BELEAGUERED Newport County were beaten for the sixth successive game in the Conference South on Saturday after early individual mistakes condemned them to their worst defeat of the season.
Visitors Weymouth, a full-time outfit with a budget far exceeding that of County, will probably not find winning on the road any easier all season after scoring two goals inside the first 20 minutes that might as well have been gift- wrapped for their convenience.
It is a result that heaps the pressure on the players before Saturday's tricky FA Cup visit to Chippenham Town, and on the County board, who must be wondering just who can step into the hot seat and reverse such dismal performances.
Caretaker boss Glyn Jones, who had less than a week to work with the players after the sacking of John Cornforth, decided to change his formation to the in-vogue 4-5-1, but it backfired after his side's suicidal first-half defending.
It could all have been so different for County, though, because just two minutes before Weymouth took the lead, it was the home side who should have been ahead.
Strong work down the right flank by lone striker Cortez Belle (whose superb work-rate marked him out as County's best player by a huge distance) saw him play a clever ball inside to midfielder Antonio Corbisiero, whose near-post effort was turned wide by Terras 'keeper Jason Matthews on ten minutes.
Wayne O'Sullivan curled in the resulting corner and Belle rose to head it firmly towards goal and past the 'keeper, but Weymouth left-back Stephen Tully made a fantastic goal-line clearance to deny the big Newport striker.
The groans around Spytty Park began in earnest after that moment of bad luck for the home side, and just two minutes later the doom and gloom merchants were proved to be spot on in their pessimism.
A decent spell of possession by Weymouth resulted in Tully making an overlapping run down the right flank and he aimed a long cross field pass towards the backpost, where it was intercepted by County skipper Darren Jones.
However, rather than head the ball clear Jones made a mess of things. His header was intercepted by Terras midfielder Anthony Taggart, who slipped the ball inside for Wayne Purser to lash home on the volley from just eight yards out.
With confidence draining out of the under-fire County players by the second, and the extremely fit and mobile Weymouth players seeing more and more of the ball, it was vital that County kept things tight after this setback, but just four minutes later they once again pressed the self- destruct button and found themselves two down.
Youngster Sam O'Sullivan was the culprit this time. He never looked comfortable playing wide on the right in a five-man midfield and his defensive limitations were cruelly punished by the full-timers from the south coast.
O'Sullivan was in possession way back in his own half looking to spread the play, but his pass was intercepted by Taggart, who merely took a touch to set himself before lashing the ball past a helpless Nathan Vaughan.
County continued to press on with Belle as a lone striker for the rest of the half, but with ex-Stockport defender and Terras skipper Matthew Bound in superb form, the long hopeful balls that County were pumping up to their target man were rarely causing any problems.
They did find one opening, though. A hopeful pass from full-back Dominic Reece found Wayne O'Sullivan, who crossed first time for Antonio Corbisiero, but his effort from six yards out failed to find the target.
This was to be as good as it got for County and they were relieved not to be three down at half-time after Weymouth striker Kirk Jackson saw his thunderous shot bounce back out off the underside of the crossbar after Steve Clark's pinpoint cross.
Glyn Jones threw on striker Matt Green at half-time for Sam O'Sullivan as he switched to 4-4-2, though the supporters would have preferred to see Kwame Ampadu depart. The former Exeter and Swansea man certainly has the pedigree to be a key player for County, but his performances at the moment are pedestrian at best.
It took the Terras just eight second-half minutes to score a third. Left-back Ian Hutchinson crossed smartly to the back post, where Clark was waiting to head the ball back into the path of Jackson, who was left with nothing more than a tap-in.
Wayne O'Sullivan and Cortez Belle both had efforts on target as the final 30 minutes of the game slipped away, but equally Weymouth could have made it embarrassing if they'd really pressed the increasingly nervous County defenders.
County: Vaughan, Williams, Reece, Davies, Jones, Thomas, S O'Sullivan (Green 46), Ampadu, Belle, Corbisiero, W O'Sullivan.
Subs not used: Brimfield, Draycott, Evans, Blackburn.
Weymouth: Matthews, Tully, Taggart, O'Brien, Bound, Harris, Clark, Dutton (Taiwo 87), Jackson (Eribenne 77), Purser (Wheeler 85), Hutchinson. Subs not used: Downer, Barrett. Attendance: 724.
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