Beer Albion 2nds finished 2023 in style with an excellent 4-3 win away at top-of-the-table Farway United 1st’s in Division 2 of the Devon and Exeter League writes Dan Jeeves.
The Fishermen started brightly, dominating possession early on with veteran midfielders Andrew Foster, Alex Paget and Reece Hales controlling the game. They went 1-0 up through Simon Smith who spotted the Farway keeper off his line and curled a 30-yarder high into the net.
Smith scored his second goal midway through the half when he latched on to an underhit back pass, rounded the keeper and slotted home.
The Fishermen went 3-0 up before half time after a quick free kick released Alex Paget who bombed into the box and squared it to Chris Long to tuck home.
Soon after the break in the half, Beer were 4-0 up when Long slotted home his second of the game after a lovely ball was played into him by Sam Walker.Â
At that stage, the result should have been beyond doubt but the Fishermen almost threw it away in the last 25 minutes. They were reduced to 9 men after Ashley Driver was sin binned for back chatting and shortly afterwards Jack Prior received a second yellow for kicking the ball away.
Farway were buoyed by this and made a spirited comeback. During the 14 minutes when they were down to 9 men, Beer fought for every ball, just conceding one goal in that period. After Driver returned to the field, Farway continued to press and were rewarded with 2 further goals bringing the scoreline to 4-3. But Beer managed to hold out and the win sees them move up to second place. Â
Simon Smith was awarded man of the match after a superb performance, closely followed by keeper Leo Gribble.