MARK Molesley warned that ‘a wounded animal is a dangerous animal’ as Weymouth prepare to host a Gosport Borough side reeling from a 4-1 defeat to Dorchester Town in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South.
A Ben Seymour brace and goals from Josh Bailey and Harry Kite sent the Boro to defeat on Saturday, but Molesley knows Gosport’s assistant-manager Matt Tubbs will not be happy, and drilling the side ahead of their visit to Weymouth.
Molesley said: “A wounded animal is a dangerous animal.
“I am sure they are hurting and they will want to react quickly from that.
“I know Tubbsy (Matt Tubbs) I know that he will not be happy with that (the Dorchester loss) and he will be getting the boys up for us.
“You see the way teams sometimes raise their game when they come here. People enjoy coming here to play us and test us so look we are under no illusions, it is going to be another tough game.”
In the same fixture last season Weymouth eased to a 5-0 victory over the Boro, who were very poor opposition on the day, but Gosport are much-changed since.
The Boro have since added ex-Magpie David Jerrard and former Terras Matt Tubbs and Tony Lee, while ex-Dorchester man Sam Lanahan had returned to Gosport shortly prior to the 5-0 drubbing.
Gosport are also in a different situation, sitting three places above the relegation zone, while last season they were embroiled in a lengthy fight against relegation that saw them only escape late on, to Dunstable’s demise.
When asked about the changes to Gosport, Molesley replied: “Like always we do our home work, we are quite diligent. We have had them watched, we will take stock of today and then see what best foot to go forward with.
“At this stage of the season with so many games it is about getting the balance right, and keeping everyone fit and fresh because there is a lot of football to play and that is up to me to get right.”
Weymouth come into the match off the back of a superb 4-0 win against Frome Town, with Brandon Goodship netting a hat-trick and Yemi Odubade enjoying a storming start to his Weymouth career.
When asked if the connections with Gosport will add some extra spice, Molesley replied: “Yeah definitely. It’s a small world down here in football so there are connections everywhere. I think that could add to it but we have just got to concentrate on ourselves.”
Weymouth now find themselves in what could become a two-horse race for the title with Taunton Town.
Weymouth sit five points behind the Peacocks, but with two games in hand, and should they win those two games Weymouth would be eight points clear of third place Salisbury and a point ahead of Taunton.
Molesley said: “They have obviously got the scoreboard pressure I suppose but we just take one game as it comes, we don’t get too carried away.
“All we can do is take care of ourselves.”
The Terras could have Abdulai Baggie back, who missed the Frome win due to knocks sustained in the 3-1 penalty shoot-out win over Dorchester in the Dorset Senior Cup quarter-final.
Molesley, referring to Baggie, said: “We will hope so, Baggie obviously took a couple of knocks on Tuesday night and played a lot of football so we did not push him (against Frome).
“So we are hoping he will be in the running for Gosport and that will be a big plus, another fresh pair of legs coming back. So hopefully he will be ok (for Gosport) if not then he will definitely be ready for Saturday (against Needham Market, in the first round of the FA Trophy).”
