Monday 21 April 2003 - Twerton Park - kick off 3.00pm Dr Martens Premier Division

City made one change from the side that lost at Worcester City two days earlier - fit-again Frankie Bennett relegating Jason Eaton to the bench with Paul Milsom occupying a rare striking berth. The game got off to a flying start and could have been 2-1 to City within the opening minutes. Just 30 seconds had elasped when Milsom's got onto the end of a Bennett cross to head narrowly past the upright. Weymouth came straight back with Robinson forcing a fine stop out of Bryant after a strong run. Steve Tweddle then got in on the fun, testing Matthews with a well-struck shot. After this action packed opening the game settled down only to burst into life for all the wrong reasons on 16 minutes. The visitors won a throw-in deep in the City half that saw Honor and Robinson involved in a tussle. The Weymouth man went down like he'd been shot and, following a consoltation with a linesman, the referee showed Honor the red card for apparently elbowing the striker. Robinson was also booked for the incident and City were then bizarrely awarded a free-kick. City boss Alan Pridham was clearly incensed by the decision and words were exchanged between him and the Terras assistant manager before the referee intervened to calm the situation. City reshuffled with Iain Harvey dropping back into defence and Milsom moving into midfield. Former City player Danny Bailey grazed the crossbar with a 25-yard effort after 22 minutes but this was a rare worry for City and six minutes later they took the lead. Impey unnecessarily conceded a corner that Shore lifted into the box where Coupe rose unchallenged to head powerfully past Matthews. A minute before the goal Jamie Gosling had limped from the action to be replaced by Stuart James. His arrival allowed Milsom to play just in front of the back three and this approach snuffed out what little threat Weymouth produced. Only a 40th minute shot by Phillips after good work by Andrews tested Bryant again before the interval.

The second period saw Weymouth enjoy the majority of possession but with Gary Kemp, Coupe and Harvey outstanding they could not turn this advantage into chances. Impey - having been booked in the first half for deliberate handball - was lucky to stay on the pitch after scything down Bennett on 55 minutes in a rare City attack. The 59th minute saw a Tulley corner fly across the face of the City goal and when Weymouth lost striker Robinson 12 minutes later with an arm injury it looked as if City might hold out for a surprise win. However, with just 17 minutes remaining the Terras levelled. Ashford sent a free-kick into the City area where Bryant elected to come out to try to claim only for Phillip's to beat him to it and send a header looping gently into the net. The goal seemed to drain all the urgency out of the Weymouth and with both sides appearing content with a draw the game drifted to it's conclusion. Only once, as the game moved into stoppage time, did a winning goal look on the cards. A neat move involving Tulley and Andrews sent the latter clear down the right flank. With teammates lining up in the middle for a decent cross he was undone by an horrendous bounce and could only swing at air to end up on his backside. This got one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon, which Andrews took in good part, and perhaps meant the Twerton Park pitch was making up for the numerical disadvantage the team was having to endure.