East Cornwall

Torpoint Athletic 1

Bere Alston United 2

'THIS is without doubt the best team performance and result since I became manager back in November 2007' said Bere manager Kevin Taylor. He had seen his Bere Alston side go into the back yard of the previously undefeated three times league champions Torpoint Athletic and came away deserved 2-1 winners.

Torpoint had agreed to switch the game to The Mill after the Recreation Field was deemed unplayable.

Bere started with a high tempo and went at Torpoint from the first whistle, refusing to let their hosts settle on the ball on a pitch that was to become very difficult underfoot.

It was no surprise that Bere took a deserved lead after 20 minutes when Chris Bray ran on to a superb pass from Nick Aplin and rounded the advancing Torpoint keeper Jake Sleeman for a smart finish. Bere continued to dominate and were unlucky not to increase their lead when Nick Aplin saw his thunderous strike rebound off the crossbar with the keeper well beaten.

Bere could have ended the half two or three in front as Mike Curtis, Jason Cordice and Paul Simpson all had good chances to score whilst the defence superbly marshalled by Ed Hillier were keeping things tight at the back.

Such was Bere's first half dominance that Torpoint did not have a worthwhile effort on goal until the 50th minute but as true champions they began to take a stranglehold on the game after the break and had Bere pegged back for long periods. Lewis Kershaw, Darren Shepard and Luke Avis-Reardon all had great chances but found ex Torpoint keeper Jack Dixon in inspired form as he pulled off a string of fine saves to keep Bere's lead intact. However, Dixon could do nothing about Torpoint's equaliser when it came on the hour as Tom Payne's corner was headed back across goal by Tom Hall for Dean Cardew to head home powerfully from close range.

Bere dug deep and shortly after Chris Bray had gone close to restoring their lead, Marcus Pethick was fouled on the edge of the penalty area. Paul Simpson's free kick, although on target, should not have troubled Jake Sleeman but he inexplicably let the ball squirm from his grasp and gift the lead back to Bere which they held onto in a frantic final five minutes for a remarkable victory.