Claridge recalled Matt Bound to the centre of his defence and included Lee Philpott after he passed a fitness test and the early signs were as Adam Wilde's looping header from a Lee Philips cross dropped just behind the crossbar.

But then Bishop's won a left wing corner in their first real attack and it bought them a seventh minute lead.

Goalkeeper Jason Matthews's ineffective punch failed to clear the area and the ball was knocked goalwards by visitor's skipper Dave Rainford. Paul Hakim back-heeled it into the goalmouth and Tim Langer blasted a first-time volley into the roof of the net.

As the Terras battled to make something from plenty of possession, Nathan Bunce headed a Philpott corner over the top and Paul Buckle pounced on a Claridge lay-off before driving past the right hand post of goalkeeper Rob Elliot who sprawled to save a low effort from Martin Barlow.

But the visitors continued to look menacing on the break and the dangerous Richard Howell almost made use of oceans of space on the right hand flank after 26 minutes, finally being grounded inside the area by Philpott's challenge with the visitors howling in vain for a penalty.

Then in a three against three sortie, Martin, Hakim and Langer passed their way into the area for Langer to cut inside from the left and strike a fierce right foot drive that missed Matthew's far post by inches.

Miuntes later Mark Graham drifted in from the left as the Terras defence back off and his powerful shot whistled wide of the opposite upright.

With Bishop's getting nine men behind the ball whenever Weymouth were in possession, the home side were restricted to shooting from long range and Robbie Pethick, Wilde and Buckle were all just off target with efforts from outside the area.

When the breakthrough finally came three minutes before the interval it was Philips who engineered it.

His run between two defenders on the left turned the Bishop's rear-guard and his square pass was gobbled up by Claridge who deftly side-stepped his marker before drilling a low shot past Elliott from eight yards.

Phillips should have then sent his side into the break with a lead when Claridge's neat first time lay-off in the centre of the park sent him surging clear of the visitor's defence. But with only Elliott to beat he clearly couldn't decide his best option and ended up dribbling tamely into the advancing keeper. With Bishop's again targeting the freedom Howell appeared to be getting on the right wing, the Terras could have found themselves behind again straight from the re-start.

Howell's cross found Rob Gillman closing in on goal and a last ditch lunge from Robbie Pethick did just enough to harass him into shooting over the bar.

Then a Langer miss-kick from ten yards left the Terras off the hook again after Howell's low centre bobbled through the area.

Ian Hutchinson replaced Philpott in the 65th minute and was soon celebrating an assist for Claridge's second. He clipped Barlow's cross on towards his player-manager in the six-yard area and Claridge turned sharply before smacking the ball home from close range.

Bishop's were still far from finished however and substitute Duane Jackman drove into the side-netting from eight yards before Nathan Bunce did a superb job of shepherding the ball away from Hakim deep inside the 'Terras' area.

The tension eased again for home fans after 82 minutes when Claridge played in Wilde on the left and the former Worcester City was tripped by Elliott as he took the ball around the sprawling keeper.

Referee Eric Mackrell decided a yellow card and penalty was sufficient punishment and Claridge made no mistake from the spot for his hatrick.

That should have been it, but there was more drama in the final minutes as the visitors refused to lay down. Jackman shot over the bar in a goalmouth scramble before brushing aside Steve Tully's challenge in stoppage time and beating Matthews at his near post.

And with an anxious Claridge now ranting at his troops from the technical area after bringing on left back Simon Browne to restrict Howell's forays, the final whistle didn't come a split second too soon for the Terras.

Mr Mackrell blew up for time as Rainford lined up a shot from the edge of the area and the ball flew into the top corner.

Weymouth: Jason Matthews, Steve Tully (Chukki Eribenne 77mins), Adam Wilde, Nathan Bunce, Matt Bound, Robbie Pethick, Paul Buckle, Martin Barlow, Steve Claridge (Simon Browne 84mins), Lee Philpott (Ian Hutchinson 65mins), Lee Phillips.

Subs not used: Shaun Wilkinson, Dave Waterman

Bishop's Stortford: Rob Elliott, Anthiny Allman, Gareth Gwillim, Dave Rainford, Anthony Fenton, Rob Gillman (Scott Forbes 77mins), Richard Howell, Alex Martin (Steve Parmenter 83mins), Paul Hakim, Tim Langer (Duane Jackman 65mins), Mark Graham.

Subs not used: Ollie Blackwell, Andrew Young

Referee: Eric Mackrell (Petersfield)

Bookings:

Weymouth: Buckle (foul), Barlow (diving)

Bishop's Stortford : Elliott (foul)