Sidmouth Raiders Under-14s had what was certainly a rare outing given all the recent wet weather problems, indeed, so far in 2018, Raiders have hardly kicked a ball in anger, and they were ultimately edged out 2-1 by Westexe in an Exeter Youth League meeting.

Sidmouth started brightly and could count themselves unfortunate to be a goal down at the break.

In the second half, as the end-to-end action continued, Westexe doubled their lead, albeit just as Raiders were pressing for an equaliser.

Raiders continued to give as good as they got and it was no more than they deserved when Freddie Dorman scored with a trademark clinical finish to set up a frenetic end to the contest..

Raiders forced a couple of corners at the death, but Westexe managed to keep them out.

Despite the going down to a defeat, and the fact that they were missing some key players, there were some impressive individual performances from Raiders’ players.

Zac Lascelles playing as a makeshift centre-back and performed admirably. Indeed such was his performance that he looked as if he had been playing in the role since he first kicked a ball!

Team skipper, Miles Lewis, led by example with a towering and tenacious defensive performance.

Raiders will be hoping to get their quest for promotion back on-track in their next outing.