The managers report:

Beer Albion 1sts 1, Lapford 2

A very disappointing result for us to take, especially the way the game panned out.

We had a decent squad available and our players were up for the challenge against the reigning champions and the only undefeated team in our league.

The sun was shinning and Furzebreak pitch was looking amazing.

Lapford's style of football has been the same for as long as I can remember, they kick everything long and high to their big players. We knew this was going to happen and we dealt with it fairly well. They were also very physical with lots going on all over the pitch.

Beer started the game brightly and we were first to create a good chance when Giles Basson did well out wide then cut in between two players but his pull back was cleared.

Lapford's first chance was from a long goal kick which with just Elliot in the Beer goal to beat the striker blazed the ball over.

In the seventh minute Giles once again broke away down our left flank thanks to a good ball from George Harwood, luckily for the Lapford the defender managed to clear the ball and put it out of play just past the near post. The keeper did well to get his finger tips to the ball and push it away for another corner.

The next 10 minutes was very scrappy and Lapford began to show the other side of the game when firstly Beer captain Chris Long was was pushed around before the Lapford No 8 pushed his head in to Chris's. The referee spoke to the player but strangely no action was taken, then Josh Lund was clearly kicked once the ball had gone, again no action.

This did seem to effect the game and it suited Lapford more than us.

Lapford continued to pumped everything long into our box, every pass, free-kick and even throw-ins went directly at our goal.

In the 20th minute Elliot did well to punch the ball away but an unnecessarily rushed clearance fell to the striker whose cross was headed home.

The half continued with Beer playing some very good football but we weren't turning our possession into clear chances.

Lapford continued to play to their strengths.

Every time we went forward we looked good, Giles was really getting at the Lapford defence and Tony Pinder was working incredibly hard pulling their defence all over the place and he was holding the ball up really well.

The half finished with us trailing 1-0.

At half time I wasn't overly impressed with how we were playing but having just watched the game back it's clear we were by far the better team and we constantly tried to play football.

We went back out for the second half confident we could turn the game round.

Just before the break we brought Taylor Rooke on for the injured Chris Long and at half time we made a tactical change and brought Will House on to replace Josh Lund

The second half started with Elliot getting yellow carded for decent whilst appealing for an off side, video evidence appears to show our linesman Lee was correct in his decision. The free kick on the edge of our area was well charged down by our wall.

We started the second half well, seven minutes in some good play between Taylor and Giles resulted in Tony picking up the ball and he looked to be racing away on goal but the referee blew his whistle way to early to deny us the clear advantage.

Beer were creating all the chances now and Taylor went close when his far post shot was saved by the keepers legs.

Charley Skilton was once again very prominent with everything we were doing, he dropped deeper to pick the ball up and drive us forward. His organising was superb.

As Lapford we're going down hill most balls were carrying straight through to Elliot meaning they weren't causing us many problems at the back, our defence had time and they were playing the ball around nicely.

Nineteen minutes into the second half we went close again, Tony did superbly out wide, he beat three players and showed great strength to pull the ball back to Charley Skilton who's shot just cleared the cross bar.

Two minutes later we finally got the well deserved equaliser, some great football from six of the Beer players led to a cross coming in. Giles miss-hit his shot, fortunately it went straight to Taylor who did well to beat the player on the line to strike the ball into the far corner.

We continued to dominate the game and we were pushing hard for the three points.

Just over a minute after the goal Charlie Ledger played a great pass through to Giles who easily beat the defender, the defender crudely rugby tackled Giles to the ground given us a free-kick on the edge of the area, George played the ball in but it was cleared off the line by the defender.

The game followed the same pattern, Lapford hit everything long straight through to Elliot and we'd play football back up to their area. They had no intention of playing any football, they defended very well with loads of players behind the ball and they left two up to chase everything.

In the 70th minute a long ball was dropped by Elliot and when he regathered the ball the referee from a long way off judged it was outside, our linesman Lee corrected the referee but he'd already made his decision.

A lot of pushing and shoving followed between Elliot and the Lapford No 8. The Lapford player was booked and Elliot was fortunate to escape a second yellow.

With the scores level I really thought we were the only team likely to win this game. Lapford were tiring and our football was causing them loads of problems, we were just lacking the final ball. Lapford to their credit were defending with everything they had and they were constantly just doing enough.

In the 70th minute we're made our final sub and replaced Brooklyn in midfield with Josh French who went straight up top.

We had another chance when Giles was to good for their defence this time his cross was just missed by the on- rushing Beer players.

Things were happening really quickly now and we had a good penalty shout turned away when Giles was shoved over with the defender making no effort to play the ball.

Two minutes later we were fortunate to be awarded a penalty when it appeared Giles kicked the back of the Lapford players leg forcing him to go down. From a good position the referee deemed it to be a foul.

