Aldershot Town 0-2 Weymouth
A perfect night in Aldershot as Weymouth picked up a well-deserved three points and a clean sheet with a 2-0 victory over Aldershot Town.
Ben Thomson’s header from close range and an Aldershot own goal made sure that Brian Stock’s side take all three points back to Dorset in a lively encounter on Tuesday evening.
A strong performance from many individuals but particularly a good showing from the Terras back line, including a fantastic performance from Taofiq Olomowewe, who aided the Terras’ first clean sheet of the season.
A game which had many chances almost had the perfect start for The Terras within the first minute. Omar Mussa picked out a run from Tom Bearwish in behind the Aldershot defence, but Aldershot goalkeeper Mitch Walker dived down low to deny Bearwish in the early exchanges of the game.
Aldershot then created a couple of chances of their own with Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ryan Glover both striking at goal, but a strong Ross Fitzsimons was able to deal with both shots.
The opener came in the ninth minute when Tom Bearwish found himself on the right flank. Bearwish cut in on his left foot unleasing a menacing, curling effort towards the top left corner of the goal forcing a fingertip save from Mitch Walker, before Ben Thomson was there to nod home from a number of yards out to open the scoring.
On 26 minutes, there was another glorious opportunity for Tom Bearwish as Cameron Murray picked the ball up on the left flank and delivered a great ball towards the head of Bearwish inside the penalty area, but he headed narrowly wide of the goal.
Aldershot came out of the blocks in the second half in strong fashion with Mikael Ndjoli forcing Ross Fitzsimons to make important saves, denying Aldershot an opportunity to shift momentum their way. Weymouth had a great counter attacking move shortly after, leading to Josh Leslie-Smith who won the Terras a corner following a blocked shot at the near post.
Ollie Harfield delivered the corner won by Leslie-Smith which bounced off the ground, inside the box past the boot of Josh Leslie-Smith and off the chest of an Aldershot defender into the net, giving Weymouth their second goal of the game.
As the match entered its final stages, manager Brian Stock opted to bring on Ahkeem Rose and Martell Taylor-Crossdale who were positive in bringing the ball forward, holding up play and creating a number of chances. Aldershot keeper Mitch Walker pulled out two saves within the final ten minutes as Taylor-Crossdale sought to make it 3-0 with a couple of chances towards the end of the second half. Aldershot had one final chance with Ibrahim Akanbi striking from the edge of the area but was put wide as the referee blew for full time shortly after.
The result leaves Weymouth in 19th position and four points off the relegation zone. The Terras will now prepare to face King’s Lynn Town on Saturday afternoon at the Bob Lucas Stadium, with full confidence that they can make it back to back victories following Tuesday night’s performance.
ALDERSHOT: Walker, Kinsella, Wagstaff, Lyons-Foster, Edser, Andrews, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Glover, Jordan, Ndjoli, Vennings.
SUBS: Toure (52’), Akanbi (66’), Whittingham (66’)
Subs not used: Coulter, Bettamer.
WEYMOUTH: Fitzsimons, Cordner, Mussa, Thomson, McQuoid, Bearwish, Leslie-Smith, Robinson, Murray, Harfield, Olomowewe.
SUBS: Goodship (68’), Taylor-Crossdale (78’), Rose (82’).
Subs not used: Ash, Brooks.
ATTENDANCE: 1510 (104 away)
