Beaten by the weather
By Matt Pitman

Wednesday 19th October 2005

WEYMOUTH'S hopes of making it nine games unbeaten were sunk at the Wessex Stadium.

The in-form Terras, whose last defeat was against St Albans City on August 29, were unable to overcome the weather last night. Drawing 1-1 with Weston-super-Mare in torrential rain, referee Kevin Pike called off the Conference South contest after 42 minutes.

With conditions having become farcical, the Gillingham official sensibly called a halt to proceedings in the interests of safety. It was the right decision as both
teams struggled to complete even short passes on a pitch fast resembling Radipole Lake.

Neither Terras boss Garry Hill or his Weston counterpart Frank Gregan had any complaints and probably the only question mark was whether the match should
even have started.

Right from the kick off, conditions dictated this would not be a fixture for the footballing purist. In the 42 minutes of play allowed, the two teams found life hard going but it was the hosts who looked like they would go on to collect the three points.

Weymouth defender Matt Bound headed an equaliser after Matt Rawlins had given the visitors a 21st minute lead.

Both goals were impacted by the rain-sodden pitch - Rawlins opened the scoring after a mistake by Terras midfielder Andy Harris.

His defensive header towards keeper Jason Matthews was held up by surface water allowing Rawlins to gain possession and drive home.

Minutes later the hosts were the ones left grateful to the conditions as a loose ball skidded away for a lucky 36th minute corner.

From it. Shaun Wilkinson's delivery was only half-cleared to Roy O'Brien whose hammered shot was headed home from close range by his defensive partner
Bound.

Seconds after the restart, the downpour became even heavier and it seemed only a matter of time before the match was called off.

Players from both sides continued to question referee Pike who after consulting his assistant Mark Pottage finally ordered the teams off three minutes before the interval.

Inevitably; there were a few murmurs of discontent from the home faithful but the decision was generally accepted by those who had shunned the warmth of the front room for a night at the Wessex.

Like the goals, nearly every attacking move during the 42 minutes that were played was affected by the conditions in some way.

Terras midfielder Brian Dutton had the ball in the net early on but his effort was ruled out for offside.

An early indication of what was to follow came when winger Lee Elam set off on a couple of strong runs for the hosts.

But each time the former Yeovil Town man looked to be in full-flow he was stopped in his tracks through the surface water.

Striker Kirk Jackson's close range stab after Wilkinson's cross was well-handled by Seagulls' keeper Ryan Northmore, before Lewis Hogg fired straight at Jason Matthews at the other end.

The visitors had conceded a whopping ten goals in two league games going into this contest, but they showed no sign of that form when Rawlins put them ahead.

But falling behind only served to spark Weymouth into life and the home side nearly equalised on 33 minutes.

Steve Tully combined well with Wilkinson down the right who sent over a superb cross for the recalled Dutton.

The midfielder did well to fire in a scissor-kick from 12

yards which Northmore turned around his right hand post.

The Terras pressure eventually told when Bound deflected O'Brien's shot into the net for the equaliser. But just minutes later, the players were trudging off when referee Pike called it a night.