WEYMOUTH 3

DONCASTER MINERS 1

WEYMOUTH Beach Volleyball Club’s first home match in National League Division One saw them take a solid 3-1 win against a very experienced Doncaster Miners side.

Weymouth gave Redlands debuts to three summer signings in Archie Golding, Karol Baginski and Ollie Smith but it was Golding who particularly caught the eye.

The 6ft 5in 17-year-old, signed from New Forest VC, showed why he has been selected for the England Under-19 squad with his exceptional power hitting which Doncaster struggled to cope with and it rightly earned him the man-of-the-match award.

Weymouth got off to a flying start with strong service receipt from libero Elliott Sawyer and Stephen Williamson combined with strong hitting from Valdis Baranovs which meant they could gradually pull out a commanding lead to take the first set 25-17.

Doncaster came right back into the match in the second set, perhaps having shaken off their long journey.

Both sides had leads but it was Doncaster who gained the first set point leading 24-23. Strong serving from Weymouth captain Ryan Stout meant that Doncaster were unable to build a strong attack and Weymouth took the crucial points to take the set 26-24 for a crucial 2-0 lead.

Weymouth struggled to cope with Doncaster’s attack in the third set and, despite good strong middle hitting from Darren Harding and Sam Groom, Doncaster pulled out a lead which Weymouth struggled to pull back and Miners took the set 25-19.

At this point Weymouth coaches Simon Golding and Stuart Jeanes made some crucial changes to the setup of the side including introducing Baginski to the starting line-up.

This seemed to reinvigorate Weymouth and with Archie Golding looking unstoppable, Weymouth took a sizeable lead at the beginning of the set just as Doncaster started to look tired and made a number of unforced errors.

Roared on by the home crowd, Weymouth piled on the pressure to take the set 25-14 and with it the match.

Next weekend, Weymouth travel to Bristol where they will be hoping to build on this impressive performance. The team’s next home match is on Saturday, November 20 against Richmond.