Having previously lost just two league games all season by more than a one-goal margin - one of which saw them on level terms as late as the 89th minute and the other of which was played in two separate halves over a six-week period - they had shipped eight without scoring in a wild three-day period that had the potential to derail their campaign.

Sunday afternoon's home game against Edgeworth Eagles would offer them a much-needed opportunity to get things back on track and not let the stench of defeat linger too long.

The Eagles had by their own lofty standards had an underwhelming campaign thus far, and sat a point below the Bears, although with a game in hand.

Both sides had a lot to prove and the contest shaped as an exciting one, particularly if their previous meeting - where Edgeworth nicked a 3-2 win in an end-to-end thriller where Weston felt their output merited a result - was anything to go by.

The loss of Tommy Duggan to the US saw the Bears shorn of a livewire attacking threat, but they welcomed back Zac Sneddon from a brief COVID-enforced absence. Former Bear Liam Wilson started for the Eagles, while another Weston old boy in Jarryd Sutherland was named on the bench.

The early exchanges of the match were essentially dead even, as neither side were able to exert any sustained stretches of dominance.

Jeremy Brockie's deep 12th-minute cross saw Will Bower connect cleanly enough to draw a low save from Stuart Plant, but not enough to generate enough power to trouble him.

By the 13th minute, Sneddon had already made his presence felt in customary fashion, drawing the ire of the referee courtesy of a crunching challenge on Archie Finn that saw the Bears enforcer go into the book.

Chris Hurley's attempt from range in the 23rd minute bounced awkwardly in front of Shane Van As; although Jake Brownlow was first to pounce on the parry, he skied his attempt and failed to trouble the scorers.

Sneddon was walking a tightrope with a strong challenge in the 24th minute surely giving the referee cause to consider the merits of doubling up on the already-issued caution, but fortune was on the Bears full back's side in this instance.

A clever piece of play from Moustafa Mohammad in the 28th minute saw him release Connor Heydon in a good position, but Heydon's acute angled attempt was rifled into the side netting.

Nathan Morris' 34th-minute free kick from 40 yards was a touch too deep for Heydon to apply a touch of any great consequence, while his 37th-minute attempt from the same distance on the opposite side was intercepted by the Eagles defence before it could reach its intended target.

The linesman's flag averted potential disaster for the hosts in the 41st minute as Plant opted to stay home, but the same decision two minutes later saw much more serious ramifications as Morris was forced to intervene, cutting down Finn from behind on the edge of the box as the bouncing ball had been left to run through.

Morris, being the last man, was promptly dismissed by the referee, meaning the Bears would now need to fight a man light for over half the game.

An injured Sneddon further compounded the Bears' defensive woes, his race run straight afterwards.

Zac Jokinen was introduced from the bench for reinforcement, but the lack of experience in the backline was concerning and Hurley opted to drop deeper in order to provide a much-needed sense of composure and organisation.

Fortunately, the close-range free kick from Morris' earlier challenge was thudded straight into the wall by Brockie and the Bears were able to see out the half on level terms.

The stalemate would not last much longer, though, as youngster Sascha Montefiore rose above Jokinen and Aaron Niyonkuru to get on the end of a high, looping cross and head home from the edge of the six-yard box barely two minutes after the resumption.

A man down and a goal down, the Bears now had their backs well and truly against the wall.

Brockie did well to anticipate a poor clearance from the Bears and collected the ball in a promising position, fashioning a shot that drew a decent save from Plant in the 53rd minute.

Sutherland was introduced from the bench shortly afterwards, the trickster providing more than a few headaches for the Bears defence in the form of clever through balls and incisive runs.

Michael McGlinchey was thrown into the fray in the 62nd minute for Brownlow, with Bears coach Anthony Griffiths hoping his star player could inspire a miracle.

The Bears were doing well defensively, organising themselves well enough in their own box to keep things tight and only allow their opposition half chances.

Edgeworth opted to make another change of their own in the 66th, with Sam Maxwell replacing Tyson Jackson.

The Bears were perhaps a touch unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty in the 76th minute after what looked to be a handball inside the box; the referee appeared well-sighted so must have deduced that the contact was incidental only.

Mohammad had a crack in the 78th with a worm burner but pulled his strike wide of the right post. Nicholas Curran would replace Wilson for the Eagles immediately afterwards.

A strong off-the-ball hit on Cooper Buswell in the 80th minute went strangely unpunished, but a challenge inside the box moments later by Paul Sichalwe saw Bower make a meal of the contact and the referee opt to award a penalty.

Bower stepped up to stroke the ball gently past a wrong-footed Plant for a barely justifiable second.

With the result essentially a foregone conclusion at this point, Mohammad tried his hand at an ambitious lob directly from kick-off, but overcooked his attempt.

Pat Wheeler left a bit in a challenge on Mohammad in the 84th minute and the referee awarded Weston their first penalty of the season in their 17th match.

Mohammad's strike from the spot kissed the underside of the crossbar en route to the back of the net, and all of a sudden there was a belief that perhaps the home side could pull off the great escape, having now halved the deficit and grabbed a crucial piece of momentum.

Ben Clouten replaced Buswell at the restart and was industrious as always, chasing down every loose ball and ensuring the Eagles defence would not be able to waste a second.

The Bears were now pressing forward and despite the numerical disadvantage, they had forced Edgeworth into camping well inside their own half.

A dynamic piece of play from Heydon in the 87th minute saw him play himself through on the turn and ride a challenge, galloping all the way down the sideline to feed a low cross towards Clouten; Van As, however, had other ideas, and did well to get down and claim a sliding interception to snuff out the attack before a shot on goal could be mustered.

There would be one last opportunity for the Bears to grab an unlikely equaliser, as McGlinchey fed a long-range 94th-minute free-kick into the mixer.

With nothing to lose, Plant came up to try to contribute to the attack, and after the ball pinged around in the box, the home side were convinced they should have been awarded another spot kick after Wheeler appeared to handle the ball.

On this occasion, however, the referee deemed there was nothing doing and blew his full-time whistle shortly afterwards with the score remaining 2-1 to the Eagles.

Despite finishing the stronger of the two sides, the Bears had left it too late to showcase their best football and the clock unexpectedly proved their nemesis as Edgeworth held on to claim a vital victory in the context of the finals race.

After being comfortably in the reckoning for a top five berth just a week ago, the result now leaves the Bears essentially consigned to another year without finals football, sitting in eighth position and needing to make up a deficit to the three sides above them who all have games in hand.

With a week off to allow opposition sides to play catch-up fixtures, the Bears' attention will now shift to an away trip to the surging Valentine in two weeks' time; their opponents have registered four consecutive victories including back-to-back scalps of high-flying Lambton, causing the rest of the competition to sit up and take notice.

The Bears claimed the spoils in the previous meeting between the two, with a 2-0 result back in April at Rockwell Automation Park, but this incarnation of Valentine will likely provide a much sterner test for a Weston side who will be desperate to reverse their recent trend and finish their campaign on a high note.

Tim Klingbiel is the Weston Bears Media Officer