Sidmouth Raiders 1, Brixington Blues 0 Sidmouth Raiders Under-10s turned on the style to claim a richly deserved clean sheet success, writes Paul Bennett.

In what was one of the final competitive matches of the season for the team they began brightly with the effervescent Freddie Dorman linking well with goal-scoring machine, Josh O’Connor.

Raiders dominated possession whilst any threat the opposition posed was quickly snuffed out by the defenders; captain Jack Goodman and Yan Mercan.

Onm the rare occasion that the Exmouth side did get through they found an alert and positive Ollie Keast in the Raiders goal.

In midfield Frank Long was energetic, constantly passing and probing and not afraid to put in a timely tackle when needed. Second half substitute Reuben Bennett was solid and effective whilst Alex Bennett was a constant thorn in the side of the Brixington defence before injury led to his premature departure from the game.

The winning goal arrived when Owen Baldwin, who had just returned after a spell on the bench, launched a long throw deep into the Blues penalty area and it fell invitingly to young O’Connor who made no mistake from close range to secure Raiders a fine victory.