Concord Rangers 0-5 Weymouth: Terras move off bottom spot

WEYMOUTH 5

Ash 15, 50, Kyprianou 33, Blair 41, Rose 45+1

WEYMOUTH delivered a scintillating display to crush Concord 5-0 in their bottom-of-the-table Vanarama National League South battle at the Aspect Arena.

Mirroring their opening 45 minutes at Tonbridge, the dominant Terras amazingly found themselves 4-0 up at half-time through Brad Ash, Harry Kyprianou, Tom Blair and Ahkeem Rose goals.

Ash added a fifth on 50 minutes and Concord missed two golden chances late on to sum up their dreadful afternoon, plummeting bottom of the table to boot.

READ MORE: Concord Rangers 0-5 Weymouth - how it happened

As for Weymouth, the Terras moved up two places to 22nd and are now three points from safety after Cheshunt beat Eastbourne 1-0.

Chasing a first win for five games, Weymouth showed four changes to the side that began the torrid 3-1 defeat at Farnborough on Tuesday.

In came Blair after his two-game suspension, joined by Kyprianou, Ash and Xander McBurnie.

Weymouth's quartet were fielded at the expense of the benched Nahum Melvin-Lambert and Scott Rees.

Luke Nippard (hamstring) and Bristol Rovers' defender Jamie Egan missed out, the latter due to the five loanees rule with striker David Nyarko taking his place.

With some onlookers believing this to be a must-win game for Weymouth, they started as if they had been listening to those calls.

Two early free-kicks set the tone for the Terras, while Rose nearly connected with an Ash cross.

If the alarm bells were not already ringing for Concord, they will have been in the 16th minute when Weymouth landed the first blow.

Brad Ash, left, heads Weymouth 1-0 up (Image: MARK PROBIN)

Kyprianou swung in a dangerous delivery and Ash glanced a deft header beyond Mitch Beeney in the Concord goal and into the far corner.

Weymouth smelt blood and promptly continued their attacking play, Blair smashing a free-kick at Beeney.

Blair, hungry for a goal on his return, tested Beeney again from distance but the vocal travelling Weymouth support would not have to wait long for a second goal.

It came just past the half-hour mark as Kyprianou bagged his third goal of the season, tucking home after Blair’s deep corner to the back post caused consternation in the home defence.

Harry Kyprianou, number 3, scored Weymouth's second (Image: MARK PROBIN)

Weymouth now had the chance to effectively seal the points by half-time and they did just that with a blistering finish to the half.

Blair got the goal his performance deserved when he lashed in a low shot past Beeney, adding to his strike in the 2-1 loss to Concord earlier this month.

Tom Blair, second right, added Weymouth's third goal (Image: MARK PROBIN)

And Weymouth matched their extraordinary first-half efforts at Tonbridge when the virtually unplayable Blair’s corner found Rose at the back post, the unmarked Jamaican heading past Beeney for 4-0.

Ahkeem Rose headed a fourth goal before half-time (Image: MARK PROBIN)

Following that dreamy opening 45 minutes, Weymouth needed only another five to make it 5-0.

There was little surprise when Blair ignited the Terras again, his powerful low strike fizzing off the gloves of Beeney and enabling Ash to bury his brace.

Brad Ash, left, and Tom Blair, right, combined for Weymouth's fifth goal (Image: MARK PROBIN)

Weymouth’s goal difference at this point stood at minus 21, inferior to most of the teams around them, but Concord did stem the tide of goals for the remainder.

Away keeper Zaki Oualah was a spectator at this point and he again watched on as Kyprianou nodded clear a rare Concord free-kick.

Blair proved his worth again in Weymouth’s next meaningful attack, drawing a foul 20 yards out only to blast the free-kick over the top-left angle.

Concord did fashion a golden chance for a consolation when substitute Saleem Akanbi outpaced the Weymouth defence only to miss the target completely with only Oualah to beat.

With six minutes remaining, Concord spurned another excellent opportunity when debutant Billy Roast headed wide unmarked from Tosan Popo’s corner.

Beeney then survived a scare when Weymouth sub Nyarko nearly got on the end of a mis-kick, only for the keeper to head clear.

While the Terras could not post their biggest league win since beating Chesham 6-0 away in March 2018, this was a significant result that breathes new life into their survival bid.

Weymouth host second-placed Dartford next Saturday (3pm).

Concord: Beeney, Popo, Roast, Pollock, Beckett, Thomas, Williamson, Bettamer (Day 80), Kyei (Akanbi 63), Ogunwamide (Blanchfield 63), Modeste. Subs not used: Burton, Tuansaam.

Terras: Oualah, Sesay, Carlyle, Slade (Buse 82), McBurnie, Blair, Bearwish, Rose (Nyarko 78), Ash (Melvin-Lambert 87), Kyprianou, Willson. Subs not used: Francis, Rees.

Referee: Stephen Parkinson