Akurang stops rot
By Ky Capel
WEYMOUTH stopped the rot of 11 straight defeats as Bobby Goulds
reign started with a point at home to Forest Green Rovers.
Cliff Akurang scored his first goal since joining the Terras
to end the teams barren run of no goals in their last
seven outings. But his effort was wiped out early in the second
half as Andy Mangan equalised for the visitors.
Despite gaining their first Blue Square Premier point since
February 10, Weymouth remain in the bottom four by virtue
of goal difference.
The Terras new interim boss made three changes from
Saturdays 1-0 loss at already relegated Lewes
the defeat which brought an end to Alan Lewers time
in charge.
Fola Onibuje came in for Jermaine Palmer, Cameron Mawer returned
in defence and Dominic Merella replaced the suspended Marcus
Browning.
Rovers Conal Platt lined up against his former employers.
The Terras made a positive start, taking the game to their
opponents early on, but a mistake from Gavin Hoyte almost
let the visitors in.
A ball over the top was misjudged by the defender allowing
Mangan a run at goal. However, Hoyte made a great recovery
and rescued the situation with a last-ditch tackle.
The hosts responded well and went agonisingly close to scoring
their first goal in seven games. A Kyle Critchell free-kick
was pum-ped into the Rovers box, knocked down by Merella
to Onibuje who could only watch as his volley crashed against
the crossbar.
The intensity of the game dropped a notch and both sides
were restricted to half-chances but the Terras started to
take control of proceedings just past the half-hour. Akurang
set his captain James Coutts free but the midfielder, when
faced with a one-on-one with Terry Burton, shot tamely at
the visiting keeper. The rebound came the way of Akurang whose
fierce strike found the left-post.
Just two minutes later though, the Weymouth pressure paid
dividends as Akurang broke the Terras 716-minute goal
drought and notched his first in claret and blue.
Onibuje managed to dig out a deep cross right on the by-line
and strike-partner Akurang climbed high to sneak a header
in at the far post which was met with a party-style celebration.
A cheeky piece of play soon after saw Akurang head the ball
out of Burton's hand just as the keeper was set to kick it.
The referees assistant cried foul play and the Terras
striker was harshly issued with a yellow card.
Gould made his first substitution just two minutes into the
second period, bringing Stephen Cooke on in place of Onibuje,
who was struggling with a groin injury.
And a mere 60 seconds later the home side should have made
it 2-0. A searching pass from Stephen Reed found Akurang bearing
down on Burtons goal but the goal-scorer could only
find the side netting.
That miss proved costly as Forest Green equalised three minutes
later. Ben Gill did superbly to head Alex Lawless volley
off the line but from the resulting corner, which was initially
cleared, Lawless was given a second bite of the cherry and
delivered a pin-point cross to the unmarked Mangan who made
no mistake from four yards.
After surviving a renewed effort from the away side, Weymouth
were back on the offensive and two minutes after the midway
point of the half, Merella was denied by a smart stop after
Burtons initial punch fell at the feet of the home midfielder.
Moments later substitute Cooke curled a 25-yard free-kick
narrowly wide of goal.
The visitors remained a threat and former Terra Platt went
close with a volley right on the edge of Weymouths penalty
area.
And Rovers were presented with a glorious chance to complete
the comeback on 70 minutes. Home stopper Adam Legzdins, who
had a relatively quiet afternoon at this point, came out of
his goal to clear a long ball but only succeeded in slicing
his kick with Mangan in close proximity. Luckily for the gloveman,
Mangan skewed his effort high and wide.
Legzdins had team-mate Critchell to thank 10 minutes from
time as the central defender made a vital block three yards
out to deny Mangan a certain second.
The final opportunities of the game fell the way of Rovers
but Lawless fired high from 30 yards and captain Darren Jones
headed over from Lee Fowlers last-gasp corner.
|