DORSET PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 14TH FEBRUARY 2026
VERWOOD TOWN 3 WESTLAND SPORTS 2

A brace from Craciun and a last minute header from Harvey gave us a last gasp 3 points against Westland.

Our visitors sparkled from the whistle and had us on the back foot. 9 minutes and a half cleared ball in our box fell to a Westlands volley, opening the scoring, 0-1.

The game flowed end to end with Westlands having a slight edge on possession. Halfway through the half we had three successive corners each cleared from within the six yard box.

42 gone and a counter by Westland caught us pushing up too far and a cross from the right found space for a header to send the teams in at half time with Westlands feeling very confident of a good result.

Half Time. 0-2

We clicked from the start of the second half. Our poor passing and a shade of laxity had been banished in the dressing room. Both ends saw activity.

We countered with 4 minutes gone and a Norris cross found Craciun steaming in to put the ball past the keeper 1-2.

Tackles became fierce and Best suffered ankle damage with only 12 minutes gone. On came Knott. A shuffle of the pack and Knott slotted in quickly.

Hard tackles became frequent and we had three free kicks awarded within 5 minutes. Two were cleared from the six yard box and the third sailed into dead ball. It seemed to be our usual ‘near miss’ routine.

Snap attacks by Westland were defended well and we had Westland back pedalling on counters.

39 – Kerr made way for Harvey and Bartlett attracted splinters giving Colarelli minutes.

41 gone Craciun cut through the middle. His left foot ‘bender’ from the edge of the box beat the keeper to level scores. 2-2.

It was squeaky bum time. Both ends had the keepers busy. Because of injury stoppages 9 minutes extra time was flagged up.

52 minutes decided the score line. A deflected shot on Westlands goal earned a corner. Harvey rose above defenders to nod the ball past the keeper. 3-2. The whistle went on 54 minutes on a hard but well earned 3 points.

Result. 3-2