Fielding an under-strength side, Beer Albion suffered a 3-0 defeat by Lyme Regis in this Devon and Exeter Premier Division encounter at the Furzebrake on Saturday writes Richard Honnor.After such a spirited performance against Exmouth Town two weeks ago expectations were high for a thrilling local derby but the Fishermen’s performance fell flat as Lyme on their first ever visit to the Furzebrake dictated the play throughout with some fine attacking football.

Playing a narrow formation, the Fishermen could not plug the wide open spaces down both flanks. This was fully exploited by Lyme and in particular, by former Beer player Ben Vine who was instrumental in each of Lymes three goals.

Lyme took the lead on 2 minutes after a defensive misunderstanding by Beer’s makeshift defence allowed Vine to get to the right byline and pull the the ball back for Ben Turner to score from 7 yards. Somehow the Fishermen soaked up the pressure for the remainder of the first half without conceding further but the contest was so one-sided that they did not create a single chance on the Lyme goal.

After the break it was more of the same and Lyme went 2-0 ahead on 60 minutes when Vine got past a couple of Beer challenges down the left and again delivered a pinpoint cross for midfielder Fred Parsons to tap in from close range.

So dominant were the visitors that Beer had to wait until 73 minutes for their first corner and their one and only shot on target came from Josh Lund on 89 minutes! But by that time Lyme had wrapped up the points when Rob Fellingham scored their third goal on 85 minutes following another break down the right flank. Match sponsors Colcombe Beer Boys Skittles team awarded man-of-the-match to Ben Vine whilst for Beer centre-back Joe Adkin battled hard .

The gloom at the Furzebrake was lifted somewhat when news came through that Beer‘s second string had won 2-1 at Budleigh in their Division 3 encounter. A thought then for the New Year is that it may be time to give some of Beer’s promising young Reserves a decent chance to establish themselves in the 1st’s.

Next up for the Fishermen’s 1st’s is a trip to Upottery on 5th January. On the same Saturday, Beer 2nds play Tedburn St Mary at The Furzebrake, kick-off at 2pm.