Gone for a Burton!
By Adam Summers

TEN-MAN Weymouth walked off the pitch at the Wessex Stadium last night scratching their heads how they did not claim at least a point.

The Terras looked in total command when Anton Robinson put them ahead on 18 minutes but when Stuart Douglas was dismissed 11 minutes later for catching John Brayford with an elbow they lost their way and the game swung in the visitors' favour.

Andy Corbett levelled on 40 minutes before substitute Shaun Harrad grabbed what proved to be the winner three minutes into added-on time at the end of the first half.

To their credit Weymouth showed superb character in the second period but they found 44-year-old Burton keeper Kevin Poole in fine form.

Coming into the game off the back of two away defeats, Terras' boss Jason Tindall made five changes to his starting line-up.

Justin Roberts, Kyle Critchell and Nick Crittenden all missed out through injury while Marcus Browning and Jefferson Louis were dropped to the bench.

Former Weymouth and current Rushden & Diamonds boss Garry Hill, and his right-hand man Kevin Hales, were among the spectators along with Salisbury City coach Simon Browne, another ex-Terra.

The ex-Boston United man went off for treatment and then returned to the action before finally withdrawing five minutes later for Harrad.

Albion looked ragged with no cohesion in their play and the Terras took advantage on 18 minutes when superb closing down by James Coutts and Danny Phillips saw the latter put Robinson through.

The pacy midfielder sped past Brayford and showed great balance before rounding keeper Poole and sliding the ball into the net.

Vickers continued to command things at the back for the hosts and five minutes later Robinson was put through again by a glorious outside-of-the-boot pass by Beavon.

This time Corbett set about chasing Robinson and when both players entered the box the Terras' man went down but referee Nick Kinseley waved away appeals for a penalty clearly judging that no contact had been made and that Robinson had merely lost his footing.

Weymouth continued to look in complete control until the 29-minute mark when Douglas received his marching orders for catching Brayford with an elbow.

Kinseley deemed that the Wey-mouth forward had flung his arm out with intent but to the majority of onlookers the offence looked accidental. That decision seemed to give Albion some belief and on 40 minutes they used their extra man to great effect.

Former Weymouth midfielder John McGrath and Dave Farrell combined to feed Keith Gilroy down the left whose cross from the by-line was superbly controlled and fired into the net by Corbett.

Weymouth responded with Robin-son and Weatherstone testing Poole with long-range shots but three minutes into added-on time Burton went 2-1 up.

McGrath drove a corner to the near post and when the Terras failed to clear Harrad scrambled the ball in from close range.

The Terras replaced Phillips with Louis at half-time and the ex-Oxford United man soon started to make his presence felt.

Robinson nodded over from close range before at the other end ex-Yeovil Town striker Jake Edwards threatened with a shot wide of the near post and a header from a corner that just cleared the bar.

The game began to open up and Weymouth hit back with Coutts and Beavon both having fine shots superbly saved by Poole.

Weatherstone also had an effort deflected wide after a trademark corner routine before Sido Jombarti came off the bench to make his competitive debut on 65 minutes, replacing Coutts.

Conal Platt was also thrown on in the latter stages but the Terras' bad luck continued when Narada Bernard suffered an ankle injury and had to come off with five minutes left forcing them to see out the remainder of the game with only nine men.