Recap

Terrific Terras Hit Ten

Weymouth Women 10

Beasley 15’ 72’, Roberts 30’ 50’ 67’, Howard 39’, Wilson 70’ 74’ 84’, Webber-Green 89’

Merley Cobham Sports Ladies 2

Fraser 56’ 73’

Report: James Spring

Weymouth Women’s first league game since early December could hardly have gone any better as they put on a tremendous display of attacking football to comfortably defeat Merley Cobham Sports at Budmouth School.

Kate Osment once again played the role of stand-in keeper after her cup heroics against Holt United, whilst Tasha Sibley and Ash Taylor were also unavailable. But the absentees didn’t stop the Terras from making a fast start.

Just 4 minutes into the contest Lily Beasley signalled her intent when she won the ball in the middle of the Merley half and sent a deep cross into the box. It fell to Charlie Wilson who hit a shot wide of the mark, before Shakira Howard fired just over the bar a few minutes later following a bit of pinball in the box.

On the quarter-hour mark, the breakthrough arrived. Lily Beasley hassled a Merley defender and won possession. She charged away from the defence and went through one-v-one with the goalkeeper, calmly slotting it into the bottom corner to give the Terras a deserved lead.

The visitors slowly began to gain a foothold after that opening goal and Weymouth had to withstand an aerial bombardment, as the game became a bit stop-start with lots of niggley fouls, but the Terras’ defensive unit held firm.

At the half-hour mark, Weymouth got their second goal on the break. Lucy Roberts beat the offside trap and raced through before lashing it home.

Merley almost responded minutes later when a corner was floated into the front post, but Kate Osment punched it to safety and Weymouth cleared their lines.

Charlie Wilson then saw another shot from range fly inches over the bar, before Shakira Howard made it 3-0 five minutes before the break. It all started with the evergreen Sarah Webber-Green winning it on the edge of the box and feeding the ball to Shakira Howard. She worked herself some space and fired it under the goalkeeper to have the Terras in control at half time.

Howard was to play a key role in Weymouth’s next goal just 5 minutes after the restart, as she pressured the Merley goalkeeper Karla Jordan into a mistake and her clearance was picked up by Lucy Roberts. She drilled an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to make it 4-0.

Howard was in the mix again just three minutes later when she broke through the offside trap and tried to find the top corner, but Karla Jordan in the visitor’s goal made a brilliant save – tipping it wide for a corner.

Credit to Merley, they continued to work hard and they managed to pull a goal back on 56 minutes. Lauren Fraser latched onto a long ball over the defence and slotted it home for 4-1.

Shakira Howard almost restored the four-goal margin just minutes later when she managed to get on the end of a cross ahead of a defender, but she poked it narrowly wide of the mark.

Becca De Havilland then saw her header from a Beasley corner cleared off the line, but a fifth for Weymouth duly arrived on 67 minutes. Sarah Webber-Green played a fantastic ball out wide to Lily Beasley on the wing. She sent a pinpoint cross into the unmarked Lucy Roberts at the back post and she made no mistake – completing her first hat-trick in the claret and blue.

Merley hadn’t brought any substitutes and they were starting to tire by this stage, and Weymouth showed no mercy.

On 70 minutes Charlie Wilson got in on the act, as Merley failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to her on the penalty spot. She created room for the shot and drilled it into the bottom corner to make it 6-1.

Less than two minutes later Beasley got her second and Weymouth’s seventh. A clearance fell to her on the edge of the box. She controlled it and unleashed an absolute rocket that flew into the top corner of the net. The goalkeeper barely saw it before she was picking it out of her net. Definitely the goal of the game.

The frantic pace continued, and from the restart Merley got another goal back again through Lauren Fraser, but within less than 2 minutes Weymouth had another.

This time Naomi Johnson showed brilliant feet to dance past several defenders and get to the byline, before pulling it back to Wilson who tapped home for her second. This made it 8-2, for those of you struggling to keep count!

Johnson was almost on the scoresheet herself on 80 minutes when she forced another excellent save from Jordan in the Merley goal after more good play down the wing from Beasley.

On 84 minutes Charlie Wilson became the second player to get a hat-trick on the day. The simple recipe of a Beasley pinpoint cross and a Wilson finish proving irresistible yet again, as Weymouth made it 9-2.

And there was still time for them to notch double figures for the second time this season in the last minute of normal time. Another pinpoint corner from, you’ve guessed it – Lily Beasley, and Sarah Webber-Green was on hand to head it home almost underneath the crossbar to cap off a fantastic afternoon’s work for Weymouth.

The first half wasn’t easy and Weymouth had to earn their right to play in the blustery conditions, but once they did they really were unstoppable, and if it hadn’t been for some good work from Jordan in the Merley goal, who knows how many goals it could’ve been.

All of the top 3 won on the day so Weymouth remain four points off top spot, and three points behind Holt, although both Weymouth and Holt have a game in hand on current leaders Redlands Rebels.

Next up for Weymouth is a tricky trip to fourth-placed Broadstone next Sunday.

Terras: Osment, Wootton, Potter, de Havilland, C.Barnard-Irons, Webber-Green, Wilson, B.Barnard-Irons, Beasley, Howard, Roberts.

Subs on: Johnson, Lusty, Wilkinson, Whelton-Legg