Hutch's reward

The Terras’ chairman is keen to create stability around the club and wants to reward the manager, as well as his assistant Andy Mason, for the team’s recent form – in spite of Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at home to Banbury United.

He said: “Any good business model will only work with continuity and stability. Ian and Andy have done a good job on limited resources – but resources which are good for where we are at – and are contracted until the end of next season at the moment.

“But I want to let the community know that we want to keep them here for a while after that.

“Foundations are being built and slowly but surely we can get this great club back to where it belongs.”

In response, Hutchinson, whose side remain eight points adrift of safety in the Zamaretto Premier Division, said: “I want to stay and so does Andy Mason. It’s going to take years to get the club back to where it wants to be but we want to be about the place and we’re certainly not going to throw the towel in.

“If that’s what the chairman wants to do then it’ll be nice to sit down and have a chat with him.”

Weymouth’s seven-match unbeaten record at the Bob Lucas Stadium came to an end at the weekend as the hosts were made to play 95 per cent of the game with only 10 men, following Ollie Tribe’s early red card.

Rolls watched on from the stands and although disappointed with the result, he paid tribute to the Terras’ second-half display, which culminated in an Alex Halloran brace.

He added: “To go a goal down early on it’s always going to be hard, but to come back with only 10 men is near on impossible.

“The players never gave up though and won the second half 2-1. We had a good crowd of over 500 and hopefully they will keep coming back.”

Reflecting on the events of his side’s first defeat since early November, Hutchinson added: “The lads can’t blame anyone but themselves for the way they started.

“We didn’t put the ball in certain areas and we were our own worst enemy. There are no excuses and no hiding place because even with 10 men we won the second half 2-1.

“It was too little, too late but the one positive we can take from the game is that they did keep going and didn’t fold.

“It’s a learning process for a lot of them, but I’m disappointed for the fans and I can only apologise.

“It’s about picking ourselves up for next Saturday.”

On the subject of Tribe’s fourth-minute dismissal for handball on the goal-line, the boss added: “Ollie reacted to a shot and it hit his hand – the ref had no choice but to send him off.

“You’re up against it at that point, and when the second and third goals went in you’re thinking ‘here we go again’.

“But I told them one thing at half-time and that was ‘do not fold’. They kept going, Alex got a couple of lovely goals and we could have had a couple more.

“It seems we’re either brilliant together or very poor together and too many had off-days.”

Hutchinson also revealed the club is close to tying up a one-month extension for loan striker Matthew Wright.

He said: “It’s all been agreed in principal, it’s just down to the paperwork now.”