Weymouth cruise past Boatmen

SHOLING 0

WEYMOUTH 3

Robinson 15, Thomson 24, Williams 90+4

WEYMOUTH secured their place in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup with a dominant 3-0 win over Sholing at the Mackoy Stadium.

Boss Mark Molesley made just one change to the Terras’ starting XI that beat St Albans 4-1 last weekend, midfielder Josh Wakefield replacing Jake McCarthy.

Josh McQuoid and Ade Olumuyiwa also made their returns to the match-day squad, both among Weymouth’s bench.

Weymouth survived a scare just minutes into the game when goalkeeper Calum Ward came charging out of his goal to clear the ball, a lack of control led to him being dispossessed, fortunately his team-mates were able to spare him further embarrassment and prevented the hosts from capitalising on the error.

Early wobble aside, Weymouth took control of the game and never appeared under much threat from the Boatmen.

Andy Robinson gave the visitors the lead after just 16 minutes, calmly slotting home a well-timed through ball.

The Terras came close to doubling their lead just four minutes later, a last-ditch challenge prevented captain Stephane Zubar from getting on the end of a low-driven Ollie Harfield cross.

It didn’t take long for Weymouth to find a second though, Yemi Odubade’s determination to keep a wayward shot in-play proved valuable, his pass allowed Ben Thomson to tap in from close-range.

Abdulai Baggie had an opportunity to extend the visitors lead just before half-time, finding space in the middle of the field to shoot from 20 yards, however, it was a tame effort that ended up being a comfortable save for goalkeeper Ryan Gosney.

The second half opened with Baggie finding himself one-on-one with Gosney, this time forcing the Sholing keeper to make an excellent low-diving save.

Calum Ward was on the receiving end of a yellow card for time-wasting.

Josh Wakefield was also booked shortly after for a clumsy challenge inside the centre circle, he was subbed off minutes later for central-midfielder Jake McCarthy.

The hosts made two changes as they looked to find a way back into the game, replacing Alex Sawyer with James Lauder and Brad Targett with Sam Tonks.

Sholing came close to reducing the deficit on the 69th minute with Dan Mason firing a shot from the edge of the box, however, it was just wide of the post.

Brett Williams and Ashley Wells replaced Ben Thomson and Ollie Harfield as Terras’ boss Molesley looked to protect his teams lead and close out the game.

Weymouth had a flurry of half-chances inside the final 10 minutes of the game, Calvin Brooks worked his way into the box but was unable to get his shot away before being disposed.

Shaun Hobson headed the ball wide from a corner and Lionel Ainsworth’s effort inside the box was narrowly deflected over the bar.

The final minute of the game saw another Calvin Brooks’ effort saved by the keeper, this time though substitute Brett Williams pounced on the rebound to give Weymouth a 3-0 lead, putting any doubts about the tie to bed.

The gulf in quality between both teams was evident to the 515 in attendance at the Mackoy Stadium.

The Terras for large parts of the game dominated possession of the ball and looked a constant threat when going forward.

Abdulai Baggie had a stand-out performance, his pace and creativity was simply too much for the opposition full-backs to handle.

The only disappointment for Weymouth will be that they didn’t score more this afternoon, however they won’t dwell on that for too long.

Weymouth now look ahead to the third round of qualifying in the FA Cup – with the draw for the next round being made on Monday afternoon.

Sholing: Gosney, Mclean, Roundell, Miller, Cuthbertson, Bulpitt, Mason, Sawyer, Nicholas, Mason, Targett, Falodi (52), Lauder (62), Tonks (80).

Subs not used: Faithfull, Johnson

Weymouth: Ward, Harfield (Wells 74), Wakefield (McCarthy 65), Zubar, Ainsworth, Thomson (Williams 71), Baggie, Odubade, Robinson, Brooks, Hobson.

Subs not used: Rees, McQuoid, Murray, Olumuyiwa