Sidmouth Warriors Under-12, after a promising first half lost their way before being edged out by high flying Cullompton Rangers.

The Warriors started strongly with Cooke providing the creative spark and Lowe and the defenders Woodruff and Hayman fighting for every ball. Ollie Perez produced a magnificent man of the match performance in goal for the Warriors denying the Cullompton forwards any time in the few occasions they did get through in the first half. The best chance for the Warriors came from a Silk cross which Sinker was unlucky not to bundle home after their goalkeeper fumbled. The first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate with both sides cancelling each other out.

The second half saw the Warriors lose their way and they really struggled to string any passes together. This enabled Cullompton to gain control and put the Warriors defence under extreme pressure. Perez was superb and saved chance after chance that Cullompton created before finally Cullompton’s pressure paid with a strike that even Perez couldn’t keep out. Five minutes later Cullompton were awarded a dubious penalty but a fantastic save from Perez kept the Warriors in the game. This spurred the team on and the Warriors began to start winning the midfield battles again until a reckless challenge by the opponents saw Lowe having to be carried from the field. Soon after Cullompton scored a second and try as they might the Warriors didn’t have a shot on goal in the second half until a last minute strike from Sinker was saved by Cully’s keeper.

The Warriors really need to learn how to keep the ball, we will be working on that in training this week before next weeks crucial league match against Feniton.

Team; Ollie Perez, Matt Jones, Tom Woodruff, Kade Hayman, Joe Lowe , Jack Silk, Toby De Gruchy, Elliot Perez, Tom Cooke , Ethan Mead, Joe Buckland, Luke Tremlett, Alex Thomas and Leon Sinker.