TAUNTON TOWN 0

WEYMOUTH 2

Goodship 33, 71

BRANDON Goodship’s masterclass in finishing helped Weymouth to a 2-0 win over Taunton Town at Wordsworth Drive.

In driving wind and rain, the Terras weathered a strong start by the hosts before finding their stride, Goodship opening the scoring with a wonderful volley in off the post.

Harry Parsons hit the bar before the break but Goodship made sure of the points in the second half, netting his 10th goal of the season to continue his rich scoring form.

The victory gave Weymouth back-to-back wins and moved them five points clear of Taunton, who have three games in hand on the Terras.

READ MORE: Taunton Town 0-2 Weymouth - how it happened

Weymouth boss Bobby Wilkinson made two changes to the side that began the 3-0 win over Slough two Saturdays ago.

Alfie Rutherford has departed back to parent club Dorking, while Elliott Bolton was benched.

In came Malachi Linton to earn his first start against his previous loan club, while Charlie Rowan also came back into the side.

Joining Bolton on the bench were Jordan Thompson, Keelan O' Connell, top-scorer Ezio Touray and Dan Roberts.

Before kick-off with the sides separated by two points in the table, Weymouth 19th and Taunton 20th, the onus was on the hosts to begin brightly and they did just that.

The Peacocks mustered three shots on target in the opening 13 minutes, Zac Smith darting inside from the left and curling at Benfield, who later made a tremendous point-blank save from Nick Grimes’ header.

Taunton caused Weymouth all sorts of problems with their aerial threat but their third chance came on the deck as Nat Jarvis stroked a deflected effort at Benfield.

Weymouth settled around the 15-minute mark as Leo Hamblin fired wide from 20 yards, kicking into the driving wind and rain.

Wilkinson’s men then began to create chances as Goodship cut inside and blasted a deflected shot wide of the far post.

Six minutes later, Calvin Brooks nodded wide from a Goodship corner but Taunton carved Weymouth open on the break 31 minutes in, Zac Bell wastefully slicing wide on the right of the box.

However, seconds after Linton saw a 12-yard shot repelled by Taunton goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe, Weymouth took the lead thanks to their man-of-the-moment Goodship.

Goodship chested Rowan’s header and volleyed first time from 20 yards, his shot cannoning off the near post and into the opposite corner for 1-0, sending wild a healthy Terras travelling faithful.

Weymouth suddenly sensed a quick second as Tom Bearwish was tackled just in time, before Linton was denied after Goodship’s clever pass.

Harry Parsons then created a moment of magic, bypassing a congested area by curling a dipping left-footed shot off the bar with Lavercombe beaten.

Taunton did end the half strongly and should have equalised when a cross broke kindly for Ollie Chamberlain who dragged an ugly finish wide of the left-hand post.

Taunton subbed off skipper Grimes for Marley Rose at half-time and Peacocks’ manager Rob Dray waited only another 12 to hook Jarvis for Evander Grubb.

Chances were at a premium as the conditions worsened, both sides struggling with the wind, but the first good opening of the half went to Weymouth.

Goodship picked up possession on the right and drove into the box, but the angle narrowed and his low shot was stopped by Lavercombe.

However, Weymouth’s number 10 made no such mistake in the 71st minute.

Teddy Howe’s raking pass perfectly picked out Goodship’s run and the striker’s control was exemplary, before he sprinted into the area and clinically side-footed home.

His second strike took him to 92 career Weymouth goals, surpassing Steve Claridge’s 91.

Weymouth looked to kill the game as Parsons rifled at Lavercombe, but Taunton then missed a clear opening for 2-1 after a quickly-taken free-kick found Rabby Tabu-Minzamba, only for the midfielder to blaze over.

To add insult to Taunton’s woes on and off the pitch, Bell then hobbled off leaving the Peacocks down a man for the final 10 minutes.

Taunton’s lack of threat up top became more obvious as the game wore on.

Meanwhile, Weymouth sub Roberts was denied by Lavercombe in stoppage-time, fellow sub Bolton then seeing his header collected by the home keeper.

Weymouth were untroubled for the remainder to go nine matches unbeaten on Taunton turf.

Taunton: Lavercombe, Bell, Grimes (Rose 46), Ball, Chamberlain, James, Jarvis (Grubb 57), Tabu-Minzamba, Stearn (Day 72), Smith, Evans. Subs not used: Dolman, Slough.

Terras: Benfield, Howe, Hamblin, Cook, Durojaiye, Bearwish, Goodship (Bolton 90+1), Linton (Roberts 82), Brooks, Parsons, Rowan. Subs not used: Jo Thompson, O'Connell, Touray.

Referee: Steve Hughes.

Attendance: 661.