East Cornwall premier

Bere Alston United 1

Sticker 2

BERE Alston's 'Jekyll and Hyde' season was in evidence again at the Recreation Field as the host's excellent away form was once again undermined by another indifferent home performance.

Sticker's squad bore little resemblance to the one beaten by Bere last month and it was evident that they had taken advantage of St Austell's game being called off earlier in the day.

However, not for the first time this season Bere were slow out of the blocks and had Craig Howells to thank for making two excellent saves from Sticker's Chris Kitson in the opening minutes.

Bere began to get their game together and were dominating possession without really threatening the visitor's goal, whilst Sticker were causing problems on the break at regular intervals, forcing Craig Howells to be at his best to keep the Bere goal intact.

It was no surprise then that Sticker took the lead on the half hour when Alex Woodcock seized on some uncertainty in the Bere defence and set up Chris Kitson for a crisp finish.

Bere then lost Lee Howells from the heart of their defence, but the reshuffle almost brought an immediate reward with Mike Curtis and Joe Hodgkiss both going close as Bere ended the half in the ascendancy but 1-0 down.

The second half was only a minute old when Joe Hodgkiss was upended in the penalty area by the Sticker right back and Mike Curtis made no mistake with the resulting spot kick to bring Bere level.

With both sides pushing for the lead, chances came and went at both ends and it was only a last ditch tackle from Mark Wheeler and then a goal line clearance from Nathan Harvey that prevented Sticker from going in front.

Bere then lost both Mike Curtis and Joe Hodgkiss to injury and substitute Graham Galway was unlucky when he made room for himself on the edge of the box but screwed his shot wide.

With time running out and a draw looking increasingly likely, Bere gave away possession in midfield and although Craig Howells saved Alex Woodcock's initial effort, from the resulting corner, Sticker's Mark Giles was quickest to react to the headed clearance and saw his shot fly into the roof of the net via a wicked deflection off Mark Wheeler.

Bere had one last chance to level matters, but Nick Aplin's effort flashed wide of the far post and so Bere were left to reflect on another disappointing home performance and another three points dropped.