In front of a Furzebrake crowd of 80, Beer Albion and Exeter-based opponents, Whipton and Pinhoe, served up a feast of attacking football resulting in a convincing 4-1 margin for the hosts in this Joma Premier Division East contest writes Richard Honnor.
The Fishermen made the perfect start when with only 4 minutes gone Giles Basson was brought down in the area and the referee awarded a penalty. Basson coolly slotted home the spot-kick.
Whipton and Pinhoe boldly took the game to their opponents with some fluent football but their finishing was off target and Beer glovesman Elliot Driver was rarely troubled. Their best effort came on 20 minutes when midfielder Aaron Hazleden made a driving run from midfield but he shot narrowly wide from 20 yards.
By pushing on in numbers, the visitors were leaving themselves open at the back to the pace and directness of the Fishermen’s forward play and it was no surprise when the Fishermen went 2-0 ahead on 27 minutes. Alex Paget, who won almost every aerial challenge in midfield, headed a poor clearance from the visitors’ keeper into the path of Jacob Hale. Hale’s clever diagonal run took him clear of the Whipton defence and he executed a cool finish from 12 yards.
The visitors pulled a goal back with an unstoppable free kick from 20 yards after Beer committed a foul just outside the penalty box.
Chris Long almost scored on 40 minutes when he beat two players cutting in from the left but the Whipton keeper saved well. But the glovesman had no chance with Long’s powerful 30-yard strike three minutes later as the ball flew into the right corner to put Fishermen 3-1 up at half time.
Whipton and Pinhoe continued to go for broke after the interval but were leaving big gaps in midfield for Beer to exploit. The visitors had the ball in the net after 57 minutes but were denied by a marginal offside decision.
But they had no answer to Giles Basson’s trickery on 60 minutes. The Beer forward received a well-directed header from Long down the left. Facing away from the goal, Basson shielded the ball from his marker, worked his way into the penalty area and turned to thread the ball home through a ruck of defenders for a 4-1 lead.
Basson was denied a hat-trick on 87 minutes when he rattled the post from 15 yards but the Fishermen cruised home top-notch up an impressive 4-1 victory.
Sponsor Harvey Green singled out midfielder Aaron Hazleden as Whipton and Pinhoe’s best player but nominated Beer’s Giles Basson as man-of-the-match.
Co-manager Mark Rooke was once again thrilled with his team’s all-round performance but warned against complacency. He added, “ The next 3 games are huge for us - away at Seaton followed by a trip to Feniton and then home to Seaton. The players must continue to show the same intensity and attitude”.
Meanwhile, Beer Albion Reserves chalked up their fourth Premier Division 1 East win to maintain their 100% record. They too won by a 4-1 margin at Clyst Valley 2nd’s. Goals came from Richard Walker (2), Billy Long and Josh Lund. Co-managers Tom Neale and Chris Driver were honest enough to say that the scoreline was somewhat flattering and they believe that there is still more to come from their side.
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