Rose scores late equaliser to deny Town victory

JORDAN Rose scored with the last kick of the game to deny Stratford Town all three points at Weymouth on Saturday.

Town looked to be heading for their second Evo-Stik South Premier victory of the season thanks to Charlie Evans' 30th-minute thunderbolt, but Rose popped up in the second minute of added time to make it 1-1.

Carl Adams' side started brightly, putting the Terras under plenty of pressure with early chances falling to Will Grocott and Edwin Ahenkorah.

Town's positive start was rewarded on the half-hour when Evans, starting his first game of the season, held off Brandon Goodship before firing a long-range effort which flew past Terras keeper Mark Travers. The ball rattled his left-hand post, before cannoning off his arm and into the net.

Weymouth were much better after the break, but it was the Town supporters who were left scratching their heads after Town missed a glorious chance to make it 2-0 in the 57th minute. The excellent Evans raced clear down the right, cutting it into Mike Taylor, who somehow blazed over from six yards.

The Terras began to dominate as the game went on and Stratford were keen to hold on to what they had, soaking up the pressure and hitting Weymouth on the counter-attack.

Weymouth thought they had forced an equaliser with seven minutes to play when Charlie Davis' free-kick had Louis Connor beaten, only for it to hit the underside of the bar and bounce on the line.

However, the pressure eventually told in added time when Davis picked out Rose in the area and the defender kept his cool to slot home.

Town's unbeaten run continues and they now look ahead to a home game against local rivals Redditch United on Bank Holiday Monday.