WEYMOUTH 1

Groves 89

BARWELL 1

Charley pen 22

MATT Groves snatched a late leveller for Weymouth as they stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to four games against Barwell.

The player/assistant-manager nodded home from close range on 89 minutes but it still failed to appease another disappointed home crowd.

However, as poor as the overall performance was from the hosts, a lot of credit still has to be given to Brendon King’s men for the strength of character they showed to keep plugging away until the very end when they eventually got their reward.

Groves told Echosport afterwards: “We were disappointing in the first half. We started slowly, had no tempo in our play and were second to the ball all over the pitch.

“We then gave away a weak penalty although some of the boys felt their lad had not even been touched. “That put them 1-0 up and then after that we woke up a little bit and could have had a spot-kick of our own when one of their lads pulled me back as I went to shoot at the end of the half.

“We then brought on Byron Napper in the second half to shore up the midfield a little bit and after showing good character to keep going, we eventually knocked one in at the end, which we just about deserved.”

The Terras severely lacked quality and composure throughout, and the way they conceded possession at times was frightening. In fact, had the visitors displayed a little more composure themselves, they would have been out of sight a long time before Groves eventually equalised.

King remained faithful to the same starting line-up that began last Monday’s FA Cup replay triumph over Taunton Town but they immediately came under pressure courtesy of Kevin Charley’s clever movement and Jamie Towers’ pace and power down the right flank.

The Terras looked edgy and when Warren Byerley was knocked out following an aerial clash with visiting keeper Joseph Collister their nerves started to get the better of them.

The shaken striker eventually came around and got back into the action but moments later a short spell of sustained pressure from Barwell soon led to the opener.

After seeing a goal-bound piledriver blocked by one of his own players just a couple of minutes earlier, Lewis Dodd skipped across the box on 21 minutes where he was eventually tripped by Craig Duff, giving referee Mark Whaley no other option but to point to the spot.

That handed Charley the opportunity to break the deadlock and he gladly took it, firing his 12-yard effort into the bottom right corner beyond the despairing dive of Tom Manley.

And it would have got even worse for the hosts had their keeper not pulled off two fine saves shortly after, firstly at the feet of Charley and then from Luke Barlone’s powerful volley. Jai Stanley then raced clear following a swift counter-attack only to see his cheeky chip fall wide as the Terras continued to look in disarray. Despite their clear inadequacies, the hosts still could rely on Byerley and Groves to put in a shift up front and they nearly conjured an equaliser before the break.

First, Byerley shot wide from just outside the box and then Groves muscled his way through, only to see his effort blocked by the onrushing Collister.

The ex-Dorchester Town forward felt his shirt had been pulled in the lead up to the effort but it was not enough to convince Whaley to award a second penalty.

With a small section of the home faithful vocally displaying their frustration at half-time with a chorus of boos, King replaced Stephen Reed with Napper and pushed Malsom further forward.

Napper certainly helped tighten up the midfield but the Terras were still giving the ball away far too cheaply and they should have paid the price.

However, the only effort Barwell could muster was a fierce shot from Guy Sanders that deflected just wide off Scott Dixon.

After that the crowd had to sit through a turgid 25 minutes as the game ambled towards the closing stages with the visitors seemingly looking comfortable.

And they nearly added a second with 11 minutes remaining when a corner from the left fell invitingly to Scott Hadland whose prod towards goal was cleared off the line from substitute Mitch Conning.

That provided a huge wake-up call for the Terras and after Duff had turned a cross from Malsom just inches wide, they upped the pressure in the closing stages, which eventually led to the equaliser with just a minute of normal time remaining.

Collister was the root cause of the late drama after he flapped at a cross and then just recovered in time to push a header from Groves around a post.

However, the danger had not passed and from the resulting corner more indecision at the back led to Groves nodding in from close range to salvage his side a point, which at one stage had looked very unlikely.

Terras: Manley, Tribe (McKechnie 72), Dixon, Gerring, Poole, Duff, Reed (Napper 46), Marshallsay (Conning 72), Groves, Byerley, Malsom. Subs not used: Lillington, Murray.

Barwell: Collister, Lower, Dodd, Sanders, Rowley, Baines, Towers, Hadland, Barlone (Weemes 73), Charley (Julian 73), Stanley (Rickards 84). Subs not used: Blenkinsopp, Pearson.

Crosby Carpets Man of the Match: Warren Byerley.