Beer Albion lost ground on Devon Football League pace-setters Exeter University and Appledore when they went down 1-0 away at Newtown on Saturday afternoon, writes Richard Honnor.

The pitch was extremely heavy after recent heavy rain and suited the home side’s long ball approach. Nevertheless, it was a game that Beer dominated for long spells but they could not break down a dogged, determined Newtown defence.

The game was very even early on as both teams tried to come to terms with the conditions, Beer soon became more forceful going forward and created a couple half chances which came to nothing. 

But the home side proved tough to break down and were quite willing to stop the Fishermen by fair means or foul. To the frustration of the Beer players and the bench, much of Newtown’s cynical play went unpunished by the referee. 

Newtown went ahead against the run of play on the stroke of half-time. A long mis-directed cross swung high over the Beer defence and dropped into the far top corner. This was tough on the Fishermen who had defended impressively on the heavy pitch and played well in midfield.

The game followed the same pattern after the break. Beer dominated possession created a lot of half chances but the final finish eluded them. 

Newtown continued to break up Beer’s momentum, and frustrated Manager Mark Rooke was red-carded after a blatant foul in front of the dug-out again went unpunished.

Finley Rooke had a couple of good chances with headers but missed the target on both occasions. Then, with five minutes to go, Taylor Rooke appeared to have scored a perfectly good equaliser. But the home linesman flagged belatedly for offside and the goal was disallowed, even though the Beer midfielder had gone past two Newtown defenders.

Despite the defeat, Beer played some fine football and worked incredibly hard. across the park. Man-of-the-match was Matthew Berry who defended superbly and was a constant threat going forward. 

On this performance and with a little more good fortune Beer can look forward with a very positive mindset to next week’s tough encounter away at Appledore. 

In front of a Furzebrake crowd of 90, Beer Albion 2nds slumped to a disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tedburn St Mary in Devon and Exeter Division 2 on Saturday.

The Teds currently sit at the foot of the table but have been strengthened recently by the appointment of a new manager and a fresh intake of players and on this impressive showing, they will soon start to climb up the league.

The Fishermen got off to the worst possible start, conceding an own goal from a misplaced back pass with just one minute showing on the clock. The early goal fired the visitors and the Beer defence was at full stretch to contend with the pace and direct running of Tedburn’s young forward line. 

Beer struggled to control the ball in tricky, blustery conditions and it wasn’t until the final 10 minutes of the first half did they start to pose an attacking threat, going close twice from well-delivered corners from Harry Lawrence.

The Fishermen started the second half strongly with Alex Paget and James Melville combining well to put Jack Prior in the clear on 46 minutes but Prior’s strike went over the crossbar. Melville then tested the Teds ‘keeper with a good effort from 12 yards and from the resultant corner Paget went close with a header.

But on 53 minutes, the Fishermen went 2-0 down. A promising attacking position on the left wing was conceded by two sloppy passes back to the defence, putting centre back Ashley Driver under unnecessary pressure from the swift Tedburn forwards.  Driver was dispossessed, resulting in a clinical finish from 15 yards from the Teds number 14, giving Beer ‘keeper Leo Gribble no chance.

Reece Hales responded for Beer with a shot on target but the experienced Tedburn custodian saved comfortably. Tedburn wrapped the game up with a third goal on 62 minutes. Once again, the Fishermen gave the ball away cheaply in midfield and were caught chasing back this time by the Tedburn centre forward who skilfully held off a couple of challenges to coolly place the ball past Gribble from 12 yards.

It was clearly not going to be Beer’s day when two late efforts struck the woodwork and then the visitors somehow survived a desperate scramble in the box from a Beer corner.

Although the Fishermen were second best on the day, the three goals conceded were all as a result of sloppy defensive play. After a poor first 35 minutes, Beer did have plenty of possession and opportunities to score, including twice hitting the woodwork. 

Alex Paget strived hard in midfield to get his side back in the game and James Melville showed good touch and creativity going forward. Harry Lawrence also showed some quality touches after he was pushed further forward. Unsurprisingly though, it was Tedburn number 10 Brayden Morris who was awarded man-of-the-match on behalf of sponsor Beer Fisheries.

Beer 2nds are at home again next week to South Zeal United. Kick- off at the Furzebrake is at 2:30 pm and Amy’s Cafe at Colyford is the match sponsor.