With most of the football in Devon wiped out due to the constant January rain, local supporters had to visit one of the counties few astro turf facilities to witness any action as University of Exeter took on a Bere Alston side ten places below them in the table in one of only two Devon League games to survive.
Bere Alston started the game the stronger side and had the best of the opening chances but their best chance came just after fifteen minutes when Alex Lowe sent a curling effort towards the top corner from the edge of the box but could only watch as the University shot stopper, Ben Roberts pulled off a superb save to deny the visitors the lead. From the resulting corner the ball fell to the feet of Ben Clark who fired over the bar from inside the box.
After having the best of the opening chances with the hosts yet to trouble the visiting keeper, the hosts were gifted an opportunity to take the lead as Harry Eaton fouled the Uni striker in the box and after a brief chat with his linesman, the referee pointed to the spot. Sam Shearer found the bottom corner from the spot albeit the best efforts from Bere keeper Ryelee Deignan who managed to get a hand on the effort.
After taking the lead this seemed to spur the University side into action and less than sixty seconds from the restart they almost doubled the lead. Bertie Whymark had the ball at his feet on the edge of the box but his curling effort went just wide of the far post.
The first half was slow starting but the second half sprung into life instantly as Uni almost scored straight from the off. Luke McIver got the ball on the edge of the box and sent a low strike narrowly wide of the far post.
Straight down the other end and the visitors reacted to almost conceding a second as they went on the attack and were awarded a penalty for handball. Ryan Moorhead sent the keeper the wrong way and with less than three minutes of the second half played, the game was level once again.
The early equalising goal seemed to spark some life into the game and both team had chances to take the lead but the students quality soon showed through and they were once again in the lead. Deignan pulled off a save from a Uni shot as he palmed the ball straight into the path of Samy Ahmadi who finished from close range. Moments later and the lead was extended as a corner fell to Harry Dunlop who fired into the back of the net from close range.
Bere Alston had their work cut out to get back into the game and to their credit they never gave up as they continued to look to get back into the game. With less than ten minutes remaining the final goal was scored as the hosts extended their lead further with Sam Shearer scoring his second of the game as he flicked the ball over the visiting keeper from close range.
With the three points University climbed to third in the league due to the majority of the games being postponed. Hopefully the weather starts to improve and we will see a return to action for most teams in the coming weeks.
University of Exeter team: Ben Roberts, Cohen Lee, Joe Zamir, Charlie Hewlett, Seb Limon, Adam Jones, Samy Ahmadi, Ollie Kavanagh, Sam Shearer, Luke McIver, Bertie Whymark
Subs: Lucas Coveney, James Batchlor, Harry Dunlop, Alex Makris, Jack Knowles
Bere Alston United team: Ryelee Deignan, Ryan Moorhead, Bailee Deignan, Ben Clark, Kieran Bond, Charlie Phipps, Alex Lowe, Harry Eaton, Robert Court, Sean Thomson, Vincent Wright-Harper Innis
Subs: Callum Mitchell, Darren Phillips, Owen Jones, Connor Johnson