Sidmouth FC U16s 2, Hemyock 2 (League)

After the highs of a few excellent recent performances in matches against top sides, the boys came back down to earth in producing a tired, lethargic display against Hemyock, writes Dickie Seldon.

Hemyock seem to save their best performances for games against Sidmouth and this was no exception, as they took advantage of a sloppy start by the boys to go 1-0 up after 15 minutes. Hemyock kept breaking through the middle with Sidmouth’s midfield getting caught out of position ahead of the ball, exposing the defence to the power of the Hemyock runners.

In attack, Will Sanders stood out, taking on and beating his full-back and getting in great service from the left, but the Sidmouth forwards seemed to all be making the same run so were not on hand to snaffle the rebounds. However, Sanders did level the scores on the half hour, as he controlled a Joe Blackmore flick-on to swivel and score with a neat finish.

After a constructive chat, and a few changes in personnel and formation at half-time, Sidmouth looked a lot brighter and dominated the second half, creating a host of chances. Toby Seldon lobbed just over from 35 yards, Henry Ho burst through to shoot just wide, and Sanders rose in the box to plant a firm header just past the post. In defence, Dan Corrick slotted well into a back three as Sidmouth took the initiative, only to be caught out by a speculative shot which caught keeper Dec Lines off his line and sailed into the net for Hemyock’s 2nd.

Sidmouth kept creating and spurning great chances;- Conor Ellis powered through, only to smash against the keeper, Riordan Deehan-Jackson headed against the bar from Seldon’s corner, with Sam Gosling’s acrobatics from the rebound seeing the ball go just over. Sanders again put the ball wide when well-placed. Finally, Blackmore controlled and rammed home Ho’s knock-down to equalise with 10 minutes to go. Hemyock still managed to nearly nick it late on when Blackmore headed off the line.

This Saturday the boys are home, in the league, against Crediton (10.30) at N Pop.