Stoke Gabriel 2, Sidmouth Town 3

Sidmouth travelled to Stoke Gabriel on Saturday expecting a stern test. With the always-supportive committee in attendance, Town matched their hosts for the first 15 minutes.

Stoke probed away and took the lead with a well-worked team move on 20 minutes. Within five minutes Town drew level when a cross from Adam Whitty was turned into the net by the home centre half.

Just five minues after that, Stoke were awarded a penalty which was duly dispatched into the bottom left corner of Luke Ashford’s goal.

For 10 minutes Stoke were on top and played neat one-touch football that Sidmouth struggled to cope with. Then, from a good ball forward to Simon Hudson, Mike Stamp broke through and slotted home to make it 2-2. That was the half time score and probably was a fair reflection of how well the away side had done.

The second half was again fairly even with Stoke trying to gain the initiative. Town stood up to the test and came back for more. When Andrew Thomson was brought down in the box, he picked himself up to blast the penalty hard and straight into the net for what turned out to be the winner!

Manager Paddy Thomas said: “Who would have thought that! Mark Burdus, making his debut, gave a fabulous display, as did Mike Stamp,who is an absolute joy to manage, and scoring made his effort all the more worthwhile. Perfomances have been better than results have suggested. I am pleased for the players who are such a great bunch and to a man, all 14 played a part in a memorable victory.”