This weekend we have a festive treat in store with the 176th “Ridgeway derby” involving the Weymouth first team!
How you rate the importance of this local derby is probably dependent on your generation and who you support but for most fans it’s probably fair to say it’s the one Terras supporters don’t want to lose and the one Magpies fans desperately want to win. And there is more than usual at stake this weekend with both sides desperate for points (as well as bragging rights) to pull away from the wrong end of the table.
But over the decades it’s generally been the club south of the hill that’s taken the spoils with 102 victories to just 38 for those in black in white in all games. That trend stretches all the way back to Weymouth’s very first season in 1890/91 and their fifth game ever, a 3-1 “friendly” win at Lodmoor.
Recent times have been equally successful for the Terras with just one loss in the last 15, the most recent a 2024 friendly but, if we just look at competitive games, Weymouth are currently protecting a 11 game unbeaten run, the last Mapgies derby win being a 2015 southern league game at their ground.
And the hosts will point to a better record against us in the county town as they have won 6 league and cup games there in 16 tussles this century although again the Terras can take confidence from three wins on the trot on the artificial surface.
In terms of the most famous games between these two, it’s difficult to look beyond a couple of record breakers – our club record win against all-comers in 1899, (16-0) and the fixture that coined the “Who eight the Magpies?” headline on Boxing Day 2003, (8-0).
Whether Terras player Calvin Brooks returns from injury for the game is unknown but if he does he will feature in his 13th Ridgeway derby for the Terras – quite possibly another record!
But his name is just one of well over 100 who have played for both sides over the years making it the “player’s derby”! Therefore it’s no surprise that all three of the top goalscorers in the last 30 years of this fixture have featured for both sides although all have only scored for one of the rivals – 6 each for Brandon Goodship & David Laws for Weymouth and 5 for Matt Groves when with Dorchester.
For whatever reason the league decided this fixture would be on 27th December rather than the traditional 26th, denying the clubs a 20th Boxing Day tussle for now but we have played the derby on this day before now, if just once – 1999 in a 1-0 win for the Terras under Andy Mason.
Will this be another one for sorrow for the Terras or can the Terras win again against the Magpies on the 27th making it two for joy?…
Match Preview by Duncan Gardner
