Alton Town 1, Bemerton Heath 0

ALTON Town moved up to fifth place in Division One with a gutsy 1-0 win over second-placed Bemerton Heath at The Enclosure on Saturday.

And the Brewers were good value for the win as Luke Perkins’ second-half strike proved to be the difference between the sides.

Town boss Kev Adair was forced to make two changes from last week, with Luke Perkins replacing the unavailable George Bowerman and Stuart Green replacing the injured Richie Hunter.

Bemerton started brightly, with Matt Graham having to be alert to clear a dangerous cross into the Alton box, but they quickly became reliant on long balls and long throws in a bid to keep Alton off balance.

But Alton were more than equal to the aerial threat and Perkins got an early sight of goal as he found space but could only shoot straight at Patrick Creese in the Bemerton goal.

Perkins was then off target with another effort before good work by Alton’s midfield gave striker Scott Sanderson a shooting chance, but again it was wide of the target.

At the other end, Justin Courtnage in the Alton goal was forced into a save from Bennett, but the hosts were in the ascendancy as Perkins made his mark on proceedings. He combined well with Jack Fowler to force a corner, which was cleared, before more link-up play saw Fowler force Creese into a save.

A Fowler corner was then cleared as Alton started to dominate the ball and the Brewers threatened the Bemerton goal again as Phil Moore’s free kick was cleared behind for another corner, which was swung in deep but Sanderson’s header at the far post sailed agonisingly wide.

And the pressure grew on Bemerton as the first half drew to a close with Sean Wain being cautioned and then sent to the sinbin for dissent.

With Alton looking to take advantage of their numerical advantage at the start of the second half, Sanderson found Perkins who again forced Creese into a save before a second effort was straight at the relieved Bemerton goalkeeper.

With Bemerton’s numbers restored, the returning Wain set up Perrett for what seemed certain to be the opening goal, but he inexplicably missed the target at the back post when it looked easier to score.

And high-flying Bemerton were left to rue their profligacy in front of goal two minutes later as Alton took the lead. Matt Graham found that man Perkins who ran down the left wing, cut inside and curled an exquisite shot past Creese into the far corner.

Bemerton hit back only to see Bennett head wide before Perkins missed a golden chance to double Alton’s lead as he ran on to Sanderson’s pull back but slammed his shot over the crossbar.

At the other end, Bemerton looked dangerous as they attacked down the right but Jamie Phillips was perfectly placed to head the cross over his own bar with Courtnage beaten and Danny Finnigan waiting to head home.

The game then ebbed and flowed in the heat with Liam Knight’s run down the wing setting up substitute Harry Rolfe but he fired narrowly wide while Courtnage had to be alert to break up a promising Bemerton counterattack.

Brewers boss Kev Adair was well aware of the importance of picking up the three points.

“It’s a big win against probably one of the league favourites,” he said.

“They brought some good players in over the summer so I think they will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, so they are teams you want to be competing with in the game. If you can match teams like that then you are going to give yourself a chance to finish quite high up the table.”

On Saturday, Alton Town travel to Dorset to face Verwood Town (kick-off 3pm) and then host high-flyers Hythe & Dibden at The Enclosure next Tuesday (kick-off 7.45pm).

“Verwood is a tough place to go, a real old-school set up,” said Adair.

“Most away fixtures are difficult given that we play on a 3G surface. Playing away on grass every two weeks, if it’s not a good surface then a bit of adjustment is needed, but if we stick to what we want to do all the time we generally do okay.

“And Hythe & Dibden are probably another one of the favourites to finish in the promotion places so it’s going to be tough. We always fancy our chances at home but they are a decent outfit and we’ll have to be at our best to get something out of that one.”

Alton Town: Courtnage, Phillips, M Graham, Knight, Gill, Moore, Fowler, Green, O Graham, Perkins, Sanderson. Subs: Rolfe, Black, Grindel, Evans.