South West Regional Womens league division 1 south (06/04/25)
Weymouth 1
Thornicroft 35’
Saltash United 2
Friend 66’ Symons 78’
An impressive performance against promotion chasing opposition was undone by 2 poorly defended set pieces, as Weymouth slipped to a third straight loss on Sunday.
After a cagey first quarter of an hour in which both sides dealt with set pieces effectively, the first big chance of the match arrived for the Terras on 21 minutes when Thornicroft got away from a defender and rolled it across the box into the path of Screen, but the Terras’ top scorer miscued her shot and it was comfortably gathered by the Saltash goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, Screen headed over the bar from Webb’s cross, and then Fowler saw a stinging drive blocked by a brave defender, as Weymouth had a good spell.
They were knocking the ball around with pace and using their wingers effectively, and it was that which led to the opening goal on 35 minutes. Ellia Webb was sent down the right flank and drove to the byline, before pulling it back for Kaydee Thornicroft to stab it home from the edge of the 6 yard box to give Weymouth a deserved lead.
Saltash came close to an equaliser on the stroke of half time when a corner was cleared from under the bar by Roberts.
Title chasing Saltash started the second half on the front foot – seeing a header wide from a corner, and on 52 minutes Heybourne was down quickly to her right to tip an awkward dipping shot wide.
A couple of wayward strikes from range were watched wide by Heybourne, before the Terras keeper made an outstanding save on 66 minutes. The striker did well to wriggle her way through a couple of challenges in the box and tried to find the bottom corner, but Heybourne showed great reactions to tip it behind for a corner.
Unfortunately, that was undone from the resulting corner, as Friend headed home at the near post to pull Saltash level.
Weymouth nearly responded a minute later when Thornicroft was teed up by Screen, but her powerful shot was well held by the visiting keeper.
On 70 minutes, Roberts’ free kick was fumbled by the keeper, but she managed to gather it at the second attempt despite pressure from a couple of Weymouth players.
The game was becoming stretched with both sides going in search of a winner, and the all important goal arrived for the visitors on 78 minutes. It was a disappointing goal for Weymouth to concede as another corner wasn’t dealt with. A brief game of penalty box pin ball ensued before Symons fired home from the middle of the box to seal a crucial victory for Saltash, which puts them in the driving seat to win the league, after their title rivals Plympton suffered defeat at home to Weston-Super-Mare.
A tough defeat to take for Weymouth as their performance certainly merited something from the game, but the performance should give them confidence to secure a top half finish in their final 3 games on the road, starting at Plympton next Sunday.
The Terras’ development team picked up a creditable point from a 2-2 draw at Poole Borough in the Dorset development league, thanks to 2 goals from Georgia Richards. They travel to Bournemouth Electric next Sunday.
Terras starting XI: Heybourne, Potter, Paul, Screen, Webb, Clark, Redding, Thornicroft, Porter, Roberts, Fowler. Subs: Sapsford, Scragg, Goodhew, Masters. Unused – Wilson
