Thurrock
turn the heat on woeful Weymouth
by Matt Pitman
Monday 27 September 2004
THURROCK piled the presure on Steve Claridge by condemning Weymouth
to
another Nationwide South loss.
The shot-shy visitors slumped again as defensive errors either
side of the break
gifted the Essex side a two-goal advantage.
It took the Terras 74 minutes to even manage a shot on target,
when substitute Lee Philpott reduced the deficit.
Rumour has it Weymouth officials are lining up a sponsorship
deal with an anti-depressant firm to help their long-suffering
fans who saw another miserable performance by their side.
And that dejection could be about to get worse with a FA Cup
tie at arch- rivals Dorchester Town this Saturday.
Claridge's under-performing side must be giving the Terras boss,
whose charges have won just 11 of 33 games this year, sleepless
nights.
Once again they were punished for a couple of errors at the
back by a strong and dominant Thurrock side who always looked
like victors.
The pattern to this contest was set virtually from the whistle.
The strong hosts, packed full of six footers, won a string of
cor ners and from one visiting keeper Jason Matthews pushed
Tresor Kandol's header wide.
Dave Collis' set-pieces were causing all manner of problems
in the Weymouth rearguard before Lee Hodges went close with
a dipping free- kick.
Thunderbolt
The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession, with Robbie Pethick
spraying a couple of delightful cross-field passes to left winger
Adam Wilde.
But the Terras lacked any cutting edge to test home stopper
Billy McMahon as only Pethick went close, seeing a thunderbolt
blocked by defender Jimmy
McFarlane.
Thurrock inevitably took the lead eight minutes from the break
when Collis released the tricky Kandol.
He easily got past defender Jamie Impey, who appeared to momentarily
stop, before racing clear and slotting home.
Kandol was having a field day and almost grabbed his second
on the stroke of half-time but he was prevented by a good block
from Chukki Eribenne, back defending in his own area.
Desperate Claridge changec things around at the break, moving
to a wingback system, and throwing on Lee Philpott and Nathan
Bunce for Pethick and Paul Gibbs.
Despite the alterations, the old habits remained as the hosts
made it two just three minutes after the restart.
A piece of quick thinking by Collis released Kandol, with the
Terras backline motionless.
The grateful striker took a couple of strides and easily beat
Matthews to leave the
visitors doing plenty of finger pointing.
Martin Lawrence was inches away from making it three midway
through the half and moments later Shane Thompson sent a low
drive crashing into the
side-netting.
Weymouth were yet to register a shot on target and when it eventually
came on 74 minutes, they halved the deficit.
A poor clearance from Jimmy McFarlane fell to Philpott who danced
through a couple of tackles and thrashed home an angle drive.
Despite playing so poorly, the Terras could have grabbed an
undeserved point with just moments left.
Wilde's curling cross from the left picked out substitute Lee
Charles at the far post whose downward header crashed against
the far post.
The rebound fell for Claridge with his back to goal but the
player-boss hooked agonisingly wide.
Weymouth: Jason Matthews,
Robbie Pethick, Paul Gibbs, Martin Barlow, Jamie Impey, Dave
Waterman, Paul Buckle, Chukki Eribenne, Steve Claridge, Steve
Tully, Adam Wilde
Subs:
Lee Philpott (for Pethick 45mins), Ian Hutchinson, Simon
Browne, Nathan Bunce (for Gibbs 45mins), Lee Charles (for Impey
65mins)
Thurrock: Billy McMahon, Dave Collis, Shane Thompson,
John Purdie, Jimmy McFarlane, Lee Hodges, Richard Goddard, Steve
Heffer, Martin Lawrence, Tresor Kandol, Cliff Akurang
Subs:
Simon Martin Kris Lee (for Kandol 59mins), John Buffong
(for Akurang 75mins), Mark Goodfellow, Ryan Kirby (for Hodges
90mins)
Referee:
G Kett
Bookings:
Weymouth: Tully (dissent), Barlow (foul), Bunce (foul)
Thurrock: none
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