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Weymouth hold nerve in Gore shoot-out
By Dan Rose
| WEYMOUTH scraped their way through to the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy, as they were made to go all the way to penalties in their replay at Burnham tonight.After a combined 210 minutes of football across the two ties, spot-kicks were the only way both sides could find the net, as neither team could break the deadlock.
Both clubs made one alteration to their starting line-ups from Saturday’s stalemate. Tim Sills, who went for a scan on his knee earlier in the day, was passed fit to start up front for Weymouth, with Tristan Plum-mer dropping to the bench. Burnham replaced Garry Jones with Nathan Webb. Weymouth saw most of the possession on a troublesome Burnham surface early on, and it was Stewart Yetton who hit the first shot on target after initially giving himself a sighter. The frontman looked to add to his 16 goals this season when he worked Alex Lynch on eight minutes and although the keeper spilled the shot, he soon gathered at the second attempt. Burnham skipper Brad Hewitt then chopped down Chris Shep-hard 35 yards out which earned the visitors a free-kick just past the half hour mark, but the delivery was dealt with by the Blues and eventually went to safety. Defender Calvin Brooks then found his way into the referee’s book after he was adjudged to have pulled back Burnham striker Nicke Kabamba, who was proving to be a handful. Burnham winger Tom O’Regan, who was lively operating on the flank in the reverse fixture, then worked Matthews with a shot for the first time as he pulled the trigger on 34 minutes, and the Terras’ stopper got down well with his feet to deny him as the Blues began to sharpen up. George Rigg then miscued an effort and received a few jeers from the sparse home crowd, and a flat opening half came to an end when Burnham’s Romaine Wal-ker couldn’t place his effort on goal, as the sides went in at the break level. And the second half started in much the same vein as O’Regan blasted high and wide, and Kabamba could not take his best chance of the contest after latching on to a weak back pass. Rigg then won a corner for the visitors and the second ball fell to Adam Kelly, who scuffed his effort two yards wide of a post just past the hour mark. Yetton then spurned a great opportunity when Shephard’s free-kick found him inside the area, but he could not obtain a clean enough connection as the Terras continued to seek inspiration to progress. Blues’ keeper Lynch was then forced to turn the ball around a post from a Sills strike, and the veteran frontman then received treatment for a head injury. He battled on but neither side could find a breakthrough as Weymouth were forced into their second spell of extra time this season. Yetton saw another opportunity saved by Lynch as both teams showed their weariness in extra time, Matthews himself even carried a Burnham player off the field who was carrying a knock. The Terras then shuffled their pack in the second period as Jake Wannell and Sills were replaced by Jordan Copp and Plummer, as the visitors looked to have one more push at the Blues’ backline. But although the changes did not pay off in open play, Plummer and Copp both found the net from the spot as the contest went to penalties, along with Yetton, Kelly and Shephard, and when Burnham captain Hewitt lifted the ball over the crossbar, the Terras had booked their place against Cray Wanderers at home on November 29.
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