Newton Poppleford suffered an emphatic 12-2 defeat at the hands of Sidmouth Town Reserves, sending them out of the Bill Slee Cup at the first hurdle.

The die was cast for what would become a miserable afternoon for the Popples and their followers as the Vikings struck the opening goal just 30 seconds into the contest!

The Popples were their own worst enemies with the opening goal gifting the opportunity to score after a defensive mix-up that Andy Issac needed no second invitation to take advantage of, giving home glovesman Alex Bowring no chance.

Hat-tricks for Isaac, Riki Pitter and Ferenc Bodor were added to by Jake Boyland’s brace and Doug Still’s first-time volley to hand Sidmouth a second round tie at home to Axmouth United on October 4.

The only positives for Newton Pop were goals from Jordan Cooper and substitute Mark Gerry, but the overall feeling from the game was one of disappointment.

Despite losing every competitive game played last season, the result became the heaviest defeat suffered under manager Cliff Cooper, who was understandably less than impressed by the result and the performance.

He said: “Obviously we knew that Sidmouth are a good side and we would have our backs against the wall for the majority of the game but to lose by ten goals is disappointing - yet absolutely what we deserved.

“We played without any fight or pride and that has never been the case before.”

The Popples will have the chance to redeem themselves this Saturday (tomorrow) when they switch attentions to the Devon Cup against defending champions Bar Sol Ona.