East Budleigh vs Beer Albion Reserves

East Devon Senior Cup

Beer Albion 2nds set off on a rare short journey down to the recreational ground of East Budleigh.

Unfortunately, during the warm-up, the managers had to alter their starting line-up as players Reece Hales and Jack Prior picked up injuries. Luckily, this was not too much of a problem for the managers Jamie Bond and Sam Philips as Beer travelled with a full squad oozing with talent.

As the game got underway, it was clear that both teams were up for the occasion right from the get-go. Neither team were guilty of starting the game slow which was great to see.

The first half went on to become uneventful as neither team could break down the opponent's defensive line.

After 45 minutes it ended all square. Josh Lund had his first start to the campaign, Reece Best, searching for his first goal of the season, and Jacob Clode were running their hearts out, providing Budleigh with very little time on the ball, working extremely hard to regain possession.

As half-time struck, encouraging words from the coaching staff would prove to be a major help to Beer's performance as they would soon score in the early minutes of the second half. This came from a delightful flick-on from the head of Harry Lawrence, into the path of Reece Best who slotted the ball past the keeper effortlessly.

Speaking to Besty after the game, he said: "I was chuffed to get off the mark for the year" - some might argue it is about time too!

As Beer grew increasingly into the game, it was great to see the fitness from the pre-season training coming into effect as we were seen to have the better of the opposition side.

Having said this, Bondy and Sam saw fit to pile on the pressure by bringing on a couple pairs of fresh legs. With the new boys on the pitch, Beer were starting to play some excellent football.

After winning possession just in the oppositions left side, an impressive sequence of pass and move football was displayed by Sam Walker, Reece Best, Simon Smith and Harry Lawrence, who would eventually be played down the line, with a good show of pace to penetrate the East Budleigh area. Lawrence then went on to make a pin-point square pass across the area to an arriving Max Richardson who would surely make it two to the good for the Albion.

Although Beer were looking extremely comfortable and coping with every attack that Budleigh threw at them, this was all about to change as the referee made a dubious decision to award the opponents a penalty from a tackle made by Fraser Beament, who was having a superb game up until then.

As anger built up from the decision, freshly off-the-bench Sam Walker could not help himself but to have a few words with the referee which would end up with the youngster seeing red and earning himself the prestigious award of clown of the day!

The East Budliegh player stepped up and put the ball in the back of the net, past an unsettled Shaun Denslow. And just like that, the Fisherman were down to ten and the game had been completely turned upside down.

Although Beer made a valiant attempt at keeping the opposition at bay, it would eventually end up with the away team conceding late on with a headed goal from a corner from their centre forward. At the end of 90 minutes, it ended 2-2.

The players all knew that they were about to face a penalty shootout as new rules would see it unnecessary for an extra time to be played. The order of taking the spot-kicks was discussed and agreed within the teams. Everything was going to plan as Beer's first three takers (Smithy, Max and Besty) confidently slotted their penalties away.

Shaun Denslow was trying his best in goal to help the team out by saving one of the opponent's penalties. Next up was Reece Hales, who was brought on as a late substitute. Reece has said previously that he was happy to take a penalty so the whole team was confident when he stepped up to the spot, unfortunately his confidence did not pay off as he blasted his shot wide of the goal.

With Budleigh scoring all four of their penalties, it was up to Fraser to keep Beer in it. With Fraser being a centre back for so many years, he very rarely has a shooting opportunity in a game so it could be argued that he lacks a bit of experience in front of goal, but what he lacked in experience he made up with courage, enough so to step up to the spot and try keep his team in the shoot-out. Sadly, this was not enough as the keeper made a decent dive to his right-hand side which did enough to keep the ball out of the back of the net, seeing Budleigh win the game 4-3 on penalties. 

Although the result of the game did not end the way Beer wanted it too, the young team can be enormously proud of their performance and hopefully they can get a result against East Budleigh next time they play them in the league. 

Man-of-the match deservedly goes to Reece Best.