Sidmouth Town Reserves chalked up a ninth win of their Macron League Division One campaign with a 3-1 success at Colyton.

The Vikings made the short trip to Colyton with a strong squad. However, on the home teams small pitch that was also wet - but certainly playable - Town struggled and players that are usually assured with their passing and ball control were often found wanting whilst struggling with the basics of the game!

One feature that certainly had an impact on proceedings was the performance of a match referee that chose to issue yellow cards for mundane reasons and seemed to chose to dictate the action as opposed to officiating it! The upshot of this approach from the man in the middle was that the afternoon became something of a chore rather than the pastime that players and management look forward to!

Town, with Callum Cross influential on the left and Ferenc Bodor a continual threat in the final third, held a measure of control, but, the team’s Achilles heel this term – sloppy defending – once again reared its ugly head and the home side took the lead with their very first attempt on the Adam Bartlett goal!

things would only get worse for the hosts

Shaken, the Vikings regained their composure and piled the pressure on with Will Jenkins prominent in most of the positive play.

It was no more than they deserved when Cross levelled things up, firing low into the far corner of the net and that was how it remained through until half-time.

During the break the Town management team reminded the players that managing the basics of the game would suffice against a side that seemed to have little to offer.

When Jake Sellick weaved his way into the area he was hauled down in crude fashion and Rikki Pitter sent the Colyton glovesman the wrong way to give the Vikings the lead.

The home side hit back, but, apart from a coupe, of ‘scares’, fashioned by a lack of communication and understanding of the situation, there was no further threat on the Bartlett goal.

At the other end Bodor and Pitter could have scored three each as the Vikings laid siege to the Colyton goal and the points were eventually sealed when Pitter did indeed find the back of the net for the game’s fourth and final goal.

Three points were the aim and the players deserve a huge amount of credit playing in a game that was difficult to watch and awkward to play in.

This Saturday (March 18) the Town second string travel to Witheridge who are their main rivals for a top two finish in the division.