MARK Molesley praised Harry Baker as “the saviour” after his late goal saw Weymouth beat Salisbury 4-3 away in a classic encounter in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South.
Baker came on for Cameron Murray in the 82nd minute, and just two minutes later was sliding towards the Terras fans having scored the decisive goal.
With Cameron Murray scoring his first goal and Tom McHale making his first appearance since re-signing for Weymouth, Molesley thought Baker’s effort and attitude stood out.
Molesley said: “Cameron’s first goal, Tom McHale’s first appearance, a lot of good things happened but what I think is Harry is the one for me. He has had limited chances this year and he has never shone away.
“His attitude has been brilliant and you see, if there’s anything you can aim at Harry over the last month he is almost so desperate to do well, so trying hard it just hasn’t gone his way as much as he would like to.
“He got his reward and that was the Harry Baker we all know and love. The saviour, the match winner, you are looking around for a moment and he is in at the right place at the right time with a calm head just to put the ball in.”
In a frantic second half it was Baker’s goal that brought to a close a 13-minute spell where five goals were scored.
This manic period saw Salisbury narrow the score to 2-1, recover from 3-1 down to equalise at 3-3, before Baker’s dramatic contribution.
Molesley was pleased with the first half showing, which Weymouth ended 2-0 up, but attributed the number of goals due to the torrential conditions in Salisbury.
Molesley said: “The game ebbed and flowed it had a bit of everything didn’t it?
“The first half performance I thought we were really strong, really dominant and played really well.
“In the second half the heavens opened up and it became a bit of a mudbath with slipping and sliding and you could see from the manner of the goals, all of the goals, it was defenders slipping and sliding. They were goalmouth scrambles.
“We got pegged back, in unfortunate fashion. The penalty was harsh to say the least but then we got away with one after so fortunately it probably evened itself up.”
Molesley admitted it was heartbreaking when Salisbury equalised through Aaron Dawson in the 81st minute, but praised his side for their endeavour.
Molesley said: “We had to keep digging in, keep shuffling and again show that resilience because I tell you what it was heartbreaking when they equalised.
“To come back and get the winner shows what this group is about, and the hard work and the endeavour from them boys was fantastic.
“We feel that we have probably come up short a little bit lately, we have not quite reached our heights by the standards we set ourselves.
“It just shows when the chips are down and a few people are questioning us, we come into a big game like this and we deliver a performance like that of that magnitude.
“I think that shows why we all get frustrated when things don’t go as well because we have seen how good we can be and what we can do.”
“It sometimes takes a big game to get us going but we have got to make sure now we learn from that and we take the positives and take that confidence into (tomorrow against Gosport).”
