Odubade brace earns Terras’ point in six-goal thriller
TAUNTON TOWN 3
Neal 3′, 51′ Buse 20′
WEYMOUTH 3
Odubade 12′, 59′ Thomson 19′
Yemi Odubade’s coolly taken penalty earned Weymouth a draw in an incredible Evo-Stik Southern League Premier South encounter which had seen the Terras come from behind twice at the Viridor Stadium.
The Terras had been trailing 1-0 after Rocky Neal opened the scoring early on before a quick-fire double from Odubade and Ben Thomson gave Weymouth the lead.
Barely a minute later and Taunton Town had levelled the game when former Terra Matt Buse headed past Lloyd Thomas.
Dan Sullivan regained the lead for the Peacocks, but it was Odubade’s penalty which finished the goalscoring as the top two sides in the league had to settle for the draw.
Weymouth went into the game with Calvin Brooks, Jordan Seabright and Stephane Zubar unavailable, whilst derby day hero Brandon Goodship started from the bench. Similarly, Taunton Town were without experienced goalkeeper Lloyd Irish, former Weymouth defender Ed Palmer and wide-man Ryan Brett.
Taunton Town came straight out of the blocks and forced a corner within the first couple of minutes which Ben Adelsbury headed over.
It wasn’t long before the Peacocks found themselves in front, Rocky Neal cut inside from the left wing and tucked the ball into the far corner.
Weymouth looked to hit Taunton Town back quickly and Ashley Wells played in Ben Thomson, who fired a curling effort wide of the post.
Lloyd Thomas was tested again after ten minutes when Keith Emmerson met a Sullivan corner with his head, but the Weymouth keeper held the effort well.
After just 11 minutes, some great link-up play down the Terras’ left wing between Abdulai Baggie and Callum Buckley saw the latter cross the ball into a crowded penalty area and Odubade was on hand to level the scoreline.
Only 8 minutes later, Weymouth found themselves in front. Josh Wakefield became the provider when he played a through ball into the path of Ben Thomson, whose turn of pace saw him out-sprint the Taunton Town backline and take the ball around Mike Davies to slot the ball into an empty net.
In-keeping with the frantic start to the match, former Weymouth midfielder Matt Buse equalised for Taunton just a minute later when Pierce Mitchell’s cross found him at the back post to header in.
Weymouth continued to play on the front-foot, Jake McCarthy headed over from a Josh Wakefield free-kick.
The game saw it’s only real flash-point when Sullivan upended Baggie on the halfway line with a committed challenge, to the dismay of the Weymouth players the referee deemed this not to be worthy of a free-kick but it did see both men spoken to for their reaction.
Mike Davies then produced two incredible saves in the Taunton goal, Ben Thomson headed goal-wards but Davies had to be at full-stretch to claw the ball out for a corner and then he was there again to push away a Wakefield volley.
Ashley Wells was booked before half-time for a cynical tackle which prevented Sullivan running through on goal.
The Peacocks started the second-half in a similar vein to how they started the first, an effort from Matt Wright saw them inches away from taking the lead, but on 51 minutes it was Rocky Neal who was there again to put Taunton back in front.
A Dan Sullivan corner found Neal at the back-post who had the simple job of tapping the ball home.
Again, the Terras responded quickly, a spectacular long-range effort from Jordan Ngalo rattled the Taunton bar and rebounded out for a goal-kick.
Shortly before the hour mark Ben Thomson was hauled down in the box by Shane White and with usual penalty taker Brandon Goodship still on the bench, Yemi Odubade stepped up to send Davies the wrong way and equalise again for Weymouth.
Odubade then had a chance to score a hat-trick but his low driven shot whistled past the far post, after which he was substituted for Brandon Goodship.
Weymouth top-scorer, Goodship nearly found himself through on goal after only being on the pitch for a couple of minutes, he managed to squeeze through three Taunton defenders, but the ball ricocheted for Davies to gather easily.
Still pushing for a winner, Weymouth’s Josh Wakefield came close to finding the top corner, but his effort was just wide of the post and Callum Buckley nearly became the unlikely hero when he cut inside but had his shot pushed wide by Davies.
Taunton then started to apply the pressure in search of a late winner, but an onrushing Lloyd Thomas was quick to prevent a Peacock’s attack and then the Weymouth defence had to clear a corner in the dying seconds of injury time.
Weymouth are next in league action when Poole Town visit the Bob Lucas Stadium on Tuesday 1st January (3pm kick-off).
Taunton: Davies, Mitchell (Nelmes 63), Hall (Dodd 81), Adelsbury, Emmerson, Buse, Chamberlain, Sullivan (Veal 71), Wright, White, Neal.
Subs not used: Sullivan, Hallett.
Terras: Thomas, Wells, Buckley, Ngalo, Sherring, McCarthy, Wakefield (Baker 85), Carmichael, Thomson, Odubade (Goodship 75), Baggie.
Subs not used: Sa, Martin, Molesley.
Attendance: 1,461
