Weymouth v Chelmsford City

Recap

Weymouth suffered a 3-0 defeat to Chelmsford City at the Bob Lucas Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Terras looked to find the lead early on when Joel Rollinson’s corner was sent into the back post. Anthony Cheshire rose highest to meet the set-piece, nodding it down towards goal. Oluwayemi was alert to the chance and got there to make the save.

Two minutes later, the Terras came even closer when Brandon Goodship’s free kick hit the post. Weymouth’s number ten fired in a low curling shot that split through the middle of the wall before taking a knick off the post before going wide for a corner.

The Terras were put under pressure from the clarets in the 27th minute when Freddie Hockey found Jermaine Francis in the area. Francis seemed to juggle the ball between his feet before the ball was eventually cleared away.

A ball from the far side a minute later was played over Gerard Benfield towards Mohamed Bettamer. The forward made contact with the cross but could only guide the ball into the side netting.

The visitors took the lead in the 31st minute when a fast counter attack gave Callum Watts the ball in the area. Watts then played in Hockey, whose first time shot had beat Benfield between the sticks.

The Terras had a gilt-edged chance to get back into the contest six minutes before half time. A long ball up towards the far side was met by O’Connell, who pinged in a low cross to Roberts in the middle of the box. The striker teed up Tom Bearwish to release a first time shot, but the keeper, on-loan from Portsmouth reacted brilliantly, denying the shot

Roberts on half time mark, found by O’Connell, mis-fired the shot, rolling into the gloves of Oluwayemi.

Ben Brookes swung the ball into a dangerous area on the 51st minute mark, finding Charlie Ruff in the box. Ruff’s first-time shot looked rushed with the ball skewing wide.

Two minutes later, Ruff had another chance to double the visitors lead. The forward rose highest for a corner but Benfield parried the ball away.

Later, in the 64th minute, Rollinson combined well with Charlie Rowan for a Terras corner, but the keeper made a save.

Gerard Benfield was called into making a fantastic save on the hour mark. Jazzi Barnum-Bobb received the ball in a dangerous position, striking the ball into the ground whilst through on goal. Despite the ball bouncing, Benfield reacted brilliantly to tip the ball onto the right post before jumping on the chance getting both hands behind it.

Leo Hamblin made space for a curling strike in the 71st minute, but the effort with his right boot went inches wide of the goal.

The visitors doubled their lead in the 75th minute. Mohammed Dabre looked fresh after coming on as a substitute and took on a shot across the face of goal. Benfield reacted well to deny the shot but the ball came back out to Barnum-Bobb in the area who tapped in the rebound.

Things looked to go from bad to worse for the Terras with ten minutes left when Chelmsford were awarded a penalty. Ruff, who was fouled by Rowan for the penalty, stepped up to take the spot kick but his shot was read well by Benfield- parrying the ball away to his left, keeping the score at 2-0.

Ruff was played through on goal again with minutes to go, but the midfielder got it all wrong when he tried to dink the ball over the head of Benfield between the sticks, giving the keeper a chance to pinch the ball in mid-air.

Anthony Cheshire saw red in added time after a shirt pull on Luke Jenkins. Callum Jones stepped up for this spot kick, sending Benfield the wrong way.