WEYMOUTH 3 HASLEMERE 5

WEYMOUTH’S good run of form finally came to an end when they hosted Haslemere at Redlands.

The Seasiders dominated in the first half and led at the break but Haslemere showed great resolve and fought back in the second half to emerge 5-3 winners.

The hosts played most of the game without a substitute as they lost centre-back Michael Westlake early on to a calf injury that unfortunately hadn't healed properly from training in midweek.

Haslemere dominated possession in the Seasiders' half during the early stages of the game but it was the hosts that were first on the board roughly 15 minutes in.

The visitors were caught in possession deep within their half where Samuel Drewitt turned over possession and he did well to find the back of the net with little room to manoeuvre.

The first goal may have come against the run of play but Weymouth then started to grab a greater share of the possession and created a number of chances.

They doubled their lead shortly before half time through a penalty flick, converted by Steven Membury. The flick was awarded during a penalty corner routine in which the ball struck a Haslemere defender's foot on the goal line.

The visitors then rallied after the half-time break and pressed the Seasiders for much of the second half.

They scored their first of five goals early on with a deflected shot that found its way into the top corner despite the efforts of Simon Harvey and Matthew Underhill to turn the ball over the crossbar.

Weymouth immediately replied with a superb counter attacking goal which started with a piece of individual brilliance by Samuel Drewitt. He beat a number of players on the left after the ball was played out of defence to release Patrick May, who played a superb early ball through the defensive line to Membury.

Membury continued his run from the Weymouth 23-metre line to turn the ball into the goal.

This setback did not deter the visitors however, and they continued to pen the hosts into their own half for much of the remainder of the contest.

Four goals and the win soon followed for Haslemere and Weymouth did not help their cause by being reduced to 10 men on two occasions.

May was sin-binned for a second cardable offence and Daniel Bowles had to leave the field for strongly protesting the decision of an official.

Two of Haslemere's goals came from penalty flicks. In both cases the ball struck a Weymouth foot, preventing a scoring opportunity. The other two came from open play finding a way through the Weymouth defence.

With two games left this season Weymouth will have little to play for and look likely to finish fourth in Hampshire Area Division One.

They will be looking to finish on a high however, and will hope to avenge their loss by beating Andover away from home tomorrow.

Man of the match: Samuel Drewitt

Weymouth goals: Samuel Drewitt, Steven Membury (2)

Weymouth yellow cards: Daniel Bowles, Patrick May