Terras salvage pride in farewall match
by Brian Copp

Tuesday 28th April

Fans cheer them on as they fight back to draw

Weymouth undoubtetdly finished on a high note in their final match at the Rec last night. Their second-half performance went close to snatching victory, and caretaker manager Stuart Bell said: "I was proud of them."

A crowd of well over a 1000 - all admitted free of charge - changed from deriding the team for a first-half effort which again left so much to be desired, to applauding their performance and practically willing the Terras to come from behind and win.

The Terras could not quite to dthis, but they did the next best thing, recovering from being behind 1-0 down at the interval and 2-1 down after 68 minutes to forcing a well deserved draw.

And in the end the fans seemed satisfied as their applause continued long after the final whistle for this GM Vauxhall Conference game.

EXTRA

Tony Agana and Anniello Iannone, who both have the distinction of having twice won Weymouth Player of the Year Trophy, pulled out something extra in a battling second-half to help the team salvage some of the pride they lost in losinhg at home to bottom club Gravesend two days earlier.

But it took the Terras some while to start hitting anything like form, and another disappointing opening 45 minutes they took strong half-time criticism from Bell, who told me: "I left the players no doubt about how I felt about their first-half performance."

However, in almost the same breath, Bell was quick to praise the side for finding ability to step up a gear in the second-half.

Sutton always looked likely to score in the opening period, and two minutes from the interval they made it, where their most enterprising striker, Francis Awaritefe, caught Pat George with a low drive.

Everyone feared the worst, but Weymouth pulled themselves together, and in the 63rd minute, Iannone paved the way for an equaliser.

Agana rose inches higher than Sutton central defender Stuart Hemsley to beat Ron Fearon, the ex-Reading goalkeeper, with a downward header.

Five minutes later, Sutton hit back hard. Awaritefe brialliantly beat Paul Arnold and switched ball accurately to the far post for Nigel Golley to put Sutton ahead again.

But the Terras did not fade on this occasion. They seemed to be caught up with the mood of the crowd, who were urging them to attack, and Fearon was lucky to sweep away a close-range shot from Peter Turrell with a leg.

HELPLESS

The goalkeeper was left helpless in the 78th minute when Turrell chased hard to take possesion on the left of the field and managed to hit over the centre.

Agana sent in a header which cannoned from the bar, but Mick Doherty was right on hand to nod the ball into the open net.