Match report written by Rob Hammett, photography by Mark Stainer
Following Monday night’s 1-0 victory at Hemel Hempstead in National League South, The Seagulls turned their attention to cup football against a side they had played just eleven days earlier in a 1-1 draw.
The opening stages of this game looked like it was going to be another closely-fought encounter, but The Terras took the lead in the ninth minute when a corner from the left found its way to Charlie Rowan, who slotted the ball home.to put the Dorset club in front.
Weymouth then doubled their lead four minutes later when Tom Bearwish was able to advance forward and drill a low right-footed shot into the corner of the net to make it two.
The Seagulls tried to get themselves back in the game as Jordan Bastin’s free-kick was headed just over by Sam Avery, before Sam Pearson’s dangerous inswinging corner was headed off the line by a Weymouth defender.
Weston kept pushing and their perseverance was rewarded when Pearson received the ball on the left inside the area. His shot towards the near post hit the upright before the ball came out and appeared to hit former Weston man Will Buse for an unfortunate own goal.
HALF-TIME: Weston-super-Mare 2-3 Weymouth
At the start of the second-half, Weston then had strong claims for a penalty when James Dodd appeared to be barged to the ground, before Reid’s superb pass to substitute Brandon Bak saw the Bristol City loanee take it around Buse, but from the tight angle Weymouth were able to clear.
Bak was in the thick of the action as he did extremely well to find Keiran Thomas, who fired just over.
As the rain swirled around the Optima Stadium, The Terras looked like they were going to score again aa Weymouth substitute Malachi Linton was denied by Max Harris, who spread himself brilliantly to make the save.
It was an end-to-end encounter and Weston reduced the arrears when Bak scored Weston’s second in the 89th minute. Bastin’s corner was hard for the visiting defenders to deal with, and Bak tucked home with a clinical left-footed finish.
Brandon Bak tucked home with a clinical finish during the FA Trophy match – Photo by Mark Stainer
The referee signalled eight minutes of injury-time as The Seagulls forced a flurry of corners in an exciting finale, Harris remained forward as The Seagulls tried to force a penalty shoot-out, but it wasn’t to be.
FULL-TIME: Weston-super-Mare AFC 2-3 Weymouth (Buse og 44′, Bak 89′; Rowan 9′, Bearwish 13′, Goodship 50′)
Weston: Harris; Pope, Avery, Kirkman (Jagger Cane 69′); Thomas, Bastin, Dodd, Chamberlain (Rose 75′), Pearson (Lewis 89′), McCootie (Bak 75′), Reid.
Subs not used: Absalom.
Man of the Match: James Dodd. A hard-working performance from the man in the middle.
Attendance: 559
James Dodd with another hard-working performance in the middle of the park was named Man of the Match – Photo by Mark Stainer
