Wozza shatters Glassboys (From Dorset Echo)

Wozza shatters Glassboys

9:14am Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Match Reports By Adam Summers

STOURBRIDGE 1 WEYMOUTH 2

WARREN Byerley exorcised the demons of his double penalty miss at Frome Town on Boxing Day as the Terras ended their four-game losing streak with a dramatic victory at the War Memorial Athletic Ground last night.

The Weymouth striker went into the clash with Stourbridge having not found the net in his last seven outings but he brought that barren spell to an end by equalising from the spot with a confident penalty in the second half.

He then went on to hit the winner with five minutes remaining to wrap up the scoring after Aaron Drake had put the Glassboys ahead with a controversial opener in the early exchanges.

The league defeat is Stourbridge’s first at home this season and Terras’ boss Brendon King was justifiably over the moon afterwards.

He said: “Stourbridge are a very good side and before this game they had only conceded eight at home, so to travel four hours on a bitterly cold night and pick up the three points, under the pressure of having lost our last four, just goes to show what character the lads have.

“At one stage I did think it was going to be one of those nights again but the boys kept going and in the end their tremendous commitment was rewarded and I am absolutely delighted for them.

“It has been a difficult few weeks but we can now take heart from this result and hopefully start to look to push on again.”

With loanee Byron Napper having returned to Crawley Town and Sam Malsom at the Avenue Stadium tying up a move to Dorchester Town, King was left with limited options ahead of kick-off, particularly with Tom Manley, Richard Marshallsay and Lewis Tasker all unable to travel.

Ollie Tribe and Scott Dixon were restored to the starting line-up with Ryan McKechnie dropping to the bench where he was joined by reserve-team rookies Chris Povall, Charlie Holland and Luke Winsper.

King also named himself among the substitutes while Stephen Reed retained his starting place after turning down the opportunity to follow Malsom to the Magpies the previous night.

Despite having survived a midday pitch inspection, the playing conditions were still tricky in the near freezing temperatures and once again Lady Luck was not on the Terras’ side in the early exchanges as the Glassboys grabbed a questionable opener after just 10 minutes.

Leon Broadhurst supplied the incisive through ball for Drake to run on to and beat Nick Jordan but the goal had a huge suspicion of offside attached to it.

The pass did take a slight deflection off a visiting defender but Drake already appeared to be beyond the last man when Broadhurst struck the ball.

Despite the Terras’ fierce protests though, the officials allowed the strike to stand much to the disgust of the travelling fans.

To their credit, Weymouth responded in the right manner by immediately going in search of an equaliser but once again they were left cursing their misfortune as Craig Duff saw an effort cleared off the line by Paul Lloyd.

Byerley then sent an overhead kick over the crossbar before Tribe denied Ben Billingham with a last-ditch clearance from inside the six-yard box on 22 minutes.

After that the rest of the half became a war of attrition although the Glassboys did create one more clear opportunity when defender Ben Gerring gave away possession allowing Sam Rock to race through but Jordan was on hand to pull off another fine save.

Weymouth desperately needed something to go their way and 11 minutes after the break they got their wish to end a 330-minute spell without a goal.

The equaliser arrived from the spot after Duff was upended in the box by Paul McCone. Despite what happened at Frome, Byerley showed remarkable calmness to slot the penalty away and it was exactly what the Terras deserved for their tremendous endeavour.

That work rate and team ethic continued and after Jordan had denied Ryan Rowe with a couple of fine stops, the visitors went on to muster a winner.

Reed had an effort cleared off the line by McCone before Byerley hooked home his second on 85 minutes after Duff’s initial strike had been blocked.

The victory moves the Terras seven points clear of the drop-zone in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division where they remain in 15th spot.

Stourbridge: Solly, Rock (Evans 84), Lloyd, McCone, Geddes (Griffin 72), Bennett, Smith, Broadhurst, Rowe, Billingham, Drake. Subs not used: Canavan, Dovey, Griffiths.

Terras: Jordan, Clarke, Jeannin, Tribe, Gerring, Poole, Duff, Dixon (McKechnie 84), Groves, Byerley, Reed. Subs not used: Povall, King, McKechnie, Holland, Winsper.

Referee: Robert Ellis (Coventry) Bookings – Stourbridge: Smith (foul 59), Rowe (foul 89).

Terras: Poole (foul 45+1), Jeannin (foul 55).

Attendance: 287