WEYMOUTH 3
Cooke 10, Brooks 69, Santos 72
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE 1
Taylor 5
WEYMOUTH beat Havant & Waterlooville 3-1 in manager Brian Stock’s first game in charge.
This match will have served as a perfect warm-up for the National League season, with Stock’s former club Havant full of niggly tackling and potency up front.
Prior to kick-off, those present observed an immaculate minute’s silence for late ex-manager Fred Davies, kitman Pete Dennis and former Dorset Echo sport Nigel Dean.
Looking assured from the start, Havant took the lead after a slick move created space for Josh Taylor to control and then drill a low 20-yard effort past Gerard Benfield into the bottom-right corner.
Weymouth were behind for just four minutes when Cooke, who beat the Hawks’ offside trap to loud howls of derision from the away bench, scooped a sumptuous lob over keeper Ross Worner.
Cooke’s afternoon last just 23 minutes, though, as the tall striker went down with an injury and made his way off to be replaced by Ben Thomson.
Benfield had to be alert to divert a fierce Tommy Wright shot behind via his legs, while Tom Whelan forced a solid save from Worner at the other end.
Havant conjured the final chance of the first half when Lucas Sinclair spun free of the home defence and tested Benfield, who once more had to make an agile low save.
After the break, Weymouth constructed a flowing counter led by Thomson and the Terras eventually supplied Josh McQuoid on the left only for his final ball to drift beyond Brennan Camp.
Weymouth took the lead in the 69th minute when sub Calvin Brooks stole in at the back post to power a downward header into the net past Worner.
Poor defending from Havant cost the Hawks a third goal when a cross was allowed to drift to the lurking Alefe Santos at the back, the Brazilian pummelling his shot home.
Weymouth could have scored a fourth when Murray chipped a cross to Brooks but Worner held on to the right-back’s volley as the Terras ended the dominant side.
Terras: Benfield, Camp (Brooks 59), Harfield (Leslie-Smith 59), Anderson (Zubar 46), Trialist, McCarthy, Whelan (Ngalo 59), Wakefield (Robinson 70), Robinson (Murray 59), McQuoid (Santos 59), Cooke (Thomson 23).
Havant: Worner, Read (Poku 46), Straker, Magree, Taylor, Deakin, Sinclair, Gomis (Read 59), Robson, Wright (Dowridge 59), Trialist (Ajakaiye 46).
