WEYMOUTH 1

Trialist D 89

DORCHESTER TOWN 0

WEYMOUTH edged a 1-0 win over Ridgeway rivals Dorchester Town courtesy of Trialist D as the home supporters went home the happier on Dorset Fans Festival day.

In what had been a tepid game, typical of pre-season but not of the occasion, Weymouth had the better openings and on balance did deserve the victory.

However, both sides may well be concerned with a lack of quality in an attritional 90 minutes.

Weymouth made two changes to the side that began the 5-1 win at Weston as Tom Blair (ill) and a trialist made way for Brad Ash and Claudio Ofosu.

READ MORE: Weymouth 1-0 Dorchester Town - how it happened

Dorchester showed two alterations to their XI from the 0-0 draw with Yeovil.

Two triallists plus Keith Emmerson and Callum Buckley were replaced by Connor Callow, Jordi Foot, Ollie Griggs and Olly Balmer.

Weymouth began the better of the sides and their press caused Dorchester problems as Xander McBurnie closed the ball down and released Brad Ash, who guided his finish wide from a tight angle.

Ash then harried Dorchester keeper Harry Dillon into a mistake on 12 minutes, although his block tackle produced only a goal-kick.

Weymouth were making all the attacking running as Harry Kyprianou headed a Keelan O’Connell corner wide at the near post before the latter blasted an imaginative 30-yard volley wide.

Ash then went down claiming a penalty as he got on the end of Kyprianou’s clever pass, only for the officials to wave play on.

Weymouth’s next attack caused the end of Ash’s afternoon as the striker was injured in slamming a shot against a wall of defenders.

He was replaced by Trialist B, who scored the Terras’ fifth goal against Weston, but it was Dorchester who threatened next through Olly Balmer’s free-kick, which the hosts eventually cleared.

McBurnie was the latest to go down with an apparent hip problem which would force his exit at the break, although he continued for the remainder of the half.

Weymouth enjoyed territory through the half but were frequently let down by poor crossing, Claudio Ofosu the main culprit.

Nevertheless, the Terras looked likelier to score as Kyprianou lashed wide from distance just before the break.

McBurnie was replaced by Trialist E and Dorchester opted to withdraw teenager Callow for Trialist G – a former Weymouth player – before play restarted.

Weymouth began the half brightly as Ofosu saw a shot blocked by Louie Slough before Kieran Douglas and Cam Murray were involved in handbags following a foul on O’Connell.

Their coming together failed to ignite a stagnant game, Ofosu doing his best to raise the tempo with a direct run and shot that fizzed wide from 20 yards.

Dorchester came into the match on the hour as Foot bundled a Balmer free-kick behind at the far post and Douglas saw a shot blocked by Luke Nippard for a corner that came to nothing.

It took until the 70th minute for the first shot on target, O’Connell testing Dillon with a rising drive.

From O’Connell’s resulting corner, Dan Matsuzaka rose superbly to nod against the far post as Weymouth twice went close in a matter of seconds.

Both sides rang the changes – including Harrison Bruton being lended to Dorchester – before Weymouth had the ball in the back of the net on 79 minutes, albeit disallowed seconds later for offside.

It came via a slick move on the right, only for O’Connell to stray offside when shooting at Bruton, the rebound finding the net off Douglas.

As the substitutions continued to break up the game, Weymouth left it until the 89th minute to nick victory.

A patient an incisive move created space for Trialist D to advance into the area and slot coolly past Bruton for 1-0.

Trialist D nearly made it 2-0 when he flicked a 90th-minute corner onto the roof of the net, but play was swiftly called to a halt, ending what had been a poor friendly with few talking points.

Terras: Trialist A (Trialist C 65), Nippard (Trialist F 73), Kyprianou (Seddon 73), McBurnie (Trialist E 46), Matsuzaka, Carlyle, O'Connell (Monk 86), Murray, Bearwish, Ash (Trialist B 24), Ofosu (Trialist D 65).

Magpies: Dillon (Bruton 73), Bertrand, Callow (Trialist G 46), Foot, Douglas, Slough, Neale, Griggs (Lilley 80), Gwengwe, Stanley (Doyle 68), Balmer (Symes 84). Sub not used: Sa.

Attendance: 523