Match Preview – Weymouth vs Wimborne Town (DSCup)
After two postponements at New Cuthbury, the competition rules are that the fixture is reversed, so the third attempt to have this cup tie played will be at Weymouth’s Bob Lucas Stadium.
Both managers are likely to view this rescheduled county cup tie as welcome relief from the pressure of league games: Wimborne, hanging on to top spot in Southern League Div One South, aiming to stay in promotion contention; Weymouth, one point and two places above the relegation zone, trying to move clear of it in National South, two divisions higher.
In his post-match interview after Saturday’s 2-2 draw on Frome’s energy-sapping sticky pitch, when talking about this cup tie, Wimborne manager Tim Sills said: “Players who haven’t had a lot of minutes will get their chance … it’s an opportunity to rotate the squad … and a chance to look at some of the Reserves who are flying high … ” Here’s a possible XI which meets those criteria: Scott Arnold, Harry Baker, Jez Bedford, Josh Carmichael, Jack Hoey, Jamie Johnston, Cam Munn, Ben Satterley, George Griffiths, Sonny Pike, and Luke Sheehy … – and what a team that would be, although we’d need a goalkeeper!
Weymouth will have their eyes on Saturday’s crucial home league game against bottom team Dover. So difficult decisions for manager Bobby Wilkinson too. I understand that the original plan was to play many of Weymouth’s Under 23 team in this cup tie.
Whichever players are in the starting line-ups, they will view this as an opportunity to show “the boss” that they deserve a shirt in the bigger games. And this competition represents a great opportunity for players and clubs to bag some silverware. Wimborne last won the Dorset Senior Cup in 2018; Weymouth in 2020.
The story of the Dorset Senior Cup so far this season …
– Thirteen teams entered.
– Three were given a bye straight through the first round into the quarter-finals – Dorchester, Hamworthy United and Poole.
– The other ten teams played in five ties – this is the last of those games to be decided.
– That would have left eight teams in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately Hamworthy United then dropped out, leaving seven. One of those, Hamworthy Recreation were then given a bye straight through to the semi-finals.
– Two of the quarter-finals have already been played: Bridport beat Sherborne 3-1, Shaftesbury beat Dorchester 1-0. The remaining quarter-final will be the winners of this tie against Poole Town at Tatnam.
The last time Wimborne played Weymouth, in a pre-season game at New Cuthbury back in July, The Terras beat The Magpies 3-2.
Bob Lucas Stadium, Radipole Lane, Weymouth DT4 9XJ.
Weather forecast: clear sky; 6oC; <5% chance of rain.
