GILLINGHAM TOWN RES 3

WEYMOUTH SPORTS 5

THE final scoreline at Hardings Lane would have been a lot more emphatic had it not been for a generous amount of injury-time, according to Steve Alcock.

The Weymouth Sports boss saw his side march into a 5-1 lead in this Dorset Senior League clash, only to then concede two more goals in the closing stages after the referee had mistakenly added on an extra nine minutes.

Jamie Quinton and Robbie Rolls both bagged braces for the visitors with their other goal coming from Andy Cleal, but they did not arrive until after the Gills had given them an early wake-up call.

Alcock said: “In our previous game we did not do ourselves justice and duly got punished.

“We failed to look after the ball enough when we were in possession and were lacklustre all over the pitch, and I told the lads afterwards that if we continue to perform like that we would be in for a long hard season.

“So, when Gillingham took the lead in the very first minute I immediately feared the worst but in the end that worked out to be the catalyst we needed because after that we were superb.

“We kept the ball well, played in the right areas and created a lot of chances, and deservedly went into the break 4-1 up.

“I could not have asked for a better reaction from the lads and after the break we immediately added a fifth.

“We then made three changes towards the end of the game to give everyone a run and then for some reason the referee played nine minutes of extra time when there had not been a stoppage in the game.

“A lead of 5-1 at 92 minutes suddenly became 5-3 but, to be fair, by his own admission the referee did admit afterwards he had played too long.

“Jamie was also denied a hat-trick when their full-back cleared the ball from two yards behind the goal-line but putting all that aside I was just delighted with the way we bounced back.”

Alcock went on to dedicate the victory to ex-Weymouth assistant-manager Andy Mason, who has been helping out on the coaching side.

He added: “Andy deserves huge credit. He has been fantastic since he started helping out and it is down to his mentality and training that we are able to put in performances like this.

“The youngsters all respond to him and I am learning a lot too. He is just a pleasure to be around.”

Sports, who travel to second-placed Kingston Lacy on Satu-rday, now sit fourth in the table just one point off the summit.

Sports: Floyd, Hicks, Bessant (Stone 80), Sc Walker, Thoday, Quinton, Dixon, Green (Culpin 70), Thomas (Mason 80), Rolls, Cleal. Sub not used: Alcock.