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Weymouth at summit after Generals fall
By Dan Rose
| WEYMOUTH climbed to the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division summit once again after they were made to battle for three points against Chesham United at the Bob Lucas Stadium.Goals from Adam Kelly and skipper Stewart Yetton in the first half ensured Jason Matthews’ men leapfrogged Poole Town to hit the top spot, and record back-to-back league wins before they meet the Dolphins at Tatnam on Saturday.
With an unchanged starting XI, the home side struggled to settle early on, as Chesham had two good opportunities to open the scoring. A cross from the right flank was not dealt with by the Terras, and bustling frontman Simon Thomas worked Matthews at his near post from close range. A mistake from Terras’ defender Jamie Laird then left his goalkeeper stranded on the edge of the area, and the angles opened up for Chesham’s Luke Allen, who failed to find the target with the goal gaping from 30 yards out. Weymouth then went close with their first chance, as Chris Shephard forced a corner from Jamie Reid’s flick inside the box, from which Calvin Brooks lifted the ball over the top of the bar. Kelly then started a slick move down the right as he fed Reid, who made a clever run to beat the offside trap. He then cut the ball back into the path of Chris McPhee, who put his head in his hands as he sliced the ball wide of the mark from 10 yards out, knowing he should have scored. But the Terras only had to wait a further minute to take the lead. A weak header back to his goalkeeper by Chesham winger Ryan Towner allowed Kelly, who gambled on the opportunity, the chance to nip in and lift the ball over Shane Gore in the Generals’ goal to make it 1-0. And after Tom McConway worked Terras’ boss Matthews, captain Yetton, still sporting his protective headwear, doubled the home side’s lead on 28 minutes. He nodded home after being neatly picked out by Shephard’s clipped ball into the area. McConway hit a shot on the turn which failed to find the target, as Chesham penned Wey-mouth in for the opening few minutes after the interval. Kelly was then cautioned for a late challenge, and Reid’s deft chip did not quite have enough on it to pose a problem for Gore, after the Weymouth frontman outmuscled his defender on the edge of the area to break clear. But the Generals pulled one back when striker Ryan Blake was allowed the room to shift the ball on to his right foot and drill past Matthews, who was livid at his defenders for not shutting the danger down. Exeter loanees Connor Riley-Lowe and Reid then combined for the hosts, as the former stood the ball up at the back post for his Grecians’ team-mate. Reid then flicked the ball into the path of McPhee, who headed straight at goalkeeper Gore from inside the six-yard box. And with just under 10 minutes to go, Chesham’s Blake came close to earning his side a point. He outpaced three Weymouth defenders as Sam Poole was caught out of position, and clean through on goal, the striker fluffed his lines. And nervously, with a huge shout for handball from the Generals in the final moments turned down, the Terras held on to record their 12th home victory of the season.
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