Match Preview: Weymouth v Eastleigh – Tuesday 15th February 2022 – 19:45
It’s Tuesday night football at the Bob Lucas Stadium as Weymouth take on Eastleigh in the Vanarama National League.
THE TERRAS
After a strong performance on Saturday at the Bob Lucas Stadium against Chesterfield, David Oldfield will be hoping for more of the same against Eastleigh tomorrow evening. A strong defensive team performance was rewarded as Weymouth worked the press well with Ahkeem Rose and Brandon Goodship able to break away, with Brandon finding Akheem in the area to finish to earn a 1-1 draw. There will be optimism that the team can build on this and find a crucial three points to aid the fight for survival.
Speaking after the game against Chesterfield, David Oldfield commented on tomorrow’s game:
“We have to re-double our efforts from today, make sure that we prepare as much as we can and we will analyse what we need to do to win the game”
LAST SIX
TERRAS 1-1 CHESTERFIELD
KING’S LYNN TOWN 3-0 TERRAS
YEOVIL 1-1 TERRAS
TERRAS 0-1 ALDERSHOT TOWN
TERRAS 1-2 DAG & RED
BOREHAM WOOD 1-1 TERRAS
Weymouth currently sit 21st in the table with 18 points from 27 games
THE SPITFIRES
Eastleigh, currently managed by Jason Bristow following the departure of Ben Strevens last month, find themselves in 14th place with 9 wins from their 26 games played so far. The Spitfires are unbeaten in their previous two matches however have only picked up one win since the turn of the year and that was against the Terras at the Silverlake Stadium, which finished 3-2. The six league fixtures since that date have seen the Spitfires fall to defeat against Halifax, Stockport, Chesterfield and bottom side Dover, whilst picking up draws against Maidenhead United and Yeovil Town in their previous two fixtures. Similar to the Terras, Eastleigh have only picked up two away wins in the league this season so far, which makes tomorrow evening an interesting encounter.
Player To Watch: Tjay De Barr
The 21-year-old Gibraltan international joined the Spitfires this month on loan from Wycombe Wanderers where he had made seven appearances before joining Eastleigh. With Eastleigh only scoring two goals in their previous six, Tjay will be hoping to get off the mark for the Spitfires tomorrow evening to aid the team’s aim to get back to winning ways.
LAST SIX
EASTLEIGH 0-0 YEOVIL TOWN
MAIDENHEAD UNITED 2-2 EASTLEIGH
EASTLEIGH 0-1 CHESTERFIELD
DOVER ATHLETIC 1-0 EASTLEIGH
STOCKPORT 3-0 EASTLEIGH
NOTTS COUNTY 2-1 EASTLEIGH (FA TROPHY)
Eastleigh currently sit 14th in the table with 33 points from 26 games
@TerraStatman’s Facts of the Match
Not so wise against the men of the East(Leigh)
In 12 games (including four friendlies) against our relatively near neighbours, we have a record of P12 W1 D3 L8. Our first tussle was in a Southern league cup tie in 2004. Player-manager Steve Claridge scored one goal that day but failed to engineer a victory from the field of play and we were soundly beaten 5-2. Our solitary win was back in our Conference South winning campaign in 2005-06 under Garry Hill when a goal apiece from Harris & McGrath was enough to ensure The Spitfires returned back over the border empty handed that day.
A Silver(lake) lining?
Since then we have struggled to score against the Silverlake-stadium-based-outfit with just two goals in seven encounters before our agonising 3-2 loss last month when McQuoid and Goodship found the net for the Terras. Last season just one Ngalo strike in the two festive league games was enough to gain two points over today’s opponents as a 0-0 draw away 14 months ago was followed up by a 1-1 draw seven days later at the Bobby Lucas. Incidentally, all of our three goals in games against the Spitfires in the last two seasons have arrived in the 74th minute or later so we will be hoping for earlier strikes tomorrow! Meanwhile Tom Whelan has the opportunity to score against us with a second different club following his strike for Chesterfield in the previous campaign.
Pedigree Chums?
In terms of “pedigree” between the clubs today, the Terras sport a lower average place in the non-league pyramid over the last 20 seasons than our opponents at 6.25 compared to 6.05 for Eastleigh. (5.0 being Conference National level, 6.0 conference south). This is the 8th consecutive season for Eastleigh in the top flight of non-league football, a plateau following a steady rise through the non-league pyramid. Twenty years ago they were plying their trade in the Wessex league, at the three steps below their current level!
Claret & Blue & um….blue!
The selection of those players who have turned out for both teams are….
Ashford, Ryan
Baggie, Abdulai
Bearwish, Tom
Blair, Tom
Bound, Matt
Challis, Trevor
Clarke, Tom
Dean, Michael
Dutton, Brian
Laws, David
Louis, Jefferson
Matthews, Jason
Puckett, Dave
Richardson, Steve
Smith, Dan
Taggart, Tony
Vickers, Ashley
Whelan, Tom
SUPPORTER INFORMATION
Anyone who had bought a ticket for the postponed game against Eastleigh in December will have it automatically transferred to tomorrow’s re-arranged fixture, however, if required, the ticket(s) may be cancelled and either a voucher issued for future games, or a refund requested – all requests to be sent to : refunds@weymouthfootballclub.co.uk.
Click here to purchase tickets
