Worthing 3 – 1 Wealdstone
Worthing
3 - 1
WealdstoneWealdstone’s recent run of form came to an end today on the South Coast when Worthing won 3-1 to go top of the table.
Despite having a hoodoo over Worthing in recent seasons, it was always going to be a difficult task away on the South Coast and so it proved as Worthing forced Stones backwards from the off – Stones defending manfully but struggling to get clear of their own penalty area for the first five minutes.
It was no surprise when Worthing took the lead, though the goal was perhaps more through poor defending than a constructed attack. Worthing broke forward and Stones failed to mark Andy Alexander whose first and second efforts were blocked, only for the ball to rebound to him a third time, this time his shot only reaching the back of the net off of the underside of one arm from Jackson, but it was enough to give the home side the lead.
They continued to press forward but slowly Stones started to gain composure and they too played their part pushing forward to release Beckford and Jolly, both having chances to equalise and both being caught offside on occasion it seemed by an over-eager Linesman. It was a break from Burrell though that saw Stones equalise on 17 minutes, his ball inside to Jolly then Beckford under pressure, but the defender gave Jermaine just enough room to get his shot away – to the surprise of Martini in the home goal – and the shot grazed the inside of the post as it bobbled in from 20 yards.
The remainder of the half was fairly even, Worthing still pressing but looking less secure at the back as Jolly saw an effort well saved and both he and Beckford saw shots pass the wrong side of the post when on another day they may have given Stones the lead, but the score remained 1-1 at half time.
The second half was a different story as the home side looked sharp and strong causing Stones problems across the field and limiting the amount of ball forward to the front two, stifling Stones best efforts while creating chances for the home forwards.
Worthing won a corner on 56 minutes and though Stones had three opportunities, they couldn’t get the ball clear of the box, where it fell to Davis to score Worthing’s second. On 63 minutes they won another corner with Stones defenders doubling up to cope with the height of the Worthing forwards, Francis was allowed a free header to give the home side a 3-1 lead.
Stones did continue to play though and forced their way forward on occasions, winning corners for themselves around 70 minutes when Dave Ryan was unlucky to see a header come back off of the woodwork and a Beckford back header fell into the arms of Martini to maintain the 3-1 score line and a home win.
Wealdstone: Glenn Jackson, Jamie Palmer, Lee Chappell, Ross White (s83 Carl Ashton), Dave Ryan, Chris Zoricich (s64 Graeme Montgomery), Kenney Beaney, Graham Hall (s70 Phil Turner), Jermaine Beckford, Richard Jolly, Gary Burrell , Subs not used:Robin Tucker, Josh Cooper.