WESTON recorded their second successive win at the expense of their Hertfordshire visitors, who were forced to play the entire second half with only 10 men.

WESTON-S-MARE 3

BISHOP’S STORTFORD 1

WESTON recorded their second successive win at the expense of their Hertfordshire visitors, who were forced to play the entire second half with only 10 men.

Midfielder Harlee Dean was shown a straight red card by Plymouth referee Marc Whaley for elbowing Ben Kirk in the face barely a minute after he had equalised Weston’s opening score.

Starting with the same side that was successful against Dover, Weston were quickly on the attack, Marcus Duharty forcing a smart save from keeper Ross Kitteridge on three minutes from Martin Slocombe’s free kick and on 11 minutes the keeper did well to beat out Jamie Price’s fierce shot to stifle another home attack.

Bishop’s forced three unsuccessful corners early on and the nearest they came was when on-loan striker from Southampton Tony Garrod fired narrowly across goal on 18 minutes.

The visitors were conceding a lot of free kicks and Weston made them pay on 24 minutes when Simon Gilbert got his head to Kane Ingram’s in-swinging effort and left Kitteridge standing still.

Slack home defending allowed Garrod and Walid Matata set up Dean to score on 45 minutes, but he was then sent for an early bath in added on time after the referee consulted his assistant.

Weston dominted the second half with Justin Porter firing narrowly wide on 52 minutes, but they did better five minutes later when Brett Trowbridge charged down an attempted clearance by Kitteridge and as the ball ran free, both Kidderidge and central defender Duncan Lynvall got into a tangle and Gilbert darted in and fired into the empty net for his second score of the match.

Although Bishop’s forced two more corners from breakouts, they seemed content to limit the damage by keeping all 10 men behind the ball leaving Weston keeper Lloyd Irish to deal with a couple of back passes.

Ingram was just wide of the far post with an effort before Porter sealed the win two minutes from time with a low effort from a narrow angle after good work by substitute Sahr Kabba. This was the 60th league goal Bishop’s had conceded this season, the worst defensive record in the division.

WESTON STATS

Goals: Weston, Gilbert (24, 57), Porter (88). Bishop’s, Dean (45).

Shots on target: Weston 7, Bishop’s 1.

Shots off target: Weston 7, Bishop’s 1.

Corners: Weston 1, Bishop’s 6.

Offsides: Weston 4, Bishop’s 1.

Free kicks conceded: Weston 14, Bishhop’s 19.

Referee: Marc Whaley (Plymouth). Good game.

Bookings: Weston, Kabba. Bishop’s, Matata, Dean (red).

Attendance: 191.

Weston squad: Irish, Price, Slocombe, Rand, Laird, Porter, Ingram, Kirk, Duharty (Kabba 47), Trowbridge (Dean Grubb 90), Gilbert (Dayle Grubb 61). Subs (not used): Villis, Diablo.

ON Saturday, Weston make the long trip to Welling in South East London looking for a league double, having won 2-0 when the sides met in October, both goals coming from Marcus Duharty. The team coach leaves at 9am.

Conference South

W D L Pts

Braintree 19 4 4 61

Farnborough 16 5 7 53

Chelmsford 16 4 6 52

Ebbsfleet Utd 15 7 5 52

Welling Utd 16 5 7 48

Eastleigh 14 5 7 47

Bromley 12 10 7 46

Dover 12 5 9 41

Weston-s-Mare 10 7 13 37

Staines Town 9 9 9 36

Basingstoke 9 7 11 34

Havant & W/loo 9 6 9 33

Bishops Stortford 9 4 17 31

Dartford 7 9 11 30

Dorchester 6 9 11 27

Hampton & Richmond 5 11 10 26

Thurrock 6 8 13 26

Boreham Wood 6 7 15 25

Maidenhead Utd 6 7 13 25

Lewes 6 6 17 24

St Albans City 4 10 14 12