Terras to be hit by 10-point deduction
By Derek Bish

Saturday 27th March 2010

THE Terras will begin next season on minus 10 points, but it remains unclear as to whether they will be relegated by one or two leagues.

Dennis Strudwick, general manager of the Football Conference, confirmed that Weymouth had missed the deadline to receive a deduction this campaign so would receive one next term instead, but could not guarantee they would only drop to the Zamaretto Premier.

Fans could be faced with the reality of their team playing in Zam-aretto League Division One South & West, step four of the English non-League system, 18 months after holding a place in the top half of the Conference.

A points penalty this season would have automatically relegated the claret and blues, but that may have only delayed the inevitable by 24 hours.

Defeat to Thurrock at the Wessex Stadium today (3pm), coupled with at least a point for Worcester City at Maidenhead United, would see the Terras drop out of the top two tiers of English non-League football for the first time since promotion from the Southern League Southern Division in 1998.

“The future of the club hasn’t been secure recently but now there definitely will be one next season,” said Harris. “The time is now to start looking towards next season, whatever division that may be in.

“It’s time to start making plans and putting systems, procedures and people in place for next season.”

Among those plans, Harris hopes a permanent manager can be brought in sooner rather than later to begin preparing for next term.

Now that the CVA has been approved, Echosport understands that further talks will take place between Rolls and former boss Ian Hutchinson over the next few days.

“Obviously a manager is going to want to have a fair amount of time to get players together, he doesn’t want to be doing it at the last minute,” said Harris. “It would be an ideal opportunity to get someone in for the last couple of weeks to look at those available in the squad.”

Regarding next season’s 10-point deduction, Harris added: “You approach it as you would any season and try and get as many points on the board as early as possible.

“The first 10 games are critical, whether you are on minus 10 or zero.

“I wouldn’t even say it is a negative. In fact, it might be a motivating factor because it is imperative to get those points back quickly.”

Rolls has called for the CVA to be a watershed moment for Weymouth FC, and a strong display against Thurrock would help mark that.

But ex-Southend United captain Harris knows his charges are in for a tough task as they bid to recover from Tuesday’s 7-1 loss at Welling United, Weymouth’s heaviest defeat of the season.

“Tuesday night was disappointing for a number of reasons,” he said. “It’s a tough situation at the minute because we lack strength in depth.

“But with the players available tomorrow we will try and prepare them right to do a job against another in-form team in Thurrock.

“The players will go out there tomorrow and I am sure they will do their best and put in a performance for the fans.”

Ben Farrell (hamstring) and Harris (knee) are not fit to play, but Rob Nicholls, Shane Evans and John Lamb could be drafted into the squad.

Harris said: “I feel I should be out there to help the younger players.

“Sometimes it’s easier to sort out things when you are on the pitch because you can influence them.

“You can become a bit isolated in the dugout, every manager will tell you that.

“I feel I have coped with it okay in the last couple of games and I don’t mind doing both.”

Terras (from): Sandercombe, McGuinness, Dixon, Mawer, Frampton, Reiffer, Tribe, Reed, Joseph-Dubois, Foster, Radcliffe, Neish, Lamb, Evans, Richardson, Nicholls, McKechnie, Do-Rosario.