Beer Albion went down by the odd goal in five in their latest Fresha League top flight outing, writes Richard Honnor.

It was another disappointing afternoon at the Furzebrake for the Fishermen.

In their previous home game against Sidbury they lost out to a late penalty and on Saturday they suffered the same fate against a lively Topsham Town outfit. It was particularly frustrating after the home side had led for most of the second half.

Topsham started well and Beer were under constant pressure for the first half. In particular, centre forward Borman was causing the home side problems with his pace and mobility. The visitors deservedly took the lead on 15 minutes when Borman scored from close range after Beer failed to deal with a corner. Beer worked hard to contain their lively opponents and it was one-way traffic for most of the first half. Only towards the end of the first period did the home side start to show any attacking intent.

The start of the second half was in complete contrast! Beer equalised on 47 minutes after a Chris Long free-kick was only parried by Topsham’s keeper and Jacob Clode managed to bundle the ball over the line. Topsham were now rattled and 2 minutes later they failed to deal with a long clearance from Beer’s keeper Steve Jones and striker James Melville put Beer 2-1 in front with a cool finish. It was now Beer who looked the more likely side and had a couple of chances to further increase their lead.

Midway through the second half, Topsham brought on their leading scorer this season, Jordan Bastin, who had an immediate impact on the game with some incisive runs and Topsham started to regain control in midfield. Nonetheless Beer might have sealed the game when new signing Jamial Iddi came on as substitute and shot narrowly wide on 75 minutes with his first kick of the game.

Just as Beer thought the points were in the bag, Topsham equalised on 86 minutes through a brilliant solo run and finish by Bastin. Then in the final minute came the hammer blow; the away side were awarded a penalty which Bastin coolly slotted home.

For Beer, Kieron Love played well at the heart of the defence.