Terras winning run ended by late show at Gloucester
Summary:
Weymouth’s run of four wins in all competitions was brought to an end on Saturday when they fell to defeat at the hands of second-placed Gloucester City. After conceding late in the first-half, a Brandon Goodship penalty put the Terras back on level terms. But the game would end in disappointment as Gloucester scored twice in the final minutes to clinch victory.
Match Report:
After three straight wins in the league, Jamie Wells understandably stuck with the same team that had beaten Poole the previous week. His options were limited in any case, with Calvin Brooks still injured, meaning Euan Pollock continued to cover at centre-back, while new signing Matt Neale was a welcome addition to the bench.
After a cagey start, the first real opening in the game fell to Gloucester after 16 minutes when Lewis found space in the Weymouth penalty area. He fizzed the ball across the face of goal where it was turned in by Simpson, but home celebrations were cut short as the flag went up for offside. Both sides were then forced into early changes due to injury, with Baidoo replacing Phillips for the hosts after 28 minutes, and Burrows making way for Reid just 4 minutes later.
Gloucester went close on 35 minutes, as Siddall skipped his way through the Weymouth midfield, but dragged his shot wide from the edge of the penalty area. Weymouth’s best effort of the half came in the 42nd minute when Robinson struck a fierce drive from 25 yards out, but Jared Thompson managed to hold onto it.
Unfortunately the Terras went behind just two minutes later – Siddall picked up the ball on the left wing, drove to the byline and pulled the ball back into the 6-yard box where Pinchard’s shot went straight into the ground before popping up over Evans and hitting the net via the underside of the crossbar. Gloucester nearly doubled their lead immediately afterwards, when Evans saved from Lewis and the follow up from Baidoo came back off the post.
Now needing a goal, Weymouth came out much more aggressively after the break and looked much the better of the two teams. Their hard work was rewarded 10 minutes into the second-half when Reid took the ball into the host’s penalty area and nutmegged Thomas before being brought down. The referee pointed to the spot and Goodship stepped up to score his 9th goal in 8 games, sending Thompson the wrong way.
As the game progressed, the home side began to press Weymouth further back looking for a winner, while Reid was looking more and more isolated up front for the Terras. Evans parried away a curling effort from Watts after 75 minutes, and two minutes later a space opened up for Spence in the Weymouth penalty area but he dragged his shot wide.
Gloucester finally regained the lead just 2 minutes from time when Watts cut inside from the right wing and curled a low cross towards the back post which evaded everyone, deceived Evans and ended up in the back of the net. The hosts then looked to run down the clock as the game drifted into injury time, before Watts once again managed to find space on the right wing and delivered a cross which Evans could only deflect into the path of Baidoo to wrap up the three points.
Reaction:
Speaking to Radio Terras, Jamie Wells said his tactical approach to this game was to stop the opposition playing through us; “… we let them have the ball … they get bored, send the ball over the top and we pick it up”. After the break, he felt that “we started the second half really well … we looked more like the side that was going to go on and win it”. However, he conceded that his side ended up on the back foot in the closing stages; “football’s full of momentum … they got a little bit and we dropped off … which gave them a bit of scope … they got their two at the end and that was it”.
Despite the defeat, Weymouth remain in 16th place but the gap to the bottom four is now only 2 points and all the chasing teams have games in hand. Nevertheless, the Terras can look back positively after picking up 9 points from a tough run of 4 games which has included the top three teams in the league. They will be aiming to return to winning ways in their next game when they welcome Havant & Waterlooville to the Bob Lucas Stadium.
Lineups:
Terras: Evans; Betts, Douglas, Pollock, Hutchinson, Genesini (Neale, 91); Burrows (Reid, 32), Robinson, Bearwish, Goodship; Stone
Subs not used: Moss, Alfie Robinson, Stavrianos
Goal: Goodship (56 pen)
Tigers: J. Thompson; Lewis, O’Regan, Phillips (Baidoo, 28), Spence (Wildig, 78), Watts, Thomas, Pinchard, Mohammed, Simpson, Siddall (Hanks, 78)
Subs not used: Day, C. Thompson
Goals: Pinchard (43), Watts (88), Baidoo (92)
Attendance: 1,222
Media:
Watch Jamie Wells’ post-match interview here:
Scroll through the match photos here: 7-Feb-26 Gloucester City vs Weymouth | Flickr
Check out the video highlights here: Watts and Baidoo late goals sink Terras 🔥 | Gloucester City 3-1 Weymouth | Match Highlights
Match Report by Ian Middlebrook
