AFTER a whirlwind year, Weymouth find themselves the prime challengers to the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South, as they look to make amends for their semi-final heartbreak in May.

The new year started with an eventful time off the pitch, with chairman Steve Mills stepping down for personal reasons on January 10 while there was a change between the sticks as Mark Travers was recalled by Bournemouth, who loaned out goalkeeper Will Dennis to the Terras.

On the pitch, the Terras started and ended the first month of the year winning well, with a 4-0 thumping of Gosport Borough on New Year’s Day and a 6-0 thrashing of Farnborough and a 2-1 comeback win against Royston Town.

However, the Terras became bogged down between the Gosport and Farnborough wins but a loss against Dunstable Town seemed to spark the Terras into a great run of form that lasted into late February.

The Terras came close to going unbeaten throughout February, scoring three times in each of their first three games of the month on the way to earning wins against Merthyr Town, St Neots Town and Royston Town.

The pick of the goals came from a great first strike from Jordan Ngalo to wrap up the win at home against St Neots but the momentum was punctured with the last game of the month, a 2-0 loss away at then league leaders Hereford.

Off the field, there was good news as well, as the Terras appointed Ian White as their new chairman while late on in the month, Weymouth recruited Thiago Caze Da Silva, who would go on to have a memorable debut in March.

The Terras had an extremely good March both on and off the field. On the pitch Caze Da Silva and Stephane Zubar formed a formidable partnership, as Weymouth conceded just one goal in the entire month while the attack pillaged 11, with four of those coming in the second half against the then play-off contenders Chesham United as then ran riot in a 6-0 victory.

Calvin Brooks also hit a rich vein of form, scoring four goals in three matches while Goodship bagged three as he closed in on a then seemingly inevitable golden boot. The 6-0 win at Chesham, it would later be revealed, was crucial off the pitch as well as the management signed an extended deal while Paul Maitland became director of football as Tom Prodomo stepped up to assistant-manager.

The play-offs looked inevitable as all eyes looked towards April, which began with a 5-0 hammering of Gosport at the Bob Lucas, after which the managerial shift was revealed.

Wins against Redditch, Kings Langley and Hitchin Town were all high points but, with all eyes on the play-offs, the Terras were overtaken by Kettering Town and Slough Town, due to the Terras suffering a 2-0 defeat away to the former, while a 1-1 draw at home to Banbury slowed the momentum.

Goodship eased ever closer to his golden boot with a good month, hitting the net eight times over the course of the month.

Ultimately the Terras earned themselves a tie away at King’s Lynn Town in the play-off semi-final at the start of May, a place where they had previously earned a 1-1 draw at earlier in the season.

The day came around and the day was upon the Terras to take the trip to King’s Lynn.

Unfortunately it would be where the promotion dreams would be halted for a season, with three fantastic goals from long range from the Linnets’ Cameron Norman, Craig Parker and Cameron King.

However, the Terras did not stay quiet, swiftly having seeing a raft of players ommit for another season soon after, as well as securing the signing of Tony Lee from AFC Totton, and recruiting goalkeeper Jordan Seabright.

Robbie Yates, a goalkeeping coach, also joined the club from Poole, which would be the first of two summer acquisitions from the Dolphins, and a Weymouth Legends game against Bournemouth Legends was also announced for the Bob Lucas.

June saw a quiet month for the Terras but did see the signing of Warren Bentley from Poole Town, as well as the pre-season friendlies announced.

July saw the pre-season friendlies get underway but the Terras struggled to hit the ground running, as they recorded just one win, a 3-1 over Kingstonian.

However, pre-season form was not an indicator of what was to come as August could scarcely have gone better for Weymouth.

It began with the triple signing of Josh McQuoid, Antonio Diaz and Matt Casey and saw them go unbeaten in the league, dropping points just once in a 1-1 draw at home to Beaconsfield Town.

A 2-1 win against Taunton Town ended the Peacocks’ 35-game unbeaten run in league competition in an early highlight to the season.

The month ended in a particularly sweet fashion for the Terras’ fans as Weymouth recorded back-to-back 5-0 wins away at Chesham United and at home to bitter rivals Dorchester Town, the latter of which saw them 4-0 up before the end of the first half.

September was a tough month for Weymouth.

They almost went winless, with a 4-3 loss against Farnborough despite leading 3-1 at one stage followed by an FA Cup replay defeat Banbury United in the first qualifying round.

Add in to the fact marquee signing Josh McQuoid suffered a bad knee injury that will cause him to miss most of the season then it was a month very out of kilter with the first four weeks.

However, the Terras ended the month back at the top of the table with a morale-boosting 4-1 win away at Staines Town.

October was another fine unbeaten month for Weymouth.

Three wins and a draw in the league were capped off with a fine 3-1 victory at Taunton Town in the first round of qualifying in the FA Trophy.

Charlie Davis departed midway through the month as he returned to former club Poole Town in search of game time, while Goodship notched his 50th goal for the club in the Taunton victory.

November was a solid month from the Terras, yet their one defeat enabled Taunton to slip in and become their prime title rivals, ending the month ahead in the table albeit with the Terras able to overtake via games in hand.

The one defeat, away at Kings Langley, allowed the Peacocks in, with debutant Jordan Rose sent off 18 minutes into the defeat.

The month ended on a massive high, with Weymouth overcoming National League South side St Albans City in their FA Trophy third qualifying round replay.

The FA Trophy would prove more controversial in the first round however.

Their scheduled match at home against Needham Market was postponed due to the weather, before Needham withdrew from the rearranged match set for a Tuesday evening.

As a result, Weymouth advanced to the next round without kicking a ball and now face a trip to Ramsbottom.

The month also saw Weymouth’s nearly 14-month unbeaten run at home in the league come to an end, in a 3-1 defeat to Gosport Borough before Weymouth let a 2-0 lead slip in a 2-2 draw with Harrow.

There was a late Christmas present on Boxing Day for the Terras courtesy of Brandon Goodship, who struck a 90th-minute winner in a 1-0 win over arch-rivals Dorchester Town to do the double over the Magpies.

A big test awaits Molesley’s men away to Taunton tomorrow (3pm), the leaders currently sitting seven points above the Terras in second having played two games more.

It remains to be seen whether the top-of-the-table clash will prove title-deciding, but with games in January against Tiverton, Poole and Met Police it is a crucial period for Weymouth.

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