POOLE TOWN LADIES 0

WEYMOUTH LADIES 2

WEYMOUTH Ladies lifted the Dorset Women’s County Cup at the County Ground, Hamworthy after beating Poole Town.

The Terras went into the game just 48 hours after their best South West League Premier Division performance of the season, which had resulted in an 8-1 win away at Cheltenham Town.

That victory had instilled great confidence in the players and manager Tim Davis unsurprisingly named an unchanged starting XI.

Poole are a very good side and the opening exchanges were pretty even with plenty of strong challenges going in from both sides as they sought to gain the early advantage.

It was Weymouth who got their noses in front within the first 15 minutes when a great passing move released Emma Acott and she out-paced the Poole defence before delivering a superb left-footed finish over the advancing keeper.

This triggered a spirited response from Poole who gave Weymouth’s defence cause for concern with their pace and movement.

At the other end, Weymouth had chances to extend their lead.

A free-kick on the edge of the box from Bryony Webb was well saved and then another Webb set-piece appeared goalbound before it struck team-mate Amy Douch.

In truth, the exertions of Sunday’s long trip and the efforts at Chelt-enham had taken their toll on Weymouth’s young players, and they looked sluggish all across the pitch.

With neither team managing to break down some resolute defending the score at the interval remained 1-0 to Weymouth.

Right from the second half whistle the game saw a much improved Weymouth with every player mark-edly lifting their individual games and therefore seeing the team begin to dominate.

As the Dolphins began to tire this gave more time on the ball and, on 53 minutes, Weymouth doubled their advantage thanks to top- scorer Philippa Holden, who raced clear and shot through the keeper’s legs.

Immediately Jess Turk and Bianca Randall were brought on to provide fresh legs and this had the desired effect as Weymouth took a firm grip on the game.

Holden proved a real menace and only a combination of good goalkeeping and last-ditch defending prevented Weymouth from increasing their lead.

At the other end, the Terras’ young defence of Zoe Acutt and Samantha Johnson were in great form and kept Poole at bay.

In fairness, Poole had played well and gave their all for the club, but the final whistle eventually sounded amid wild celebrations as Weymouth successfully retained the trophy they won last season.