Struggling Weymouth stunned Stockport County with a deserved 2-1 win over the promotion-chasing Hatters at Edgeley Park in the National League.
Despite centre-back Ash Palmer’s first-half header giving Jim Gannon’s side the lead, the visitors turned the tie around after the break and snatched an 85th minute winner against a lacklustre home side.
Gannon’s men, starting the day in second place in the National League table, started brightly and deservedly took the lead when Palmer – making his 100th appearance for the club – rose to head home John Rooney’s corner.
County were wasteful in front of goal, however – with striker Alex Reid blazing over the crossbar from a Mark Kitching pull back at close range soon after.
Kitching and forward Richie Bennett both went close to doubling the lead, but Weymouth held out to remain in the tie.
And despite their dominance before the break, County went in at half-time with just the one goal lead – and the visitors capitalised with an excellent second half performance.
Calvin Brooks levelled for the newly-promoted Terras with a low deflected drive past a helpless Ben Hinchliffe minutes into the restart, before Tom Whelan capped a memorable win for Weymouth by heading home a late rebounded effort.
Manager Jim Gannon said: “I felt we started off really well and took the game to them. The major thing for me was a change in mentality. Maybe they upped their game, and they started the second half really strongly.
“We looked a poor team in the second half. Some of our players need to actually watch other teams. Some of them don’t know where Weymouth is, how they play or who their top scorer is. Some seem to rely on our presentations of opposition sides.
“We look a good team and we’ve had a good month [before today]. We’ve got plenty who’ve put real shifts in over the last month, and we just need others to step up over the coming weeks and months to get us back to that level.”
County now face a 10-day break before a trip to fellow title favourites Notts County on Wednesday, November 11.