Our penalty taker Liam Cox stepped up and placed the ball to the keeper's left but the keeper guessed correctly and made the save.

Less than a minute later Lapford sent another long ball forward and scored. A missed clearance was slotted home.

A couple defenders celebrated into Giles face. Giles retaliated and was shown a straight red.

In two minutes we've gone from having the chance to take the lead to going a goal down then going down to 10 men and losing the game.

Losing this game the way we did is very hard to swallow. Our players played very well and we played football the way it should be played. Three mistakes cost us dearly otherwise we deserved to win the game.

A big negative for me is how often we have players shouting abuse at the officials. We cannot continue to do this; red cards and an accumulative of yellows is going to cost us later in the season.

Some outstanding performances again - Charlie Ledger was solid at the back; Taylor Rooke came on, scored the goal and played very well; Tony and Giles up front both had great game and were very unlucky.

Man-of-the-match goes to goes to Charley Skilton for another superb performance. He plays great football, works very hard and organises everyone around him.

We learn and bounce back next week.

Beer Albion 2nds

Beer went into the game top of the league but knew this game wasn't going to be an easy one. The pitch playing surface wasn't the best, tall grass so Beer's preferred style of football was not going to work. It was going to be a battle rather than slick football match.

Beer started with Mattie Vincent in goal, both Walker brothers as wing backs, with Fraser and Jack Harwood in centre defence. Central midfield three were Paget, Smithy and Clode. Up front - Max, Tom Perry and Reece Best.

Beer found themselves a goal down after six minutes, a Mattie Vincent mistake, which seemed like a comfortable catch but unfortunately Matties' grip couldn't keep hold of the ball and it resulted of falling to the Alphington player to put then in the lead.

Alphington did have a lot of the play in the first half, some clear cut chances, good for Beer was Jack Harwood and Fraser were both playing well to keep Alphington out. Mattie made some good saves.

Fraser got a yellow from a late challenge.

Alphington's centre defender was winning the ball a lot from direct opportunities, mopping up every time Beer whipped in a ball. Tom Perry came close with a good ball from Jacob Clode, but was denied by an out stretched foot from the keeper.

Beer knew at half-time they needed to up theit game a few more percentage. Win the battles individually. Use the width of the pitch even though it wasn't a wide pitch.

The first15-20 minutes was better from Beer, Alphington's play was counter attacked from Beer. Harry Lawrence came on for Jacob Clode.

Beer found an equaliser when Tom Perry broke wide, giving it enough time for the Beer players to catch up and support a low cross from Perry towards the far post where Alex Paget got on the end of it.

Beer rook the lead from a Simon Smith free kick was on target and parred away from the keeper. Harry Lawrence pounced on the ball and put it in the back of the net.

Brandon Hopkins came on for Max to stop the centre defender winning the balls and to use his physical presence.

Shaun Denslow came on the last 5 minutes for Simon Smith. Beer just needed to see the game out.

Tom Perry was brought down from the keeper to win Beer a penalty at the end. Fraser was reluctant to take it, but Reece Best was instructed to take it, it must of put Reece off his stride as the penalty was saved. But luckily Beer had won the game.

For Bondy and I, we knew this game was going to be a tough one playing third in the league. If we want to do well in this league we have to win our away games which has been a little bit of a problem. Away pitches are not going to be as good as Furzebrake. If every player wants it they have to keep stepping up in games, work hard and win your individual battles. Win the first, second and third balls, even if they come from throw-ins and goal kicks.

There was not really a stand out player for Beer. Tom Perry again was lively, Reece Best was quiet in places but did have some very good play. Max is still trying to find his form; hopefully soon he will as on his day when he is usually brilliant. Both Walkers have played very well the last few weeks, can't fault either of them. They win their aerial battles and one-one-ones. just a little bit upper

Beer's midfield three are our battlers, if they don't have a good game we lose. To have Alex's tall strong presence is a good arsenal for our team. Smithy reads the game well, just at times if it's a physical game Smithy goes quiet.

Jack and Fraser play well together. If Jack Is away Fraser is a different player. Jack reads the game well, a good sweeper and wins his challenges. Harry Lawrence was brilliant when he came on. He took the game to Alphington, but needs to learn to tackle and get stuck in.

Thanks to Shaun and Brandon coming on to do a job. Also apologies to Ethan Gribble for not coming on, your time will come.

Next Saturday, Beer 2nds are at home to Teignmouth 2nds in a Division Two top-of-the-table-clash. Kick off at the Furzebrake is at 2.15 pm and the match sponsors are Mike Graham and Mike Adkin.

Beer 1sts are in East Devon Senior Cup action on Sunday at home to Exmouth Spartans. This game kicks off at 2pm at the Furzebrake and the match sponsor is Woozie's Deli.