WEYMOUTH boss Bobby Wilkinson reserved sympathy for struggling Havant & Waterlooville after the Terras beat the Hawks 4-1 at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Havant, whose performance deserved a draw, stayed 23rd following the defeat and are in serious danger of being relegated, while Weymouth are up to 14th.

Tom Bearwish put Weymouth 1-0 up but Havant twice hit the woodwork in the first half before equalising 11 minutes into the second period, courtesy of Corey Panter’s looping own goal.

However, Wilkinson brought on Ezio Touray and Keelan O’Connell to help change the game.

READ MORE: Weymouth 4-1 Havant & Waterlooville - report

And, after Brandon Goodship converted a penalty won by Bearwish, O’Connell and Touray both notched late on to seal the points.

Victory took the Terras’ points tally to 50, surpassing last season’s total of 48 and evoking memories of Weymouth’s battle to secure survival.

Havant are still seven points from safety with only six games remaining, and Wilkinson refused to celebrate over-enthusiastically at the final whistle.

He told Echosport: “I wanted to beat 48 and we should’ve a few weeks ago, but you’ve got to think that Havant are where I was last year.

“Everyone said I was down, then I won four games out of five. You’ve just got to keep believing.

“I felt for them. That’s why I didn’t celebrate, because I know how hard it hurts. The management team and club are working hard.

“When luck’s against you, luck’s against you. I feel sorry for Havant, but I wish them all the best in the future.

“I didn’t want to celebrate because I show a lot of respect to clubs.”

Returning to his own club’s fortunes, Wilkinson said: “We were favourites to get relegated. That was thrown in my face.

“Bobby Wilkinson showed again: ‘Don’t ever do that to me’. I’ve been threatened to be relegated twice and got promoted twice.

“This year Weymouth are going down? No chance. We’ve still got points to go and we’ve got to work harder.

“I can promise you now, I’ll work even harder now. People might think we’re safe. No, I’ll work harder. Let’s go and beat Bath at Bath and beat Yeovil here.

“If I don’t think positive like that, what am I here for? But, I beat last year’s record.”

With Havant dominant before and after their equaliser, many onlookers believed Weymouth could go on to lose the match.

However, the Terras avoided a familiar script from last season and accelerated away with three goals in 17 minutes to lock up three points.

Asked whether his side would have avoided defeat in a similar situation last season, Wilkinson added: “Let’s be real, no we wouldn’t have.

“That’s the relentless (mindset), the passion and the hard work I’ve brought to the football club, and will continue to.

“I’m just so pleased for everyone. Yeah, we definitely don’t win that (last year), especially when they were fully on top at 1-1.

“But then, the changes made the difference. Tactically, I freshened it up and got it right. Both of them came on and scored, so I did get it right.”

Weymouth are now 11 points above the drop zone and 13 adrift of the play-offs with seven matches to play.

Wilkinson’s men next head to play-off hopefuls Bath City on Good Friday (3pm) before entertaining arch-rivals Yeovil Town on Easter Monday at the earlier kick-off time of 1pm.

Supporters are advised that the Yeovil game is an all-ticket fixture.