BATH CITY 2

Fletcher 3, Cooke 9

WEYMOUTH 1

Ash 52

WEYMOUTH were beaten 2-1 at Bath City in a pulsating Vanarama National League South clash full of incident at Twerton Park.

Weymouth made a disastrous start as Alex Fletcher and former Terras striker Cody Cooke scored in the first nine minutes.

Weymouth rallied and enjoyed the better of the match from then on, missing several huge chances before Brad Ash scored in the second half after his penalty was saved.

Tom Bearwish was denied by a superb save from Joe Wright before debutant keeper Ryan Sandford made a stunning triple stop, including saving Cooke’s late penalty.

READ MORE: Bath City 2-1 Weymouth - how it happened

However, it was not to be for Weymouth as the visitors slipped to a sixth league defeat of the season.

Boss David Oldfield made one change from the side that began the 0-0 draw with Hemel Hempstead as the injured Terrell made way for new goalkeeper signing Ryan Sandford, on loan from Millwall.

Sandford comes in on loan from Millwall and he was joined by new centre-back Ibrahim Bakare, who was a free agent prior to joining the Terras.

Bakare took a place on the bench, where Weymouth were otherwise unchanged.

After an impeccable minute’s silence for Queen Elizabeth II, plus former Bath and Weymouth player Dave Singleton, the hosts started like a train.

Weymouth could not handle their combinations on Bath’s left flank in the opening 15 minutes but it was yet another defensive mistake that gave the Romans the lead in the third minute.

Carlyle gave the ball away in his own third and Bath had an overload in the box, with Fletcher in oceans of space to control and slot past debutant keeper Sandford.

With Weymouth firmly left behind in the blocks, Bath doubled their lead nine minutes in as Cooke darted in from the left and curled a precise low shot into the far corner.

In truth, there was little Sandford could have done with both goals and the Millwall loanee was tested again by Cooke’s skidding drive.

Weymouth finally managed to get into the game and dominated the rest of the half as the impressive Noa Boutin whistled a shot wide from Luke Nippard’s deflected cross.

Tom Blair steered a header wide from a Boutin cross but Bath gave a reminder of their threat when Carlyle somewhat redeemed himself by making a crucial block from Tom Smith.

Weymouth were a danger themselves as Boutin’s rasping low drive forced an excellent save from Romans’ keeper Joe Wright, before Cooke’s looping header briefly worried Sandford at the other end.

However, Weymouth wasted two golden opportunities either side of a big save by Sandford as the half endured.

The first came when Boutin’s fizzing shot was blocked on the line and the onrushing Tom Bearwish could not adjust his run in time with the goal gaping.

Sandford’s intervention came at point-blank range from a Jordan Dyer header and Weymouth’s second golden chance came to Keelan O’Connell.

Blair’s cross from the right was only cleared as far as the midfielder, who swung wildly and could only graze the ball with the goal at his mercy.

Oldfield reacted by bringing off Dan Gifford and O’Connell for Matty Burrows and Ash, with the changes having an instant impact.

After Fletcher tricked his way to the byline and shot at Sandford, Weymouth were back on top and deservedly had a goal on 52 minutes.

Burrows was pushed over in the box at the far post when he looked destined to make contact with a cross and Ash stepped up to score the rebound when Wright superbly saved his penalty.

With Weymouth firmly on top, Ash went close to an acrobatic second as his overhead kick flew just wide of the far post with Wright scrambling.

Blair then found space on the right and blasted at Wright after his first touch deserted him.

Oldfield hooked Carlyle to give Bakare his debut but even better was to come from the brilliant Wright, himself a Millwall loanee, as he somehow tipped Bearwish’s header onto the bar and out for a corner that came to nothing.

Weymouth continued to raid forward as Blair and Ash tried efforts at Wright, but gaps began to appear as the visitors chased the game.

Bath duly exploited one as Fletcher dispossessed Boutin in the box and drew a trip, only for Sandford to make a simply incredible triple save from the spot.

He first saved Cooke’s 91st-minute penalty low to his left and got up sharply to block Fletcher’s rebound before a quite miraculous reflex save from Smith with the ball well past his body.

However, Weymouth could not create another chance in the remaining three added minutes as Bath saw out the victory.

Bath City: Wright, Raynes, Greenslade, Dyer, Parselle, Fletcher, Hayfield, Cooke, Smith, Lines, Wilson (Batten 70). Subs not used: Frear, Clarke, Spokes, Mannings.

Terras: Sandford, Nippard, McBurnie, Matsuzaka, Carlyle (Bakare 70), O'Connell (Burrows 46), Bearwish, Boutin, Blair, Murray, Gifford (Ash 46). Subs not used: Kyprianou, Monk.

Referee: Samuel Read

Attendance: 1,121