ALDERSHOT & FARNHAM 2 WEYMOUTH 4

IN-FORM Weymouth travelled to struggling Aldershot & Farnham, who had not taken any points since their first game of the season, and came away with a 4-2 victory.

The visitors played well throughout but it was not until the second half that they fully imposed themselves on the hosts and ran out deserved winners.

Weymouth were again without left-back Matthew Metcalfe but Joseph Foot stood in once more to fill the gap.

Similarly, Daniel Bowles dropped back from midfield to centre-back to cover for the injured Michael Westlake, who is likely to be out for several weeks.

The two sides had not played each other for a few seasons and the match got off to a cagey start.

Weymouth’s defence was relatively untroubled during this period and they had several chances of their own, but true to form it was their opposition that got on the scoresheet first.

Aldershot found their way through the visitors and a pass to the top of the circle was struck past keeper David Civil.

The Seasiders showed good strength of character to fight back with an equaliser in their first attack following the restart.

Link-up play between right-back and skipper Simon Harvey and forward Luke Drewitt allowed Harvey to carry to the edge of the circle where a foul resulted in a penalty corner.

A well-worked routine saw Christopher Fry’s deflected effort hit the backboard.

As the game reached half-time, Weymouth were perhaps disappointed not to lead, but recent games had shown that their fitness would come through in the second half.

Weymouth took the lead soon after the break. They squandered their first penalty corner of the half, however, Patrick May made no mistake with the second, firing a drag flick into the top-right corner.

The visitors were now dominating and finally gained a two-goal cushion when Matthew Lawes connected with a low reverse hit.

A slightly uneasy spell followed for Weymouth after Foot was sin-binned for breaking down play within five metres of an opposition free hit.

Aldershot grabbed a goal back during this period with a penalty stroke, and the hosts may have got on to create further chances were it not for some important tackles by Bowles.

Foot returned to the field with a hamstring strain, however, an injury to forward Andrew Stiles meant that a substitution wasn’t available.

Thankfully, May then completed his brace to restore a comfortable lead and settle any Weymouth nerves.

The goal followed an excellent pass from the middle of the pitch by Bowles which picked out Sam Drewitt by the left post.

Drewitt, put under immediate pressure by the Aldershot goalkeeper, squared a pass to May who squeezed a shot past his marker.

Weymouth were able to see out the remainder of the game without much trouble.

Weymouth host Havant tomorrow knowing a win could see them improve on their current position of fifth. Both sides have similar records this season.

The game at Redlands starts at 2pm and support is much appreciated.

Man of the match: Daniel Bowles