WALTON & HERSHAM 6

Hicks 24, Gilbert 30, 68, Simon 55, Gough 88, Adeyemi 90+2

DORCHESTER TOWN 3

Wright 6, 39, Gwengwe 34

DORCHESTER Town squandered a 3-2 half-time lead as Walton & Hersham scored four unanswered second-half goals to take a 6-3 win over the Magpies.

Jack Wright nodded Dorchester in front before two goals in six minutes from Joe Hicks and John Gilbert put the Magpies 2-1 down.

Shaq Gwengwe and Wright sensationally put Dorchester 3-2 up before the break but it was all downhill from there as Eddie Simon and Gilbert helped the hosts retake the lead.

As Dorchester pushed forward for an equaliser, they were twice caught late on by Mitchal Gough and Jordan Adeyemi as they fell to a second consecutive heavy defeat.

READ MORE: Dorchester Town 0-4 Winchester City - report

Following on from the 4-0 loss to Winchester in midweek, boss Glenn Howes made two changes to the starting XI.

Benjani Jr and Harvey-Joe Bertrand came in for the benched Lewis Waterfield and the suspended Leighton Thomas.

Waterfield was among only four substitutes, with Jamie Hosking, Ieuan Turner and Jake Graziano rounding off an inexperienced bench.

With Dorchester demanding a reaction to the Winchester loss, Wright gave them just that in the sixth minute when he muscled a header past keeper Liam Allen.

Gwengwe should have doubled Dorchester’s lead in the 12th minute, placing wide after the home defence allowed a long ball to drop.

Walton & Hersham responded as Simon’s acrobatic effort, Trae Cook’s dragged shot and Gilbert’s drive all failed to seriously test away keeper Lloyd Thomas.

With home pressure mounting, it came as no surprise when Hicks flicked home a Stan Flaherty corner on 24 minutes.

There was an element of fortune about Walton & Hersham’s second, Cook’s drag-back finding Gilbert who fired past Thomas with the aid of a deflection.

Dorchester brushed the bad luck aside when Gwengwe notched his fourth goal of the season, clinically finishing a clean-through chance into the bottom-left corner.

And Wright’s prowess from set-plays proved fruitful for Dorchester again when he rose highest to power home a header from Jordi Barnett’s long free-kick.

Flaherty continued to prove a handful for Dorchester in the second half as he forced Thomas into a good stop before chalking up the assist for Simon’s equaliser with a pinpoint cross.

Gilbert’s second then came on 68 minutes as Walton & Hersham led 4-3, his skilful lob beating Thomas to send the majority of a 589-strong crowd wild.

Stefan Ilic almost added a fifth as Dorchester began to take liberties in hope of getting back into the game, superbly kept out by Thomas.

However, Gough swept home an 89th-minute corner and Gilbert capped an impactful afternoon with an assist as Adeyemi beat Thomas for 6-3, completing a miserable second half for Dorchester.

The Magpies, in 18th of the 22 teams in the Pitching in Southern League Premier South, next entertain Chesham United on Saturday (3pm).

Walton & Hersham: L Allen, Mills, Tutt (Pratley-Jones 79), Ujkaj, Gough, Hicks, Flaherty, Ilic (Adeyemi 88), Simon, Gilbert, Cook (Frailing 71). Subs not used: Nuur, O Allen.

Magpies: Ll Thomas, Foot, Sa (Waterfield 53), Wright, Ngalo, Slough, Barnett, Moyse, Benjani Jr, Gwengwe, Bertrand (Graziano 86). Subs not used: Hosking, Turner.

Referee: Daniel D’Urso.

Attendance: 589.