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Creech St Michael 1, Berrow 9

5:50pm Tuesday 16th March 2010

BERROW produced a devastating display of attacking football against Taunton-based Creech St Michael to condemn them to their heaviest county league defeat ever.

The visitors arrived in Taunton wary of a side currently in a position that belies their ability, having had two very close games with them at the beginning of the season, with Berrow triumphing by a single goal on both occasions.

Berrow were without Scott Lismore due to concussion so Ross Vickery was called in to start at right back. Shaun Lismore moved across to left back and Wayne Barrett to Lismore’s place on the wing.

They started warily as Creech made all the opening advances on a very difficult surface churned up and left to dry out, making football in certain areas of the pitch nigh on impossible.

Against the run of play, the visitors took the lead when Dave Keirle released strike partner Jeff Read to race through and calmly slot the ball past the keeper. This served to spark the mayhem that was to follow as Berrow went goal mad.

Next to score was Keirle, who took advantage of a mistake by the Creech centre half to fire home. Centre back Gary Prowse was the next man on the scoresheet, heading in Luke McErlain’s cleverly placed free kick.

And Keirle was on the scoresheet again when he diverted Lismore’s cross-shot past the keeper and he completed his hat-trick with the move of the game converting Barrett’s pin-point cross. The only blemish on a perfect half of football was Creech’s consolation from the penalty spot.

The second half saw Berrow continue where they left off with Barrett again the provider for Keirle. He bamboozled the full-back with a series of stepovers, glided past his man and crossed for Keirle who converted with ease.

Berrow took the opportunity to introduce the subs at this point, with Alex Taylor, Steve Eley and Jack Shepherd replacing Read, Keirle and Lismore. And Taylor could have grabbed a sensational goal, only to see his 30-yard thunderbolt cannon off the post.

Gary Prowse grabbed his second when Ryan McErlain provided the ball into the box for a simple tap-in. He went on to score an unlikely hat-trick after Dax Vincent was brought down in the penalty box. Usual taker Luke McErlain handed the ball to Prowse who took his chance by sending the bewildered keeper the wrong way.

Ryan McErlain completed the scoring when his brother, Luke, took the ball to the by-line, beat his man and squared to him for a tap-in.

With this victory ,Berrow extended their lead at the top of the table to seven points.

Manager Louis Dean said: “If we continue to produce the kind of football we’ve produced for the last few weeks, promotion should be a formality.

“However, it’s important the lads do not rest on their laurels as we have some very tough games to come including Saturday’s home clash with Long Ashton, who beat us in the cup over 90 minutes.”

Man of the match: Gary Prowse.

Berrow: Warner, Lismore (Shepherd), Prowse, Dean, Vickery, Barrett, R.McErlain, L.McErlain, Vincent, Keirle (Taylor), Read (Eley)

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