Beer beat Bucks to reach the last eight

Beer’s keeper Elliot Driver was in early action to deal with a couple of dangerous set pieces. Buckfastleigh missed a chance to go ahead on 18 minutes when their right winger missed the target after getting behind the Beer defence and they were punished four minutes later.

Tom Perry was brought down in the penalty area by the visitor’s keeper and Charley Skilton fired home an unstoppable spot kick. Buckfastleigh continued to play some great football but such was the solidity of Beer’s defensive play that keeper Driver was rarely tested.

The equaliser came on 56 minutes when Tom Moody slid the ball home from 10 yards out after a solo run. It looked ominous for Beer when just one minute later Buckfastleigh went 2-1 ahead through a magnificent strike from an acute angle.

But Beer showed real character to pull themselves back into the game. Buckfastleigh failed to clear a free kick into the box and Charlie Ledger’s teasing header from eight yards looped over the keeper and dropped down behind him via the cross bar.

As the game wore on, Beer’s superior fitness began to tell and they took control of the game, and they went 3-2 ahead on 75 minutes, when Josh French reacted quickly in a crowded box to score with a clean left-footer from 12 yards. French sealed the win with his second from close range.

Match Sponsor Practical Car and Van Rental at Musbury Garage picked out Tom Moody as Buckfastleigh’s best player and settled on Beer midfielder Charley Skilton as the game’s star player.

Beer Reserves maintained their lead in Devon and Exeter Division 2 with a solid 2-0 win at Otterton. Goals from Harry Lawrence and Reece Best and a workmanlike performance across the park earned Beer the victory.

Goalkeeper Shaun Denslow and centre-backs Fraser Beament and Jack Harwood were outstanding and instrumental in the Fishermen keeping a clean sheet.