Beer Albion put up a plucky performance against Newtown, but went down 4-0 at the Furzebrake on Saturday, writes Richard Honnor.

The visitors showed why they sit at the top of the table with a classy display that in the end overwhelmed the Fishermen.

The Albion were up against it after only two minutes when an intended cross from O’Donaghue sailed into the far corner of the net!

Newtown made it 2-0 just 15 minutes later after the Beer defence gave the ball away and the visitors increased their lead to 3-0 on 30 minutes. The Fishermen can take some credit however particularly for their second half display when they tried with some success to match their opponent’s brand of free-flowing football.

It was not enough however to prevent Newtown from adding a fourth goal from the penalty spot after an innocuous-looking challenge by Beer’s Josh Harrison.

Newtown striker Cory O’Donaghue scored a fine hat-trick and Luke Jones was their other scorer.

Match sponsors Marine House at Beer awarded the Man of the Match honour to the hard-working Newtown frontman Ben Howard. For Beer, teenager George Harwood was the outstanding player.

Despite the defeat which leaves Beer pointless at the foot of the table after four matches, player manager Richard Walker is far from being discouraged.

The Fishermen boss said: “I thought we played some good football at times, but we were undone by defensive slips early on which then set the tone for the rest of the game.

“We have only played four league games of which two have been against sides with 100 per cent records (Elmore and Newtown) and we’ve won two cup games with good performances.”

Beer will be hoping for a change in league fortunes on Saturday (October 22) when reigning champions Topsham Town visit the Furzebrake. The match sponsor is Jean Perkins and the kick-off is 3pm.