Weymouth Women 2
Beasley 8’ 67’
Pen Mill Ladies 2
42’ 51’
REPORT: James Spring
Weymouth Women continued their pre-season preparations by playing out a hard-fought and competitive 2-2 draw against Yeovil based outfit Pen Mill Ladies, at the Marsh on Thursday evening.
Taking on a side who’ve competed at Step 6 in the South West Regional league for the last few seasons, manager Tasha Sibley used the opportunity to try out a new formation and try out some players in less-preferred positions.
Despite the new system, Weymouth made the quicker start and hit the front after just 8 minutes. New signing Jasmine Wareham marked her debut with an assist. She outran the left full-back and got the by-line before squaring the ball across goal to lily Beasley who had the simple task of knocking it in at the back post to give the Terras the lead.
Charlie Wilson tried her luck from range on the quarter-hour mark and forced a good save from the visiting goalkeeper.
Pen Mill gradually grew into the game and began to see more of the ball, but Weymouth did a good job of keeping their shape, closing down any potential danger, and ensuring Pen Mill didn’t have any clear-cut chances.
On the half-hour mark, Weymouth almost got a second goal on the break. Howard’s cross fell to Beasley. She laid it off for Wilson who forced another save from the goalkeeper.
Down at the other end, Kate Osment was well-positioned to hold onto a direct free-kick from the edge of the D.
On 42 minutes Pen Mill levelled things up. A mistake midway inside the Weymouth half saw them lose possession. Pen Mill switched the play and the ball was fed into the striker who lashed a powerful effort into the far corner from the edge of the box to send the sides into the break on level terms.
Weymouth started the second half brightly with some neat build-up play between Wareham and Naomi Johnson eventually leading to Lily Beasley shooting straight at the visitor’s goalkeeper.
On 51 minutes Pen Mill took the lead following a defensive mix-up.
Weymouth’s heads didn’t drop though, and they had a chance to level it up before the hour mark, but Tasha Sibley’s header was straight at the goalkeeper.
More good link-up play between Wareham, Johnson and Beasley lead to the latter whipping a teasing delivery into the box but it just evaded everyone and went behind for a goal kick.
Weymouth continued to work hard and on 67 minutes they were back on level terms. Shakira Howard played a neat ball across the field to Beasley who managed to outrun the defence and finish well past the advancing goalkeeper for 2-2.
Weymouth would finish the game the stronger of the two sides. The energetic Shakira Howard managed to keep a seemingly lost cause in play on more than one occasion, and she had a brilliant chance to win it for Weymouth late on when she broke the offside trap and raced through, but from a tight angle, she could only shoot straight at the goalkeeper who did well to hold onto the ball.
A good entertaining game, a creditable performance and result for Weymouth against strong opposition. Naturally, some players took a bit of time to adapt to their slightly different roles in this game, but once they did, they looked comfortable, and in the last quarter of the game they definitely finished the stronger and created the better chances to win the game.
TERRAS: Osment, B.Barnard-Irons, Potter, C.Barnard-Irons, De Havilland, Sibley, Wilson, Beasley, Johnson, Howard, Wareham.
Subs on: Wootton, Taylor.
