Fishermen exit cup at hand of Budleigh

After their excellent league win at Feniton the previous Saturday, the Fishermen fancied their chances of an upset against their SWPL opponents and, for first 43 minutes, this seemed possible as they put up a solid resistance, particularly at corners and set-pieces which have so often been their undoing this season. In fact, the home side might have gone 1-0 up after only two minutes when a clever chip from Callum Gribble hit the upright but for the rest of the game Beer carried little attacking threat, badly missing injured front-man Seth Wakely.

Just as Beer had thought that they had done enough to go in at half-time on level terms, they gifted soft goals in the 44th and 45th minutes to hand Budleigh a 2-0 advantage at the break. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Fishermen as they were completely overwhelmed for most of the second half. Budleigh scored their third on 56 minutes and added a fourth a few minutes later before player-manager Walker brought on midfielder Pedro Fontes.

Briefly, Beer began to show more composure and creativity as Fontes linked up well with skilled midfielder James Melville.

However, by this time the Fishermen were running out of steam and the visitors added a further three goals on 70, 74 and 90 minutes to complete the rout.

Match sponsors, The Colcombe Beer Boys nominated the Man of the Match award to Budleigh’s Aaron Denny who scored a fine hat-trick and to Beer’s James Melville who was excellent throughout.

Ollie Morgan and Joe Adkin also put in creditable performances for the Fishermen. Budleigh’s other scorers were Alex Partridge, Henry Gibbins, George Pannell and Jack Howarth.

Beer will be hoping for better things this Saturday (November 14) when they resume their league programme with a home game against Exwick Villa 2nds. Kick-off 2.15pm at the Furzebrake.