BOURNEMOUTH 3 WEYMOUTH 2

NEWLY-PROMOTED Weymouth narrowly lost out after travelling to Bournemouth for their opening game of the season.

Pre-season preparations included wins over Bournemouth and Bridport and a loss to Gillingham as well as a promising performance in the opening rounds of the Hampshire Cup tournament.

This league outing was the club’s first in Hampshire Division One for six seasons having drop-ped to and climbed from Division Three during that time.

Weymouth’s numbers had been strengthened by the return of Samuel Drewitt from university in Portsmouth and also Matthew Metcalfe who had been tanning his cheeks on many a ski season.

Last year’s player of the season Daniel Bowles recovered just in time from shoulder surgery.

Weymouth started the game brightly and adapted immediately to the wet conditions.

Player/coach and birthday boy Christopher Fry opened the scoring for the Seasiders with a smartly struck shot inside the left post when the ball fell to him following a run into the circle by forward Patrick May.

Bournemouth responded al-most immediately to win a penalty corner and converted their opportunity to go level, a straight strike beating Weymouth goalkeeper David Civil inside the right post.

The hosts then continued a period of dominance, winning several further penalty corners and finally taking the score to 2-1 with another penalty corner.

The visitors rallied after the half-time break and dominated possession for 15 or so minutes during which the back four were troubled very little, especially due to the part played by centre-back Michael Westlake who made various crucial tackles, was strong on the ball and allowed his team to recover possession on several occasions.

Bowles was also instrumental in controlling the midfield and worked hard off the ball to disrupt the Bournemouth possession.

During this period of dominance, Weymouth finally brought the scores level through a cute finish by May.

The Seasiders were unfortunate not to find a lead but heroics from the Bournemouth keeper kept out great opportunities for Luke Drewitt and Metcalfe to score.

Weymouth’s fortunes were then turned on their heads due to three suspensions in the space of around 15 minutes.

Skipper Simon Harvey was sent to the sin-bin for what most saw as a 50/50 challenge but was seen by the umpire as dangerous play.

During this numerical disadvantage, Bournemouth scored what turned out to be the winning goal.

Shortly after, Weymouth ret-urned to full strength and young forward Luke Drewitt did well to beat a player when carrying the ball out of his half and looked to set up a Weymouth counter-attack.

The beaten player appeared to run across Drewitt legs tripping him in the process.

In light of the previous suspension, Weymouth’s appeals were for a similar penalty for the Bournemouth player responsible.

Unfortunately, the umpire’s decision was not to even award a free hit and Drewitt’s outrage at that decision resulted in a suspension for himself.

As a further blow, Harvey was sent to the bin for a second time, which ensured that, with five minutes remaining, there was no way back into the game for the visitors.

This Saturday, Weymouth host Salisbury who drew their opening game against Winchester and hope that their impressive home record over recent seasons continues.

Goals: Christopher Fry, Patrick May

Man of the Match: Daniel Bowles

Green Cards: Simon Harvey

Yellow Cards: Simon Harvey (2), Luke Drewitt