LLOYD Thomas was full of praise for the Weymouth fans behind the goal, as the stopper made two penalty saves to help Weymouth to a 3-1 win on penalties against Dorchester in the Dorset Senior Cup quarter-final.
It completed a remarkable turnaround for the Terras, who had been 2-0 down after 29 minutes, due to strikes from Antonio Diaz and Ben Seymour.
However, Brandon Goodship narrowed the gap after 31 minutes, before Jordan Ngalo equalised with a stunning strike in the 90th minute, which led to the penalty shoot-out.
Thomas said: “I have never had that, I’ve never had that many people behind the goal.
“Normally it is just my old man, shouting at me telling me to come on but when you have got that many people behind you, chanting for you it really does make a difference.
“The only time I have seen that is at Fratton Park (the home of Portsmouth, where Thomas is from) when I was in the crowd doing it for my goalkeeper. It really does make a difference so thank you to them.”
Thomas clearly thrived off having noisy support from behind the goal and celebrated with the fans after the first save from Neil Martin, following Cameron Murray’s first missed effort for the Magpies.
Thomas said: “I think I did lose my head a little bit, going in after one save, jumping into the crowd but those saves were no fluke. I forced them that way I knew where they were going and you could tell, I was so committed to the save and I saved it.
“Normally when you go in half-hearted with a save, which I did for the one they (Tom Blair) scored you do not save it. You have just got to be committed.”
Thomas also praised the Terras for their comeback, saying it is just how the team do it and was pleased with how the team dug in.
Thomas said: “They came out of the blocks and made it hard for us, we were 2-0 down but that is what we are all about, not giving up.
“(Jordan) Ngalo pops up with a worldie and Brandon Goodship does what he does, week in week out and puts one delicately past the goalkeeper.
“Every player in the team dug in.”
Dorchester had made life harder for themselves however, as Ben Seymour received a straight red card for playfully raising his hands towards the face of Ashley Wells.
Thomas added: “120 minutes of that, even though it is 10 men, it makes it harder because you get impatient and you try to force things. But we kept playing the way we do and it happens it is how we do it.”
“I was on the bench for the 5-0 win, it was a league game so it was quite a big crowd.
“Every derby game is the same, regardless if it is the Dorset Senior Cup quarter-final, every derby game is the same.
“All form goes out of the window, even though we are flying high at the top and they are at the bottom, that all goes out of the window and everything is on the table to take.
“They took it in the first half, fair play to them, but what we are about is not giving up and we didn’t, it is why we have come away with a win.”
Weymouth host Frome Town in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South today (3pm).