WEYMOUTH 0

ESSEX BLAZE 3

INJURY-HIT Weymouth fell to a 3-0 defeat as National League Division One leaders Essex Blaze took a 3-0 victory at Redlands.

Such home defeats are incredibly rare for the Seasiders, who have been in the promotion hunt for the first half of the season.

However, Weymouth have now slipped out of the race with three defeats.

Over Christmas they lost two senior players who moved out of the area and now they have two key players Elliott Sawyer and Michael Wehl out with torn ankle ligament injuries, while Liam Tewkesbury is only just coming back after a back injury.

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For the Blaze game, Weymouth brought 17-year-old Harry Aplin in to play as libero and Jamie Keates came in to play setter, allowing Ryan Stout to play as an outside hitter.

So it was a very reorganized Weymouth side that came into this match against table-toppers Essex Blaze who had dropped just six sets all season.

Right from the start, Weymouth saw what they were up against when ex-Team GB Olympian Nathan French hammered the first point of the match through the Weymouth defence.

However, Weymouth kept fighting back but unlike Essex they were always liable to make the occasional mistake and this was the difference between the two sides as Essex took the first set 25-19.

The second set saw Weymouth start slowly and Essex were able to pull out a small lead and then never let that slip as they pulled away to win 25-14.

For the third set, coach Stuey Jeanes brought Tewkesbury onto court and his experience and strength in the back court meant Weymouth were less likely to make errors.

This meant the first half of the set was much closer but again the pressure Essex were able to put on Weymouth ensured they pulled away in the second half to take the set 25-16 and with it the match.

On top of the problems Jeanes already has, captain Ryan Stout is now off for a year to Thailand.

Jeanes said: “Ryan will be badly missed not just on court but for all the work he has done setting up the club.

“It is really frustrating at the moment we have had more injuries this season than ever before and this combined with players moving is making life tricky.

“On the upside, it does give us the opportunity to bring in young players who will certainly benefit from the experience.”