Match Preview
Weymouth face Hitchin Town in their final regular season game of the 2017-2018 Evo-Stik Southern Premier campaign. The Terras are now fifth in the table but results on the final day could mean that Mark Molesley’s side finish as high as second, but could also remain in that fifth position. A second or third placed finish would mean that Weymouth would have a home semi final play-off tie; fourth or fifth would mean an away tie against either King’s Lynn, Slough or Kettering.
This game will be the first at home since a 1-1 draw with Banbury United on the 14th April and follows two away trips to Kettering Town and Kings Langley. Hitchin Town have had a mixed season but have just been crowned the BigFreeBet.com Challenge Cup winners after beating Didcot in the final. Weymouth generally have a relatively poor record against the canaries and on the last outing back at Top Field earlier in the season, the Terras lost 3-1.
Current League Standings
| # | Team | Pl | HW | HD | HL | AW | AD | AL | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | Pts |
| 5 | Weymouth | 45 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 7 | 9 | 100 | 48 | 52 | 94 |
| 11 | Hitchin Town | 45 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 9 | 17 | 67 | 63 | 4 | 66 |
Team News
Ashley Wells is set to be assessed after struggling with a swollen foot for the past couple of weeks.
News From The Terras
Assistant Manager, Tom Prodomo spoke to theterras.com before this encounter.
“We are looking forward to this game and everyone is ready. In our last game before the play-offs, it will be good to play in front of our fans who have been absolutely brilliant throughout the season.
“From a personal point of view, this season has been fantastic and it’s an honour to be at the club. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot, working with Mark and the management team.
“Mark demands a certain standard that we all follow, and we have a team that continues to work hard and they are hungry to succeed. The support from the fans is tremendous, making it an environment that has been good to work in.”
When asked about looking at other results that may determine where the Terras play on Wednesday, Prodomo is relaxed.
“It would be dangerous for us to look at the other scores. We will be making sure we are looking at ourselves and how we do things because that is what we can control. We have prepared for Hitchin as we do with every other game. The players are fit and ready, we’ve managed the squad over last couple of weeks but now everyone is ready.”
News From The Canaries
Hitchin Town manager Mark Burke spoke to their official website about the Canaries injury worries.
“We travel to Weymouth for our final game of the season and we really are down to the bare bones as Roy has outlined in the bulletin. If we had not had such a large squad we would be struggling to field eleven players!
“However I know the players left will give their all and hopefully we can return with some reward.”
One to Watch
Michael Johnson
23-year-old shot stopper impressed against the Terras in November last year, despite struggling with an injury he was still able to pull off a string of saves to frustrate Weymouth.
With Brandon Goodship desperate to score 40 goals this season, Johnson could expect to be in for a busy afternoon!
Johnson had previously held the number one jersey at Stotfold and Letchworth Garden City Eagles.
The Stats Say
Weymouth have had a poor record against Hitchin Town in recent years with only one victory in the last nine meetings between the two sides.
Since the start of the 2011/12 season Weymouth have met Hitchin Town 13 times with a record of W4 D3 L6; in these 13 meetings Weymouth have scored 18 times and conceded 22 times.
Admission Info
Adults – £11
Concessions – £8
Children (Under 16s) – £3
Bob Lucas Stadium,
Radipole Lane
Weymouth
Dorset
DT4 9XJ
Last Time We Met
Weymouth and Hitchin Town last met in November 2017, when a 3-1 victory meant Weymouth had suffered four defeats in a row.
Brett Donnelly opened the scoring for Hitchin in the first 6th minutes before a rocket from Charlie Davis meant both sides went into half-time level.
A second half brace from Eliot Bailey took the game beyond doubt; a Weymouth side who were without Calvin Brooks, Ashley Wells or Brandon Goodship could not find an answer.
Hitchin: Johnson, Cotter, Walster, Dowie, Webb, Bickerstaff, Green (C Donnelly 66), Smith, B Donnelly (Vincent 78), Bailey (Kirkpatrick 84), Charles.
Subs not used: McNamara, Rolfe.
Terras: Travers, Cooper, Buckley, Carmichael, Down, Davis, Saruci, McCarthy, Thomson, Wakefield (Baker 73), Baggie.
Subs not used: Sa, Boore, Harvey, Molesley.
Attendance: 453
Terras Man of the Match: Pat Saruci
