Calvin Brooks fires again for in-form Weymouth

WEYMOUTH inched closer towards securing a play-off spot as Calvin Brooks’ fourth goal in three games handed them a crucial 1-0 victory over Slough Town in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division.

The pivotal moment in the first minute of the second-half came with Ben Thomson and Abdulai Baggie working wonderfully to move the ball quickly through the Slough defence, before Baggie crossed in.

Weymouth were initially incensed as Brandon Goodship went down in the box while trying to make a connection but Brooks was on hand to fire in.

Unsurprisingly, Weymouth named a completely unchanged line-up to the 6-0 thrashing of Chesham United at the weekend, as both the starting team and bench were unaltered.

Slough Town Guy Hollis came in for Mark Nisbet in a tactical change while Lee Togwell and Perry Coles replaced the injured Ben Harris and the unavailable Manny Williams.

Barring corners the Slough attack rarely posed any threat during the opening stages and it was the Terras who first really threatened the goal.

Weymouth broke into the Slough half in the seventh minute with Thomson weaving through the Rebels’ defence, allowing Brooks to possess the ball but he fired over from inside the box.

Moments later Weymouth came incredibly close to scoring as the Slough defence gave Goodship a lot of space and he fired in a shot which Rebels’ keeper Jack Turner could only parry to Thomson who then forced the stopper into another great save.

From here the game burst into life as both sides began incisively duelling with the other team’s defence.

Slough had their first real opportunity in the 18th minute but it went high and wide of the post.

A mistake in the 23rd minute allowed Thomson to beat George Wells to a high ball and go one-on-one with Turner eight-yards out, but the Slough goalkeeper made the save.

A nicely worked move from Jake McCarthy from a corner saw Josh Carmichael dummy to allow the ball to roll through to Goodship on the edge of the box but the in-form striker fired over.

Soon afterwards, a fair tackle from Ashley Wells saw Simon Dunn eventually go off injured to be replaced by Matt Lench in the 33rd minute after two separate stoppages in play.

The half continued in this fashion until the break, with both teams posing a threat to each other but with Weymouth on top with the atmosphere inside the stadium living up to the billing.

Weymouth came out in the second-half firing on all cylinders and got the breakthrough inside 50 seconds.

Thomson and Baggie crafted the goal, moving swiftly through the Rebels’ defence before the latter crossed in, where Goodship tumbled under pressure but Brooks was there to fire in the ball in for his third goal in two games.

The Slough defence had to be alert to stop McCarthy firing in from inside the box not long after as Weymouth sought a second.

Goodship then curled a shot wide from the edge of the box, with parts of the home crowd thinking it was in.

Despite the chances for the Terras, Slough were getting a good chunk of possession and Zubar was marshalling the defence superbly as the Rebels had a good amount of possession but rarely created an dangerous chance.

A free-kick forced Zubar and Carmichael to clear from inside the box but again Weymouth countered, resulting in Goodship curling wide from a long way out.

Excellent play from McCarthy then saw him weave through as the Terras kept looking for a second goal.

Slough began to sit deeper as the half went on and this reflected in the Terras’ approach as increasingly fewer players went up for corners, with the home side happy to sit back and recycle the ball.

A late free-kick jangled the home fans’ nerves but the ball was slammed into the Terras’ wall prompting audible relief from the home fans.

Moments later the full-time whistle blew to the roaring delight of the home fans.

Weymouth are next in action on Saturday against fellow play-off contenders Kettering Town (3pm), who dramatically beat Dorchester 4-3.

Terras: Dennis, Wells, Buckley, Zubar, Caze Da Silva, Carmichael, McCarthy, Baggie, Thomson, Goodship, Brooks (Davis 89), Subs not used: Stewart, Baker, Sa, Wakefield

Slough Town: Turner, Fraser, Wells, Day, Hollis, Togwell, Dobson, Dunn (Lench 33), Coles, Davies, Harris. Subs not used: Jackman, Smart, Nisbet

Attendance: 822

Referee: James Robinson