SOHC ladies II 1, Exe III 1 Sidmouth and Ottery Ladies seconds were raring to go as the second half of their league season began with a local derby.

The first half produced an even contest with both sides looking to retain possession and defences held sway until the visitors broke the deadlock with a clinical finish from a break out of defence.

The home response was good and Katie Jackson was a whisker away from restoring parity, but half-time arrived with the one goal separating the teams.

After the break the home side increased the intensity of their play and produced some fine consistent team play to force a number of short corners.

It proved third time lucky for the third of the short corners saw Rachael Down’s strong injection well received by Karen Dutton who followed through with an excellent strike that rattled against the back board of the goal to make it 1-1.

There’s little doubt that the very least SOHC deserved for their collective efforts was a share of the spoils.

The Player of the Match award went to Sturdy for her strong play at the back and great distribution of the ball.

The team face a double header weekend with Saturday’s league game at Newton Abbot followed by a match at Ottery on Sunday against Plymouth Uni III in the Devon Cup. Kick-off on Sunday is 12.30pm.