HAMWORTHY REC 3 WEYMOUTH RESERVES 0

A DOUBLE sending off proved the turning point at Magna Road as the Terras suffered their second league defeat of the season at the hands of Hamworthy Recreation.

Weymouth’s second string looked the more threatening side until a bizarre incident just after the half-hour changed the whole complexion of the game.

Terras’ boss Jake Richmond explained: “We had the better chances in the first half but the turning point of the game came on 34 minutes when we failed to clear a corner allowing one of their lads to put them 1-0 up.

“Jordan Tewkesbury then picked the ball out of the net and went to fire it up the field for the restart, only to strike it at their goalscorer, who then retaliated with a headbutt.

“The referee immediately sent off their lad and when Jordan got back to his feet he dismissed him too.

“After that we had a couple more efforts before half-time and I was still confident we could get a draw out of it.

“However, we then conceded another goal at the start of the second half and from there it was always going to be an uphill struggle.

“They sat back and were just content to play on the counter-attack and, to be honest, we struggled to break them down.

“They then got another one with 20 minutes remaining and in the end thoroughly deserved their victory.

“It was disappointing but even good teams sometimes have off days. We didn’t have an off day but an off half, and we are still a good side.”

Tewkesbury pulled off a great instinctive save to flick a deflected effort over the crossbar in the early exchanges before Oscar Preece and Louis Smith both went close at the other end with shots from distance.

Rec took the lead through Joe Wood and with both sides going down to 10 men seconds later the pattern of the game quickly changed.

Smith saw a header strike a post just before the break but when Richard Sand doubled the hosts’ lead early in the second half the result never looked in doubt.

The Terras battled hard but just couldn’t break down their opponents who eventually added a third through an own goal on 70 minutes to complete the scoring.

Determined to focus on the positives, Richmond added: “I thought Louis Smith was unstoppable in the first half but the two standout players for us over the 90 minutes were Lee Sharpe and Matt Harvey, who were both outstanding.”

Despite the defeat the Terras remain third in the Bespoke Teamwear Dorset Premier League, just two points adrift of table-toppers Merley Cobham Sports.

Terras: Tewkesbury, Sharpe, Anstey, Brown (Holland 60), Beal, Harvey, Smith, Chatterton (Blundell 34), Will, P Ford, Preece (Zima 65). Subs not used: Frost, Jackson.