A season of twists and turns took another unexpected turn at the weekend for Weymouth FC Director of Football, Jason Matthews.
The 50 year-old was forced to don the goalkeeping gloves for the first time in a number of years after goalkeeper, Max Evans, was sent off with 78 minutes on the clock in their Pitching In Southern League Premier South encounter with Havant & Waterlooville, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.
As a player, Matthews amassed over 400 competitive appearances between the posts for the club during a ten-year stint over two spells.
He has also managed the club in over 200 matches, whilst taking on various other roles, including Goalkeeping Coach and assistant manager.
Things turned sour earlier this term when the Club Legend made the difficult decision to step away from the Dorset outfit, but he was soon back where he belongs and is now plotting a positive end to what has been a difficult campaign on and off the pitch.
“It was nice to pull on a shirt again at the weekend,” he told his club’s media. “I was not expecting that at all!
“As much as I enjoy the role I have at the club now, you simply can’t beat the thrill of playing and I thoroughly enjoyed being back out there.
“I didn’t enjoy losing, of course, but it was nice to roll back the years and get some game time.
“The lads put in a good performance; the work-rate was there for all to see, but ultimately we lacked that bit of quality, which was the difference between getting something out of the game and just falling short.
“It’s been a run of five tough games against opponents at the upper end of the table. Now we go into a run of games against teams that are in and around us, so it will be important to add to our points’ tally from these fixtures.
“We’re out of the relegation places and we have to keep looking up the table and picking up points.
“If we play with the intensity that we did at the weekend, we’ll be okay and will win more than we lose. We’ve just got to keep going and keep believing.”
As to whether Matthews will be back between the posts, that remains to be seen!
Coming up on Saturday is a trip to Uxbridge, who are part of the mid-table group of clubs where Weymouth hope to be ahead of the final run-in to the end of the campaign.
IMAGE: Ian Middlebrook
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