The December schedule for Sidmouth Town

Confirmation that the football can resume from December 5 will mean a week of fervent preparation at local clubs.

Sidmouth Town face a testing trip to Torrington on the opening weekend of the South-West Peninsula League East Division.

Torrington currently sits 12th in the table and just a point behind the Vikings, although they have played two games more. Arguably the biggest challenge facing Sidmouth is the unpredictability of their hosts, as Torrington have combined some heavy losses with impressive victories over the first two months of the campaign.

In the weekend before lockdown, Torrington went down to a 5-2 defeat at home to Newton Abbot Spurs but they did secure a battling 3-2 triumph at Elburton Villa a week previous. Sandwiched between those games was a result that will give Sidmouth understandable confidence for the restart, as the reverse fixture at Manstone Lane ended in a 7-1 triumph for the Vikings, with Luke White grabbing the plaudits for a superb hat-trick.

The petrol card will be back in action a week later, as the Vikings will be back on the road for another trip to North Devon and a tough encounter at Ilfracombe Town, who have lost just once in their opening nine games. A decent run in the FA Vase means that Ilfracombe have played less league fixtures than any of their rivals and the size of the challenge can be measured against results that have seen Sidmouth’s December 12 hosts trounce Honiton and Bovey Tracey earlier this season.

The fixture calendar has not been kind to Sidmouth when it comes to travel, as the weekend before Christmas also brings an away trip, as the Vikings travel west to take on Plymouth Marjon. On paper, it is a winnable fixture against a side currently in the bottom four but, aside from a heavy loss at Torpoint, Marjon had shown some improvement prior to lockdown, beating Holsworthy 2-0 and a superb draw at high-flying Newton Abbot Spurs.

The Vikings do finally return home for a Boxing Day cracker at Manstone Lane and the traditional local derby at Christmas will bring Honiton as the visitors. Two days later, another derby awaits, as Sidmouth travel to Crediton United. Five games in December, and a massive month for the Vikings.