TERRAS: King's men safely over first cup hurdle

DESPITE the modest winning margin, Weymouth comfortably overcame their first hurdle in this season’s FA Cup with a single- goal victory over the Creeksiders at Cams Alders.

Stewart Yetton headed home the winner four minutes into the second period and, from that point on, they should have hit two or three more goals, such was their dominance.

Half-time substitute Mark Ford was guilty of squandering three decent opportunities, while Yet-ton himself struck a post shortly after netting as the Terras con-jured 14 attempts on goal over the 90 minutes but, worryingly, just three of those were on target.

Boss Brendon King named an unchanged team from last week’s 2-2 draw at Hinckley and there was only one change on the bench where King himself replaced the absent Mickey Greeno.

The first half was a very tight and even affair with the hosts’ energy matching the Terras throughout.

Yetton was presented with the game’s first real chance five minutes in when Luke Burbidge centred from the right but, after slipping, the striker could only shoot high over Luke Douglas’ bar.

Two minutes later, Yetton forced a save out of Douglas with a snapshot from a tight angle before the action switched to the other end as Ashley Tattersall’s free-kick was expertly tipped over by Jason Matthews.

Just moments before, Josh Cripps and Sam Knight had efforts blocked by the Terras’ rearguard following a telling centre from Tattersall.

In the 24th minute, Luke Winsper went closest to breaking the deadlock when his header from a Yetton cross sailed inches wide of the right upright.

The rest of the half brought little stimulation for the hosts’ biggest gate for many a season after Scott Walker’s free-kick was deflected wide on the half-hour just before Winsper’s low drive flew wide of the left-hand post.

Disappointingly, from a Wey-mouth perspective, Winsper picked up a caution for his delayed reaction in going down under a challenge before a foul from Sam Poole also warranted a booking just before the break.

The first half had been a dour struggle with little to excite around 200 travelling Terras’ fans but just four minutes after the restart the mood was lifted as the visitors finally made their extra quality tell.

Barry McConnell played in Scott Walker down the left side and his pinpoint centre was headed home from close range by Yetton at the near post.

Weymouth now had a spring in their step and Yetton went agonisingly close to making it 2-0 in the very next attack when he spun on the edge of the area before unleashing a drive that smashed against the middle of the right-hand post.

In the 56th minute, Tattersall fired over when well-placed, just before Ford went close with a flicked effort that flew just over the bar.

On the hour, Danny Clay’s decent shot was deflected wide and then the Terras picked up their third booking of the day as Nathan Walker saw yellow when he took out substitute Mark Cotton.

In the 66th minute, Fareham were presented with a rare opportunity but Pete Murphy’s free-kick flew a foot over Mat-thews’ bar and then the Terras pressed for what seemed an inevitable second goal.

Sam Poole’s back post header was cleared and, when Burbidge sent a low ball back in, Ford contrived to clear the bar.

A minute later a Yetton drive whistled inches wide before Ford was presented with a perfect opportunity to atone for his earlier miss when Burbidge, having tormented Ian Humble in the right corner, delivered an inviting cross for Ford to dive in on but his header flew wide when it looked easier to score.

Ford’s luck failed him again in the 89th minute when he was played in by Scott Walker down the left and a good touch would have seen him in on goal but, on this occasion, his control deserted him and the chance was gone.

Having squandered chances to put the game to bed the game reached an anxious conclusion when Tattersall was felled by Nathan Walker a yard outside the box deep into injury time.

Fortunately for the visitors though, the referee decided not to reach for his red card, and then Tigwell sent the free-kick straight into the wall seconds before the final whistle sounded.

Fareham: Douglas, Pitman, Martin (Tigwell 68), Humble, Jones, Lewis, Cripps (Cotton 62), Murphy, Lindsey, Tattershall, Knight (Austin 72). Subs not used: Wilson, Wheeler, Rowe, Bunton.

Terras: Matthews 7, McConnell 7, Wells 7, Clay 6, N Walker 7, Poole 7, Burbidge 7, Winsper 6 (Ford 46, 5), Yetton 7, Joyce 7, S Walker 7. Subs not used: Wood, Groves, Chainey, King.

Bookings: - Fareham: None Terras: Winsper (simulation 31), Poole (foul 43), N Walker (foul, 65) Attendance: 323