Sidmouth ladies first team at home to Penzance. Photo by Terry Ife ref shsp 4153-48-11TI To order your copy of this photograph go to www.sidmouthherald.co.uk and click on myphotos24

Sidmouth Ladies 1sts: 1, ISCA 3rds: 3

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Saturday was to be a tough test for Sidmouth, faced with the consistently strong ISCA, writes Chloë Munn.

The first half saw Sidmouth struggle to find their stride, with ISCA coming forward on mass into the Sidmouth half, Sidmouth’s defence held strong, with tight man-to-man marking from Jess Allen, Molly Adkin and Chloë Munn.

Goalkeeper Hayley Delasalle fought off a tirade of shots that kept Sidmouth in the game. But a powerful strike from the ISCA front line saw a sneaky deflection which left Sidmouth a goal down and feeling deflated.

ISCA built on their success and forced a short corner seizing their second goal before the half time whistle from a slick short corner set piece.

With a re-shuffle in the second half, Sidmouth returned to their short, sharp, punchy game. With inspired breaks setup by Lea Pidgeon allowing Taryn Beuthin to use her speed and finesse to cause trouble in the ISCA defence, the perfect positioning of Jodie Parsons allowed her to 'poach' a goal that Sidmouth desperately needed.

Some creative play and low relentless tackles from the mids, Caroline Bickerstaff and birthday girl Sara Roberts allowed Sidmouth to press forwards and a second goal looked inevitable but the ISCA goalkeeper kept denying the Sidmouth side.

Sarah Hutchins, Dukes Player of the Match, once again displayed her versatility, dropping back into defence she proved to be solid as ISCAs breaks were short lived.

Returning to the Sidmouth side was Anna Rowson, who caused trouble for the ISCA mids, holding up the ball and distributing the ball to all corners of the pitch. This style suits Vicki Russell who used her skills to neatly slip past her opponents. In the last two minutes ISCA broke and a third goal scored for the winning side, with the ball trickling across the goal line.

Coach Gus McVey was proud of the fight Sidmouth displayed but feels there is much more his side can do to hold onto their position in the league, as they face a young, well matched Plymouth Marjohns on Saturday.