Sidmouth Raiders 3, Central 4 Sidmouth Raiders Under-13s were edged out in an enthralling contest.

Two well-matched teams gave their all and the outcome was in doubt right to the final whistle.

The Raiders one regret at the full-time whistle would have been that had they taken their chances they would surely have taken all three points themselves!

Raiders opened the scoring when Skelding neatly by-passed the defence before thumping the ball home.

Central quickly restored parity as the game swung from end-to-end.

Sidmouth’s second goal came with a ball through the centre of defence from Skelding which found its way through the legs of a Central defender to Hughes who slotted home. Hughes struck again with an opportunist header when the Central goalkeeper uncharacteristically fumbled the ball.

After the break Raiders fashioned a number of chances and, on more than one occasion the frame of the goal came to Central’s rescue.

At the final whistle the central coach was quick to praise the Raiders team who had, in his opinion, given central their hardest match of the season to date! Given that a few players were missing owing to Easter holidays, it underlines the strength in depth there is in this age group at Sidmouth Town.