Latecomers spoil the Terras show
By Adam Summers

WEYMOUTH may have lost their unbeaten pre-season record with this defeat but there were still plenty of positives they could take from their performance.

The Blue Square Premier outfit out-passed their Coca-Cola League One opponents for the majority of the game but they lacked a cutting edge in the final third to turn their superiority into goals.

Their one effort that did find the net came from Croatian trialist Boris Pesic who celebrated his first outing in the claret and blue by producing a long-range cracker within three minutes of coming off the bench.

The game was initially scheduled to start at 3pm but the Orient team coach got held up in traffic causing kick-off to be moved to 6pm.

Former Yeovil Town duo Paul Terry and Wayne Gray, and ex-AFC Bourne-mouth defender Stephen Purches were included in a strong Orient first-team squad but it was the Terras who made the better start.

Lining up in the first half in a 3-5-2 formation with Simon Weatherstone, Joel Kitamirike and Justin Roberts at the back and Marcus Browning sitting just in front, it allowed the hosts to enjoy long spells of possession.

Weatherstone had a shot blocked wide after a clever dummy by Phillips from a corner and McCallum failed to take advantage when keeper Glenn Morris was stranded off his line but the visitors also had chances.

On 15 minutes ex-Sunderland midfielder Sean Thornton had a free-kick saved by the impressive Jon Stewart and Brian Saah and Wayne Corden both went close with low drives.

Orient finally broke the deadlock on 38 minutes when an unfortunate slip by Weatherstone allowed Efe Echa-nomi to drive a shot across Stewart and into the corner of the net.

That was tough on Weymouth because for the majority of the first half it was them who looked like the League side.

The Terras made eight changes at the break and reverted to a 4-4-2 system with Phillips, Anton Robinson and Conal Platt the only remaining survivors from the first half.

Thornton shot over from distance and Phillips volleyed wide for Weymouth before substitutes James Coutts and Stuart Douglas were denied by Morris after some fine interplay by Paolo Vernazza and Platt.

Ashley Vickers then made a fantastic last-ditch tackle to stop Adam Boyd from having a clear shot on goal on 56 minutes as the game began to open up a bit.

Robinson and Phillips both played superbly for the Terras but midway through the half they were replaced by Pesic and Sido Jombarti respectively.

Narada Bernard tried to catch Morris off his line with an audacious lob but his effort dropped just over and Platt rattled the crossbar with a strike from 20 yards.

Orient suddenly looked ragged and on 67 minutes Pesic lit up the Wessex Stadium by slamming a 30-yard thunderbolt into the top left corner.

Chants of sign him up' began ringing around the ground but then came silence as substitute JJ Melligan put the visitors back in front on 71 minutes with a header at the far-post.

Two minutes later Wayne Gray then wrapped up the result when he got away from Vickers and rounded keeper Jason Matthews before striking home.

Despite the defeat the majority of Weymouth fans went home encouraged by what they had seen.

Their side had outplayed Orient for much of the game in wet conditions and certainly did not deserve to lose 3-1.

Orient's margin of victory was reached because they punished the Terras' indecisive defending. The hosts' final ball in the attacking third was also not always precise but they should still feel positive going into their remaining friendlies.