AFC Totton 2 v 0 Weymouth | 29th August 2011

Testwood torture for Terras
By Ky Capel

The Terras, who slumped to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bedford on Saturday, produced an improved performance against table-topping AFC Totton but returned home empty-handed nonetheless.

Boss Brendon King said: “It was a better performance than Saturday, which is important, but the disappointing thing is that we conceded two sloppy goals again.

“The first one came from a corner and although Nick Jordan made a tremendous save, it fell to one of their boys and he stuck it in. On another day it would have been cleared and it would have still been 0-0.

“For the second goal, we had possession 30 yards out but we gave it away and one ball over the top put them through. So overall it’s disappointing.

“Perhaps we gave them a bit too much respect to start with but we were still in the game at half-time.

“We needed to do things a bit quicker and a bit better, and we wanted the lads to have a go.

“They did and we huffed and puffed, but the final ball was not good enough. We just needed a bit more quality in the final third.

“The work-rate was a lot better though, we just need to become harder to beat, like we were in pre-season.

“We had a good chat afterwards and hopefully we’ve ironed out a few things and shaken things up for Saturday’s game with Evesham.”

King welcomed back captain Ben Gerring and fellow defender Ollie Tribe for the relatively short trip to Hampshire, with Tom Lang and AFC Bournemouth loanee Tim Stephenson the men to make way, while Matt Groves replaced Kyle Bassett in attack.

For the Stags, former Weymouth and Dorchester Town midfielder James Coutts and ex-Terras defender Matt Oldring were both unused substitutes.

And the Terras fell behind after just eight minutes at the Testwood Stadium.The visiting defence had the chance to clear a corner from the right, after Nick Jordan’s fine save, but failed to do so and Richardson was on hand to convert from inside the six-yard box.

The hosts continued to lay siege to the Weymouth goal and it took almost 20 minutes for the away side to gain their first opportunity.

However, Matt Groves was inches away from connecting with a dangerous corner.

It remained 1-0 going into the break but the Terras made a brighter start to the second period and saw Groves head wide before a Rob Wolleaston strike cleared the Stags’ crossbar.

But just as the visitors sensed an equaliser, the league leaders extended their advantage with 15 minutes remaining – Gosney the man on target.

There was no way back for the Terras and it was the hosts who should have bagged a third in the dying minutes, but Jordan came to the rescue.