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Weston-super-Mare AFC - Match Reports

Match reports - Season 2007 - 2008

Weston 1 v 2 Eastbourne
WESTON SPURN THE CHANCE TO WIN AGAINST BLUE SQUARE SOUTH HIGH FLYERS

07/04/2008 -Blue Square South - 7:30pm

Cloudy

Weston spurned the opportunity to move out of the bottom four in Tuesday night’s pulsating game at the Woodspring, Tony Ricketts’ charges looking anything but a side with relegation fears in the opening exchanges giving as good as they got from the Blue Square (South) high flyers. Eastbourne who had lost their previous away fixture on Saturday at Thurrock, looked susceptible to the quickly executed cross ball and both Mickey Bell and debutant Mark McKeever – returning to his spiritual home following his sojourn to Bath – were suitably fired up for the occasion to do just that. French loan striker Wilfried Domoraud - under the watchful eyes of his manager (Yeovil’s Russell Slade) – and who was to go on to win the man-of-the-match award from Match Ball sponsors Avenue Press, was a thorn in the side of the visitors defence and that same player very nearly opened the scoring on six minutes with an acrobatic scissor kick from McKeever’s pin point cross, his effort flashing wide of the post.

It came as no surprise when the home side opened the scoring on nine minutes, Marc McGregor – celebrating his 100th appearance for the club placing a thumping header past goalkeeper Lee Hook, from Mickey Bell’s accurate corner. The home side could and should have gone further ahead before the break but the on-form Lewis Powell and Wilfried Domoraud should have done better with the opportunities presented to them but the Seagulls were good value for their half-time lead prompting Yeovil’s Russell Slade to comment “It’s an interesting game to be honest, very competitive – very cold (!); I’ve come down to watch Wilfried Domoraud as you know, but I think that overall Weston deserve to be slightly in front, they’re putting the ball into the box with a little more accuracy than the opposition so far and I’ve been impressed by the attitude of Weston and their desire to win a football match. Marc McGregor has been excellent for Weston so far, he’s kept things together and has run the show – there’s no substitute for the wealth of experience that he brings to the team”

Whether the visitors were eavesdropping on Mr Slade’s comments to Weston’s website reporter remains something of a conjecture but the home side, try as they may, could not add to their solitary goal, which was always dangerous against their high scoring opponents. Eastbourne manager Garry Wilson made a double substitution on the hour and slowly ‘Sports’ began to edge their way back into game. ‘Boro equalised on 74 minutes although their goal had some fortuity about it. Andy Atkin’s close range shot was parried well by ‘keeper Ryan Northmore, but hesitation in the home defence failed to clear the danger and Sam Crabb’s equally close range effort hit centre-back Curtis Ujah before nestling in the back of the net. Eight minutes later the visitors were to score again, the home defence failing to deal with Jay Lovett’s inswinging free-kick and top scorer Atkin scored from close range to record his 19th goal of the season.

Weston manager Tony Ricketts’ sent on two late substitutions, Gareth Hopkins and Dean Grubb, in an effort to pull something out of the game and in the dying minutes it almost worked, a McKeever-Domoraud combination found Barry McConnell steaming in on the blind side but his goal bound scorcher hit the upright and rebounded into play. It was all too little too late for the Seagulls, although their high flying visitors can be a little thankful they were able to claw their way back into the game and secure all three points.

Weston travel to Cambridge City on Saturday in another tough assignment and then face a further long trip to Hampshire on Monday night to face tenth placed Havant & Waterlooville. The Woodspring Stadium side then face their final three home games in quick succession with practically back-to-back matches with third bottom Maidenhead United (Thursday 17th – kick off: 7.45pm); Bromley (Saturday 19th) and Basingstoke Town (Monday 21st) – three games that could well determine their season.

Post Match comments:

Anything less than maximum points from these three home games could lead to an uncomfortable season’s end for Weston manager Ricketts who said “We invited Eastbourne on to us and, you know, rather than taking the game to them”. “Yes, we had a few chances but the two goals we conceded in an eight minute period were very poor defensively and I’m bitterly disappointed because we should have taken points from this game tonight – one or even three points – and we haven’t”

“We were perhaps fortunate to have had a bit of luck at their place to get a point but as they say, it evens itself out, but we need to be braver tactically and when we did get the ball forward it was always difficult because we needed to get the ball up to Wilfried (Domoraud) with Mark McKeever, Lewis Powell, Ashan Holgate and Ian Herring” “We sat too deep and paid the consequences” “With their two goals they were first to react from a save by Ryan Northmore (“I think it may have hit the post and come back out”, said the manager) and then they scored from a set play”! “My players were telling me that they were two own goals – all I know though is that we didn’t defend well” declared the Manager.

It was put to the manager that his team were unlucky when a Barry McConnell effort hit a post:

“Some of my players were telling me that it was handball onto a post, and it was a penalty, but we really should have scored from opportunities like that” “We had chances tonight and ended up only scoring one and we should have scored two or three”

Game Statistics

Weston-super-Mare scorers - McGregor
Eastbourne Borough scorers - Crabb, Atkin
Shots on target -
Shots off target -
Corners -
Offsides -
Freekicks -
Bookings -
Refereee -

Team Summary

Player	Played	Goals	Yellow	Red	MOTM	Ratings
Ryan Northmore [Goalkeeper]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 1011/1695 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Mike Green [Defender]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 965/1590 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Micheal Bell [Defender]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 996/1665 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Andy Robertson [Defender]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 921/1580 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Curtis Ujah [Defender]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 931/1545 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Ian Herring [Midfield]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 931/1535 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Mark McKeever [Midfield]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 1043/1705 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Marc McGregor [Midfield]	Full Game	1				Official: n/a Fans: 955/1630 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Wilfried Domoraud [Forward]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 939/1535 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Lewis Powell [Forward]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 985/1655 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Ashan Holgate [Midfield]	Full Game					Official: n/a Fans: 1011/1685 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Dean Grubb [Midfield]	Subbed On					Official: n/a Fans: 963/1580 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Barry McConnell [Defender]	Subbed On					Official: n/a Fans: 963/1590 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5
Gareth Hopkins [Forward]	Subbed On					Official: n/a Fans: 896/1495 Vote: Currently 4/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5

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