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Disciplined Terras earn away point at the Valley
WEYMOUTH were forced to settle for their third stalemate of the season.
The Terras shared a goalless draw with Redditch United but it was the former who enjoyed arguably the better opportunities at the Valley.
Skipper Scott Walker had a goal controversially disallowed while striker Ben Joyce saw an effort tipped on to a post.
Brendon King spoke in Friday’s Echosport about the need to tighten up across the pitch and be more respectful on the road. And the Terras’ boss got his wish with a second clean sheet of the campaign.
He said: “We are disappointed not to have won the game because overall we did enough to win it.
“We set our stall out and gave the lads clear instructions that we didn’t want to concede – and if we nick one, we nick one.
“We wanted to be more compact as a unit and we were. The pleasing thing was we looked a lot more solid and disciplined and the onus was on Redditch as they were at home.
“It was 0-0 at half-time and we probably shaded the first half. We came out for the second half and were on fire for 20 minutes but we didn’t score.
“That was the only negative really as you have got to score when you are on top because it takes the pressure off.
“But in terms of the way we set out and the things we spoke about beforehand, I was pleased.”
Unsurprisingly, King named an unchanged line-up after the Terras’ maiden victory last Monday – a 4-2 triumph over Bideford.
However, the visitors almost found themselves trailing inside the opening minute as Mark Danks found himself one-on-one with Simon Evans.
Fortunately, the latter came out on top with a smart save.
United maintained the early pressure and a cross-cum-shot from Liam McDonald just shaved the upright.
Weymouth responded and a scramble in the home box eventually fell to Joyce. However, last week’s hat-trick hero could only find the side netting.
The same man shot wide shortly after, following good work from Craig Duff, before the Terras had a goal harshly ruled out.
Walker headed the ball out of the hand of home keeper Niall Cooper and fired home, but the referee penalised the former so it remained goalless.
At the other end, a McDonald free-kick narrowly cleared the Terras’ crossbar.
Weymouth again went close to breaking the deadlock just past the half-hour mark as Joyce latched on to a through ball from Barry McConnell but saw his strike pushed on to a post.
Redditch continued to carry a threat though, and after the Terras failed to clear their lines, the ball cannoned off Danks and hit the woodwork before falling into the arms of a grateful, yet fortunate Evans.
Duff was then denied by Cooper in added time to ensure it was all-square going into the break.
The Reds’ stopper was again forced into action two minutes into restart, Dan Smith providing the shot on this occasion, before the Terras saw two further chances go to waste.
First, Smith was again thwarted by Cooper and then from the resulting corner, Kyle Critchell nodded just over the top.
Cooper was much the busier of the two glovemen at this stage and he had to keep his wits about him to avoid being lobbed by Smith following a fine diagonal ball from Walker.
But that was to be the last action of note as the game petered out and finished honours even.
