Wessex wonders

9:01am Tuesday 25th March 2008

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WEYMOUTH boss John Hollins was punching the air with delight after his side made light of several injuries by defeating play-off chasing Exeter City 3-1 at the Wessex Stadium yesterday.

The victory has moved the Terras up to 18th in the Blue Square Premier table and three points above fourth-bottom Farsley Celtic who they will meet on Saturday at Throstle Nest.

Despite being without Trevor Challis, Marcus Browning, Paolo Vernazza, Stuart Beavon and Jake Hyde, the Terras took the lead through Chris Blackburn before Matt Taylor levelled midway through the second half.

At that stage it looked like the Grecians would get on top but 60 seconds later former Weymouth defender Steve Tully conceded a penalty by tripping Michael Malcolm in the box and was sent off.

Simon Weatherstone had his spot-kick saved but slotted home the rebound before Malcolm then wrapped up the result with a late third.

Hollins said: "It was a tough game and they are a very good side. They are really well organised and we knew we had to stop them by being big and strong.

"Over the last four or five games we have started to get our shape and personnel right and with that the results have been improving as well.

"We lost three players to injury at Cambridge United on Saturday and got a great point there and we were again without a few players today but our pack is a good one now and we shuffled it about and the performance we put in was excellent.

"You only have to look at James Coutts and how much stronger and quicker he is now looking. He is also showing more belief in himself and it is the same with Anton Robinson who at Cambridge stopped their main threat by getting around the pitch and working extremely hard.

"Simon Weatherstone is also showing more quality now and I thought defensively the back five were again fantastic today.

"Stephen Henderson claimed everything, Kyle Critchell did a great job at left back, Scott Doe was superb at right back and Chris Blackburn and Matthew Bailey were commanding in the centre."

Another man that impressed was Malcolm who had a hand in all three goals. In fact he is even trying to claim the opener off Blackburn.

He said: "The third goal was defin-itely mine and I will take the first one as well. Simon Weatherstone sent in a free-kick and I just tried to help it on. It might have hit a couple of players on the way but I will claim anything.

"These three points are massive for us because it moves us further away from relegation but there is still a lot to do and we need to make sure we keep picking up points."

Malcolm proved a constant thorn in the Exeter defence and he is now looking forward to building on his performance.

He added: "We knew they were not particularly quick at the back so I tried to use my pace and at times it worked.

"I have been mainly coming on from the bench recently so I have been waiting for my chance and today I think I have taken it."

Commenting on Malcolm, Hollins said: "Michael was a constant threat and could have had a hat-trick.

"Once we put them under pressure they began making mistakes and we caught them napping at times on the break which is something we have done in the last few games.

"The lads are now becoming more and more confident but on Saturday at Farsley Celtic it will be a different proposition again."