WEYMOUTH 2

(Scott o.g 6, Malcolm 45)

ALTRINCHAM 2

(Little 27, Senior 79)

KYLE Critchell and Gary Scott both saw red as Weymouth condemned Altrincham to relegation in a blood and thunder clash in front of the television cameras at the Wessex Stadium.

Both men were involved in an ugly clash in the first half after visiting forward Colin Little had wiped out Scott's early own goal.

Michael Malcolm then put the Terras 2-1 up on the stroke of half time before Chris Senior grabbed a leveller with 11 minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish.

With Alty needing a win to secure their Blue Square Premier status they endeavoured to throw everything at the home side in the latter stages but unfortunately for them it was not enough.

Weymouth made just one change to their starting XI with Stuart Douglas replacing loanee Matt Bailey, who has returned to Crewe Alexandra.

Fellow loan player Chris Blackburn also missed out due to injury while youngster Jamie Frampton was included on the bench alongside Jon Stewart, Nick Crittenden, Marcus Browning and Paolo Vernazza.

The encounter started fast and frantic with Alty putting in some strong challenges but on six minutes their survival hopes suffered an early blow.

Malcolm, playing on the left wing, picked up the ball on the edge of the box and after dazzling his marker with a fantastic step-over, he sent in a low cross that defender Scott could only turn into his own net under pressure from Douglas.

Alty now needed to come out and attack, and it was no surprise to see Chris Senior shoot wide from 25 yards moments later.

Greg Young then went close with two fine headers at the far post. The first was superbly pushed over by keeper Stephen Henderson and the second cannoned off the bar as the Terras began to struggle to get out of their own half.

The visitors continued to pour forward and after Senior headed just wide of the near post, top-scorer Little gambled on a long ball from the back on 27 minutes and threaded a shot past Henderson to level.

The frenetic nature of the game was always in danger of boiling over and on 34 minutes it did. Scott flew in on Critchell down on the touchline and it led to both men throwing their arms at each other giving referee Mike Mullarkey no other option but to send them off.

Both benches remonstrated with each other in the aftermath before James Coutts suffered a heavy fall after a collision with Chris Lane. The right winger received several minutes of attention and was then helped off the pitch with Nick Crittenden coming on as his replacement.

The fourth official showed six minutes to be added on to the end of the half and that was enough time for the Terras to go ahead before the break.

Douglas had a header from a corner blocked and when the ball was only half cleared Malcolm struck a superb half volley from 25 yards into the left corner of the net.

Tempers continued to be frayed in the second half. Ryan Shotton lumped Trevor Challis when contesting a header that saw both men square up to each other and then seconds later Justyn Roberts gained revenge by wiping the Alty forward out, which he was justifiably booked for.

Weymouth threatened again when Crittenden's cross along the six-yard box just missed finding Douglas and Beavon but Alty soon replied with an effort by Little, which was expertly blocked by Roberts.

That signalled the start of a period of relentless pressure from the visitors who pushed another man up front but on 72 minutes the Terras nearly grabbed a third when Malcolm cut into the box from the left and curled a right-footed shot just wide of the far post.

The combination of Crittenden, Challis and Henderson then did superbly to stop Shotton forcing the ball home in a scramble at other end before the Weymouth keeper pulled off a fine save to deny Little.

The visitors were throwing everything forward now and on 79 minutes when the Terras failed to clear a corner the ball fell to Senior who spun and hooked it into the top right corner from close range to make it 2-2.

The Terras responded by replacing Beavon with Marcus Browning with nine minutes remaining and it was his fine pass that put Anton Robinson through. The midfielder took it first time on the half volley but his effort went wide.

Alty put together one last assault on the Weymouth box in added time but the Terras saw the game out to increase their unbeaten run to six games and send their opponents down.

Weymouth: Henderson, Challis, Roberts, Doe, Critchell, Weatherstone, Robinson, Coutts (Crittenden 45), Malcolm, Beavon (Browning 82), Douglas (Vernazza 90). Subs not used: Stewart, Frampton.

Altrincham: Coburn, Shotton, Tinson, Young (Toulson 85), Lane, Scott, Lawton, Turnbull, O'Neill (Peyton 54), Little, Senior. Subs not used: Aspinall, Acton, McFadden, Toulson.

8:42am Sunday 27th April 2008

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