Maidenhead United 2-0 Weymouth: Terras closer to National League drop

Donnellan 55, Kelly 90+2

WEYMOUTH 0

WEYMOUTH slipped closer to the Vanarama National South relegation trapdoor with a 2-0 loss at Maidenhead United.

The Terras were unfortunate to have a Matt Buse goal ruled out for offside but Shawn McCoulsky hit the post as Maidenhead enjoyed the better of play.

Their breakthrough came on 55 minutes when Shaun Donnellan buried a teasing corner, before Josh Kelly hit the Terras on the counter in stoppage-time.

Weymouth are now 14 points off safety with only 21 to play for this season.

READ MORE: Maidenhead United 2-0 Weymouth - as it happened

Badly in need of three points, Weymouth were previously unchanged across the entire 16 from the 0-0 draw against Grimsby until Xander McBurnie pulled up with an injury in the warm-up.

His absence gave Cameron Murray a chance in the starting XI and promoted midfielder Andy Robinson to the matchday squad for the first time since the 1-0 defeat to Dartford on Saturday, January 15.

McBurnie has struggled with injury this season and has only played 107 minutes of action across two games.

Maidenhead made the more enterprising start as calls for handball against Tanzania international Haji Mnoga were waved away.

The Magpies did receive a corner from the incident and Tyler Cordner escaped without punishment when he miscalculated the trajectory of the corner, jumping underneath it.

Weymouth responded with their first serious attack on seven minutes, Sean Shields evading tackles on the byline and keeping possession before winning a free-kick.

Sean Shields, front, created several half-chances for the Terras Picture: MARK PROBIN

Kane Ferdinand was the culprit but, like Cordner, he went unpunished as Shields dumped the set-piece into the waiting gloves of Nathan Ashmore.

The Boreham Wood loanee was not so assured five minutes later as a miscontrol gave Brandon Goodship a sniff of an interception until the keeper booted clear.

Maidenhead began to take control of the game as Shawn McCoulsky fired over after pinball in the Weymouth area and Will de Havilland nodded over after a fine challenge from Mnoga.

Sam Barratt headed over midway through the half but Shields could only force a deflected cross through to Ashmore in reply.

All that changed on the half hour when Weymouth thought they had taken the lead.

Ashmore kept out a Cordner header and moved with great agility to block Buse’s follow-up, before the striker buried a finish at the third time of asking.

Matt Buse, right, had a goal disallowed for offside Picture: MARK PROBIN

However, the linesman flagged for offside with the shot appearing to take a deflection off a Weymouth shirt, although the Terras argued the last touch came off a Maidenhead jersey.

Frustration nearly turned into a deficit as Mnoga failed to deal with a ball into McCoulsky and the forward blazed over from just 10 yards with only Ross Fitzsimons to beat.

Both teams then settled for 0-0 into the interval, where Barratt was hooked for Josh Smile in the hosts’ first change.

Maidenhead threatened five minutes into the half when Cordner slipped and McCoulsky met the ball over the top, only to whack his effort against the post.

But the Magpies were ahead in the 55th minute when Donnellan rose highest to plant a firm header beyond Fitzsimons from Charlee Adams’ brilliant corner.

Oldfield reacted by making a double change, bringing on Ben Thomson and Robinson for Ben Greenwood and Tom Bearwish.

Weymouth did steady themselves and won a corner on 63 minutes, only to fail to clear the first man as Magpies skipper Alan Massey headed clear.

With Aldershot concurrently winning at Yeovil, Weymouth knew they needed two goals to keep pace with Mark Molesley’s men.

Oldfield then reached for centre-back Ben Morgan at the expense of Cameron Murray 15 minutes from time.

There was a small opening for Weymouth from a free-kick as Cordner took aim towards the far corner from 30 yards, but Ashmore read his shot well.

Weymouth pushed on but saw Shields cross into thin air at the back post before Fitzsimons made his first serious save of the afternoon from Kane Ferdinand in the 83rd minute.

Mnoga was pushed up front and he nearly found an equaliser five minutes from time.

Brad Ash’s inventive backheel picked the Pompey loanee out and his effort was superbly saved by the immovable Ashmore, who also collected Cordner’s looping header from the resultant corner.

Haji Mnoga, bottom, was denied late on Picture: MARK PROBIN

Weymouth pressured again when Shields and Thomson saw shots blocked before Robinson’s deflected effort span into the gloves of Ashmore.

Mnoga was proving an able emergency striker but his low ball along the six-yard box was miscontrolled by Buse in a stark reminder of Weymouth’s timidity in front of goal.

Their fortunes contrasted with the quality of Kelly, who killed the game in the 92nd minute, leaving Morgan for dead before slotting past Fitzsimons.

Defeat left Weymouth potentially two defeats from relegation, following Aldershot’s 2-0 win at Yeovil, who travel to the Bob Lucas Stadium for a critical derby on Monday (1pm).

Maidenhead: Ashmore, de Havilland, Donnellan (Wakely 84), Ferdinand, Beckwith, Sheckleford, McCoulsky (Blissett 72), Kelly, Massey, Barratt (Smile 46), Adams. Subs not used: Smith, Upward.

Terras: Fitzsimons, Greenwood (Robinson 56), Murray (Morgan 74), Cordner, Goodship, Ash, Mnoga, Bearwish (Thomson 57), Drewe, Buse, Shields. Subs not used: Mampala, Carlyle.

Referee: Tom Reeves

Attendance: 2,056