James the third
By Adam Summers

Wednesdday 14th March 2007

WEYMOUTH’S five-game winless run at the Wessex Stadium finally came to an end last night thanks to a late strike by James Coutts.

The AFC Bournemouth loanee fired home in added-on time after Crawley had hit back twice through Scott Rendell and Tony Scully to cancel out Stuart Beavon’s opener and Magnus Akuonghae’s own goal.

Birthday boy Jason Matthews also had a big hand in the win. The 32-year-old made several tremendous saves including a superb penalty stop in the first half.

Weymouth made one change to their starting line up with youngster Callum Crawley replacing Brian Dutton in midfield. The 17-year-old came on and impressed as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 home loss against Altrincham
on Saturday.

The Terras also included new boy Anton Robinson in their squad. The former Fisher Athletic midfielder joined Conal Platt, Narada Bernard and Louis Bell on the bench. Platt was returning from a three-match suspension.

Crawley included ex-Yeovil Town pair David Woozley and Ronnie Bull in their side along with former Terra Marcus Richardson.

The opening minutes were even with both sides failing to keep possession. In fact the ball spent most of the time in the air as both sets of players struggled to settle.

Simon Weatherstone blazed over after Nick Crittenden cut the ball back to the edge of the box from a corner before Beavon had a 20-yard shot deflected wide when he perhaps should have put Raphael Nade in.

Weymouth were definitely getting on top and on 12 minutes skipper Trevor Challis went close when his header from a corner was blocked on the line.

Crawley responded seconds later by creating havoc at the other end. Home defenders Tony James and Adam Cottrell both looked hesitant as Rendell was allowed to cut the ball back from the by-line, narrowly missing the on-rushing Richardson.

Visiting captain Dannie Bulman then curled a long-range shot into the arms of Matthews before a clever flick by Beavon set up Weatherstone whose ten-yard half volley ricocheted wide off the leg of Town stopper Ben Hamer. The former Boston United man should have scored.

The Terras were nearly made to pay for that miss on 23 minutes when Darius Charles raced into the area and was brought down by James. It was a definite spot-kick and the defender was lucky not to receive his marching orders. Instead referee Mike Mullarkey chose only to show him a yellow card.

Rendell stepped up to the spot but Matthews stood his ground and made a fine block to his left to the delight of the home fans.

To add insult to injury Rendell then met a fine cross from the left and sent a powerful header towards the target but once again Matthews was there to thwart him with a superb one-handed save

Crawley continued to dominate and on 33 minutes they nearly had a second penalty when Scully raced away and was tripped by Ishmael Welsh. Luckily for the Terras the man in black judged that the first point of contact had happened just outside the area.

Coutts blazed over at the other end after Beavon had a shot blocked before Nade nearly got on the end of a free-kick with his head at the far post. The Ivory Coast-born striker complained that he had his shirt tugged but Malarkey waved away his appeals.

Weymouth got the perfect start to the second half. With just four minutes of the period gone, Welsh found space on the left and when he crossed from the by-line Beavon was there to add the finishing touch from six yards.

In response Stephen Evans had a weak shot comfortably gathered by Matthews before Rendell made up for his earlier spot-kick miss by levelling on 57 minutes. The powerful forward stole in and finished from close range after Weymouth had failed to clear a free kick,

Conal Platt replaced Crawley on 61 minutes and not long after that Welsh exited for Bernard.

Seconds later Coutts went close to regaining the hosts’ lead when he managed to break into the box from the left but his shot deflected off Akuonghae and looped over the bar.

The Terras were now looking dangerous and on 72 minutes a fine run by Beavon enabled them to go 2-1 up. The impressive forward raced into the area and squared the ball across the six-yard line where Akuonghae diverted it into his own net.

Despite going ahead again, Weymouth carried on going forward with Beavon firing over from 20 yards. Robinson then came on for Nade on 78 minutes but three minutes later Crawley levelled.

Evans broke into the box and was denied by a brilliant save by Matthews but Scully was on hand to fire in the rebound.

Crawley went close to winning the game soon after when Scully’s cross found Rendell 14 yards out. The forward shot’s flew towards substitute Lee Blackman but he could only divert it over the bar.

The game looked like it would end level but in added-on time a fine run and pass by Platt set up Coutts who applied a cool finish to snatch his side the three points.