Sidmouth went into this week’s home game against Cheltenham A with a strong selection of 13 first team players hoping to record their first win of the season.

Sidmouth started the game strongly, applying early pressure, creating an early goal-scoring opportunity for George Powell to go one on one with the keeper, only for his attempt to be blocked.

The applied pressure soon told though, as Cheltenham conceded several penalty corners, one of which was converted by Daniel Devine to give Sidmouth a 1-0 lead.

Cheltenham stepped up their game and managed to draw level with a penalty corner of their own, taking the scores to 1-1 at half time.

After the break, both teams pressed for a win, with chances on both sides to take the lead in a competitive game.

It was Cheltenham, however, who got the goal to make it 2-1, to which Sidmouth responded with a more attacking formation.

Sidmouth had chances to draw level but failed to apply a finish.

This proved costly as an attack broke down and Cheltenham broke away with the ball to make the final score a 3-1 defeat.

The Adrenalin Games Man of the Match this week was Byron Fitzgerald and thanks go to Adrenalin Games for their generous sponsorship and kind support.

OPM 3, Sidmouth 7

HA Cup

With a cup match the following day against OPM, Sidmouth had little time to dwell on this defeat, as they travelled to Plymouth with their best chance of a result so far this season.

Sidmouth started well, playing simple effective hockey, resulting in good goal scoring opportunities.

By half time Sidmouth were 5-1 up, with George Powell, Graham Pidgeon, Alick Russell and Dan Devine, 2, making up the goal scorers.

However, it was a disappointing second half as Sidmouth's performance dropped when complacency crept into the game.

The final score was 7-3, with Graham Pidgeon adding one to his tally and Mark Mingo finding his way onto the score sheet with a fierce strike at goal.

With a first win of the season Sidmouth should approach their next game against Ottery Crickets with confidence and ensure a league victory at the expense of their local rivals.