and Aaron Atkinson then helped himself to a quick-fire hat-trick to put the game to bed after 75 minutes.

With the score at 4-1, Jevon and defender Lee Sharpe then spurned chances to grab a consolation goal for the Terras in the final 15 minutes.

“In the whole game they had five shots and they scored four of them,” Richmond added. “It was out of nowhere, we were stood on the touchline shaking our heads.

“What was frustrating as a management team was when they equalised our heads dropped straight away. It wasn’t a case of fighting back and putting the onus on them.

“That was the most disappointing thing about the day, we still had a big foothold in the game.”

Despite his side’s defeat, the visiting boss also took the time to pay tribute to title-chasing Merley, who currently top the standings ahead of Portland United.

The Weymouth chief added: “We had more than enough chances to win the game but, in the second half, Merley were much better.

“They got in our faces, showed their experience, and they are the real deal. They are up their challenging for the league where as a few of my boys’ heads dropped.

“They have players that have played at a higher level and they are very good at game management, whereas our players are still learning.

“They celebrated like they had won the league at the end and you could see that it meant a lot to them. Fair play to Ollie, he has obviously given them a good team talk at half-time.”

Terras: Park, West, Sharpe, Butcher, Anstey, G Will (Staines 70), Matuszewski (Beasley 60), Nichols, Jevon, Tennant (Hind 85), Zima