East Cornwall premier

Bere Alston United 4

Liskeard Athletic 1

BERE ALSTON went into this match blighted by injuries and unavailability with only 12 fit players to select from.

Matters were made worse when goalkeeper Tony Rawlings was injured in the warm up forcing manager Kevin Taylor into a drastic reshuffle with Mark Wheeler donning the gloves and captain Will Westlake pushed up front as an emergency striker.

What followed was Bere giving their most spirited team performance of the season to date against a Liskeard side that included four Peninsula League regulars.

From the first whistle, Bere set about their opponents with Darren Smalley and Dan Follett working tirelessly in midfield and Marcus Pethick causing havoc on the right wing.

Liskeard themselves were playing some neat football without threatening the Bere defence which was being well marshalled by Ed Hillier and all the early chances were falling to Bere with Nick Aplin, Marcus Pethick and Darren Smalley all going close.

Will Westlake was giving a typically robust performance up against first teamer Chris Locke at the heart of the Liskeard defence and in the 25th minute, he put Bere in front, when, from a well directed Nick Aplin cross he rifled a volley into the top corner from 15 yards.

Bere continued to create the better chances although Liskeard were starting to increase the pressure and, with half time approaching, Hussein Watfa drew them level when he latched onto a huge goal kick and fired low past Mark Wheeler albeit with a slight deflection.

Bere could count themselves unlucky to go in 1-1 at the break, but began the second half once again in the ascendancy with Marcus Pethick continuing to threat down the right

Liskeard had to reshuffle their back line when the impressive Chris Locke had to go off injured and the gaps were starting to appear for Bere to exploit which they quickly did when Darren Smalley headed on a long clearance by Mark Wheeler for Nick Aplin to race clear and coolly slot the ball home.

Will Westlake added his second when he exchanged passes with Nick Aplin and seeing the keeper off his line supplied a wonderful finish with a chip from all of 25 yards.

Marcus Pethick and Darren Smalley both had great chances to increase Bere's lead and Dan Follett hit the post, before Westlake completed his hat trick when he drove the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to make it 4-1.

Liskeard to their credit kept plugging away and Bere had Steve Piper to thank for a goal line clearance before Mark Wheeler made a fine save to retain Bere's winning margin.