Bring it on!
By Matt Pitman

Monday 31st October 2005

GARRY Hill watched Weymouth topple Conference South leaders Sutton United then declared: bring on Nottingham Forest.

Lee Elam, Kirk Jackson and Matt Bound netted in the impressive 3-1 win over the Surrey pacesetters at the Wessex Stadium.

With more than 1,200 tickets for the City Ground tussle already sold, boss Hill said the victory over Sutton was perfect preparation for the first round tie.

He told Echosport: "Going to Forest on Saturday is important for the club but I've said all along my priority is the Conference South so I'm delighted with this result.

"It would have been very easy to have taken our eye off the league with all the Forest build-up but I was determined that would not happen.

"Beating the league leaders in Sutton is very satisfying and it means we can now go to the City Ground and enjoy the day.

"It'll be a special occasion for the fans, the players, their families and everyone connected with the club.

"We've got nothing to lose up there because all the pressure will be on Forest.

"They will be expected to beat us comfortably but we've got to believe we can get a result otherwise there will be no point in turning up.

"We will prepare this week, work on a game plan and hopefully, with thousands of fans behind us, come out from the Forest game with some creditability.

"But whatever happens, the fact Weymouth are playing the double former European Cup winners puts us on the footballing map for the right reasons and that's got to be a good thing."

Hill praised his players for not being distracted by this Saturday's trip to Gary Megson's Coca-Cola League One outfit who enjoyed a home 1-0 win over Bradford City on Saturday.

"We banned all talk about Forest last week and it seemed to do the trick," he said.

"But despite doing that, there was always a chance of players getting caught up in the cup fever and I guess that's only natural.

"Families, friends and other people all want to talk about the Forest game but the team have done well putting that to the back of their minds."

Weymouth raced into a two-goal half-time lead against Sutton before the visitors hit back through Craig Watkins on 46 minutes.

Skipper Matt Bound sealed the points in stoppage time for the hosts, who have moved up to eighth in the table, with a thumping freekick.

Hill said: "We played very well in the first half to earn a two-goal lead but we ended up making life a lot harder than it should have been.

"Our defending on Sutton's goal straight after the restart was disappointing, we lacked discipline and allowed them to come back into it.

"Sutton put us under a lot of pressure after that but we defended well and it wasn't until Matt Bound's free kick that the points were safe.

"But although I'm a bit disappointed with our second half performance, looking at the bigger picture I'm positive and felt we were worthy two-goal winners.

"Beating the league leaders is no mean feat at any stage of the season and, once again, this result shows we're heading in the right direction."

Supporters snapped up more than 1,200 tickets for the Forest game on Saturday, with the Wessex Stadium ticket office open today and tomorrow until 9pm for further sales.

More than £3,000 worth of Terras merchandise was also sold as cup fever gripped the Wessex Stadium.

Commercial manager Ken Wilde said: "The Forest game has really captured people's imaginations and we've been doing a brisk trade."