Duchy premier
St Stephens 1
Bere Alston United 0
BERE came into this game on the back of a run of three impressive wins, but not could disguise that they were well below the form of recent weeks and were duly punished by a St Stephens side fighting for survival at the foot of the table.
On an overcast afternoon, the opening exchanges were as dull as the weather and the rock hard surface was clearly making it difficult for either team to get the ball down and play any decent football.
St Stephens took the lead in the second minute when Jordan Willmott seized upon a misplaced pass from Bere's Dave Byworth and cut inside before firing a low drive past an unsighted Sam Martin.
Bere were struggling to find a response although Dan Pethick fired over the bar after good work on the right from Marcus Pethick., St Stephen's forced a series of corners and free kicks without really troubling Sam Martin and the Bere defence as a scrappy first half ended with the hosts still 1-0 in front.
Bere started the secondhalf with more purpose and Dan Pethick was unlucky not to equalise when he beat the offside trap and stabbed the ball past the St Stephens keeper only to see his effort go agonisingly wide.
Bere thought their dominance had reaped a reward when under pressure, from Marcus Pethick, the St Stephens right back slipped and Bere claimed he palmed the ball away. However, much to Bere's annoyance the referee gave a free kick to St Stephen's.
The home side forced Sam Martin to make two superb saves and despite Bere laying siege to the St Stephen's goal for the remainder of the half, they failed to break down a resolute defence and subsequently slipped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat.