Sidmouth Town Reserves were 3-0 winners when they entertained Budleigh Salterton Reserves in a Fresha League Division One match on a day when many matches across the county were again washed out.

After a month without any action the Vikings second string would have been excused for a sluggish start, but the Manstone Lane faithful were pleasantly surprised as the home team were quickly onto the front foot.

It was only a combination of poor finishing and a Man of the Match performance by the visiting goalkeeper that kept the game in the balance

Riki Pitter, Jake Sellick and Ferenc Bodor were all guilty of squandering good chances to open the scoring in the first quarter.

During this time the visitors offered little at the opposite end and complacency together with frustration became the biggest problem for the home side.

As half-time loomed the deadlock was finally broken when Pitter atoned for missing a sitter minutes before, heading the Vikings’ in front.

The second half was a nervy affair with Town showing signs of weakness at the back and naivety from a young midfield. Budleigh could, indeed should, have drawn level when an otherwise untroubled Dec Lines made a hash of a clearance giving an open goal to the visiting striker. To the Town glovesmans credit he managed to scramble back and scoop the ball away for a corner.

That near miss sparked Town into a response and teenager Joe Miller settled the Manstone Lane nerves, scoring from close range after a shot from Pitter was parried.

With 15 minutes to play Bodor completed the scoring.

Town Reserves’ boss Paddy Thomas said: “It was a satisfactory result given the lack of recent action. That said complacency is a worry for the management! A few experienced players were missing and it showed at times. One of then emerging youngsters, Joe Miller, is going to be out for a while with a groin injury and that’s a shame for he has been a pleasure to work with.”

On Saturday the Vikings second string head to Tiverton for a league game against Westexe.