An away trip to Hampshire to the The Aerial Direct Stadium saw Weston draw 1-1 in their tie with Gosport Borough, in a feisty affair between two completely committed sides.
The half began with the majority of action in central midfield, seeing both teams struggle to assert themselves fully within the game. Gosport started to narrowly edge it after 10 minutes or so, however their eventual goal had an element of fortune to it. The home side worked the ball down the left wing and put in a bouncing cross, bouncing off Aden Baldwin and across the 6 yard box, Boro’s Sam Lanahan seized the opportunity to tap into the bottom corner, putting them 1-0 up on the 12 minute mark.
This seemed to spark the Seagulls into life though and they had an array of significant chances from corners in the remainder of the half: Baldwin had a bullet header that was well saved by Borough’s goalkeeper and Jake Lee also leapt above his marker to head the ball against the post.
Weston had a spell of sustained, relentless pressure that eventually forced Gosport to crack in the 32nd minute. Dayle Grubb ran through 3 defenders, placing the ball into the far corner to level the score at 1-1, with the score remaining at that at the break.
Weston maintained their momentum from the end of the first half into the second period despite the number of halts in play. Gethyn Hill occupied 2 defenders allowing Brad Ash to peel off into space in the channels, causing havoc as the Seagulls looked to push on with their attacks. Ash was, on a number of occasions, only inches away from prodding in from crosses courtesy of both Grubb and Danny Greenslade.
Gosport’s only notable chance came from a direct free kick that was bent over and round the wall from around 30 yards out, but Luke Purnell was more than equal to it , making a smart save low to his right.
The Seagulls’ carved apart Borough time and again, having two goals disallowed after being dubiously flagged offside; one of which saw Ash turn on a sixpence on the edge of the box, lashing a left footed strike that was tipped onto the inside of the post before being cleared by a Boro defender only for Jake Lee to slide in the rebound, however the officials chose to view it as offside.
Despite Weston’s relentless second half pressure the final score remained at 1-1. The defence were superb in quashing the counter attacks they came up against and they were painfully unlucky to not bring home all 3 points. Their next game is on Saturday 8th April, back at the Woodspring Stadium against Bishop Stortford. We hope to see you there.
FT: Gosport Borough 1-1 Weston.
Weston XI: Purnell, Pope, Baldwin, Menayese, Greenslade, Humphries, Kington (C), Lee, Grubb, Ash, Hill (Reid 65th).
MOTM: Aden Baldwin – He and Menayese were superb throughout the game, winning headers and making interceptions consistently. Baldwin was also a dangerous figure in the opposition’s box from set pieces though, giving him today’s Man of the Match.