Weymouth 1-3 Evesham Utd
A goal in the 25th minute by Evesham’s Ethan Dunbar marked a disappointing start to Weymouth’s Premier Division South campaign and what would end in a season opener of defeat. With two yellow cards in the first half and lack of cohesion among the players the Terras ended their opening home match fourth from the bottom of the table, marking another year without three points on the opening day.
FIRST HALF
The match began with an unnerving opening for the Terras, as goalkeeper Clark’s first touch led to a tense moment where the ball went straight against an Evesham player, taking the ball into the penalty area and almost resulting in a quick first-minute goal for the Worcestershire outfit.
The opening 10 minutes were slow, with misplaced passes and a lack of rhythm from the Terras, and despite Weymouth’s first corner in the 12th minute, taken by Oakley Hanger, which was an excellent ball in, there was no conversion to a goal.
The first 14 minutes saw numerous throw-ins and some good composure from Callum Watts, but the score remained 0-0. Evesham found it easy to exploit Weymouth’s mistakes where they were playing themselves into trouble, and Evesham eventually took the lead with a powerful shot into the back of the net after the ball dropped to Ethan Dunbar at the edge of the area in the 25th minute.
Weymouth continued the first half struggling to create spaces and deal with the press of Evesham, showing a lack of cohesion. Goodship was booked in the 30th minute, and Reuben Reid’s close header, which went wide of the left-hand post, was the best chance Weymouth produced.
Evesham’s second goal came from a corner in the 39th minute. A poor clearance attempt by Brearwish dropped the ball centrally in the area, and Josh Barlow finished with composure into the top corner. A handball by an Evesham player in the 43rd minute gave Weymouth a corner, but it was delivered over everyone, resulting in a throw-in for Evesham.
With two minutes of extra time added onto the first half, Callum Watts entered the referees notebook, giving Weymouth two yellow cards. Josh Barlow almost made it three goals to in the closing moments of extra time in the first half .
SECOND HALF
At the start of the second half, Robinson made way for Burrows and Douglas for Gyebi, and it looked like a good start for the second half, with the Terras appearing to come back fighting with Brandon Goodship’s 103rd goal for the Terras in the 48th minute, putting them back in the game.
It was short lived with Evesham responding quickly with Levi Steel’s goal in the 49th minute, scoring at the near post and doubling their lead once again.
The second half didn’t bring any better luck for the Terras, with a non-existent midfield giving Evesham an easy afternoon. Oakley Hanger performed well despite the challenges, and Watts made way for Tom Hewlett’s debut with 15 minutes to go, but it wasn’t enough to pull back their losses.
Tom Beawish found himself booked following a foul in the final moments of extra time. Ending the season opening with a 3-1 loss wasn’t the start the Terras had hoped for.
Weymouth were unable to recover their performance, ending their season opener ending in defeat.
Match report by
Jayne Degiorgio
