Terras fall to defeat at Evesham after late sucker punch
Summary:
Weymouth returned from their 300-mile round trip to Evesham with nothing to show for their efforts, after being undone by a long ball six minutes from time. What started as a fairly tight game opened up in the second half, but the Terras failed to convert any of their chances and fell to their first defeat of the Jamie Wells reign.
Match Report:
The Terras arrived for their longest away trip of the season with exactly the same squad as their previous two games, though travelling fans were buoyed by the site of Reuben Reid joining in with the warm-up. Manager Jamie Wells made just one change to his starting XI after last week’s draw with Wimborne – Euan Pollock dropping the bench while Barney Stone came in to lead the line.
The first half was a tight affair, with few clear-cut chances for either side. Evesham thought they had opened the scoring after seven minutes, but the linesman’s flag was already up for offside before Dunbar’s effort crossed the line. Bearwish came closest to scoring for the Terras, but his early shot was comfortably saved by the keeper and another effort later in the half was wide of the target. Evesham were getting the ball into Weymouth’s box at regular intervals, but to little effect.
Weymouth had made a change after 36 minutes when an injury to Genesini forced him off the field. His replacement Douglas was asked to play out the match in the unfamiliar position of left back, where he did a solid job.
Into the second half, and the Terras were the first to create a few chances. Robinson and Goodship both struck their shots straight at the keeper, then Stone beat Evesham’s offside trap only to be denied a shot by some great last ditch defending from Richards. The home side responded with chances of their own as the game turned into an end-to-end affair. But as Weymouth pushed for a winner, they got caught out six minutes from time when Evesham’s keeper launched a long ball up to Wright, who flicked it on for Middleton to race through the Terras defence and knock it past Evans.
The Terras had a great chance to rescue a point just moments later as Pollock fought his way to the byline and pulled the ball back to Goodship, but the striker failed to hit the target from five yards out as the keeper closed him down. That would be the last clear chance from another frustrating afternoon for the Weymouth faithful, who have now seen their side score just 4 goals in the last 7 games.
Reaction:
Speaking to Radio Terras after the game, Jamie Wells reflected on the even nature of the game, saying “I thought 0-0 probably would’ve been a fair result …I don’t think we were quite as good second half as we were first half … but we still created opportunities”. Asked about his side’s poor scoring record, he believes there are goals in the team, adding “if we weren’t creating then I would be concerned … now we’ve got to get into that habit of putting it in the back of the net”.
Weymouth remain one point above the relegation zone in 18th place, after all four teams below them also failed to win. The Terras now take a short break from league action on Wednesday when they visit Sherborne Town for their Dorser Senior Cup semi-final, before hosting league leaders Walton & Hersham at the Bob Lucas Stadium on Saturday.
Lineups:
Terras: Evans; Betts, Brooks, Watt, Genesini (Douglas 36); Bennett (Burrows, 65), Robinson, Bearwish, Gray (Pollock, 59); Goodship, Stone
Subs not used: Moss, Stavrianos
Robins: Harris; Foye, Barlow, Richards, Poffley, Steele (Wright, 62), Awadh (McConnell, 81), Bojang, Dunbar (Middleton, 73), Walters (Heap, 58), Churchley (Liggett, 67)
Subs not used: none
Goal: Middleton (84)
Attendance: 351
Media:
Watch Jamie Wells’ post-match interview here:
Scroll through the match photos here: 10-Jan-2026 Evesham United vs Weymouth | Flickr
Check out some highlights on YouTube courtesy of Craig Newton here: | Evesham United FC v Weymouth FC |
Match Report by Ian Middlebrook
