Seagulls reduced to ten

Weston super Mare v Chesham

Scott Bartlett reflects on his team injuries and their performance playing the League leaders with ten men.

Weston had the first opening of the game when Dan Martin drove forward from his own half and cut inside before finding Nick McCootie on the far side. The striker got the ball out his feet and fizzed a shot past Benjamin Goode’s near post. Luke Purnell then made his first save of the afternoon when a header from Kieran Murphy honed in on the target.

The visitors broke the deadlock when Zak Joseph received the ball from 25 yards and shifted the ball onto his right foot. He unleashed a rocket of a shot that looped over Purnell and nestled in the corner of the net.

Weston were soon back level though when a counter-attack saw McCootie play the ball inside to Jacob Cane. The midfielder found Scott Laird on the overlap, and the top goalscorer shifted the ball onto his left foot on the edge of the area before driving a shot into the far corner for 1-1 Joseph had another opportunity in the final third but curled his left-footed shot wide, before Laird drove into Goode’s waiting arms from 25 yards and saw his header from a Jake Mawford cross deflected wide. Laird again had another chance from the resulting corner, but he fired over after George Dowling had laid the ball off to him.

Both sides were reduced to ten men a few minutes before the interval when McCootie and Billy Adcock clashed off the ball following a strong challenge by the Weston man, with both men sent for an early shower.

After the interval, Chesham netted the winner just four minutes into the second half when a corner fell to Jeanmal Prosper, who volleyed into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Bradley Clayton fired wide from 25 yards for Chesham before Jake Mawford fizzed an effort wide of the target after being found by substitute Isaac Pearce and Brandon Barnes curled into Goode’s arms from outside the area.

Barnes fired over from inside the box as a deflected Pearce cross fell to him, while the striker fired over on his weaker right foot from six yards when Goode punched a Martin cross straight at him. The striker then had a third chance as he brought a Cane pass down inside the area, but dragged his shot wide of the near post as he turned.

Weston super Mare FC