Sidmouth Town 1, Exmouth Town 2

The Vikings hosted an unbeaten Exmouth Town side at Manstone on a pitch prepared superbly by Ken Mortimore. The freescoring visitors tested their hosts, especially as this was the first action for the Vikings since mid December.

Both sides took some time to get going and it was Exmouth who slowly started to gain the upper hand. Burgess, the home custodian, was by far the busier and made a couple of great saves to keep them at bay. Alex Raistrick showed again his quality with a fantastic goal line clearance as Exmouth were piling the pressure on.

Some wayward finishing and good defending saw the Vikings edge towards the break still 0-0. With five minutes remaining Exmouth broke the deadlock from a corner with ex-Viking Dan Boere losing his marker to power home a header. The 1-0 scoreline at half time certainly flattered Sidmouth but they had grafted for each other and were still in the game.

The second half was much more even as the Vikings,with a substantial crowd behind them, began to test the visiting defence. Both Sam Banks and Tim Lister had shots that had the away side worried.

Then on 70 minutes Exmouth increased their lead when Phil Everett shot low past Burgess to give the visitors a cushion.

Still undaunted the Vikings kept playing but the away defence kept them out. Exmouth hit the woodwork twice in quick succession as Sidmouth, unsurprisingly, looked leggy! On 85 minutes Sam Baker showed a cool head and quick feet to dummy his way past Clay and Woolley and slot the ball in the corner to make the final score 1-2.

Manager Paddy Thomas said: “ This was another outstanding, gritty showing from us. Exmouth are a quality side and are top for a reason. Their bench would have got in any other side in this league such is their strength in depth and that is without Andrew Thompson, last season’s top scorer for us! We need to show that desire each week and hopefully improve in the final third.”

?Next up is Appledore another tough game home 3pm. Please go along and support the Vikings.