With the weather being as bad as ever, the Sidbury lads were almost surprised to have a game last Saturday.

With the weather being as bad as ever, the Sidbury lads were almost surprised to have a game last Saturday. Thanks to the superb efforts of Mel Coombs, who has kept the pitch in fantastic condition, the Seagulls played their first match of the year.Sidbury have been frustrated by recent results when, after seemingly doing enough, they have fallen just short.This week saw the return visit of Ottery and, when the teams met earlier in the season, Sidbury triumphed 2-0. The game started positively for the home side when they took the lead within 10 minutes. Dan (Chippy) Churchill showed why manager Jez Schofield had played him up front, when he slotted the ball home after latching onto a pass fed from midfield. Unfortunately Sidbury could not push on from the early start and the match became very open, with both teams going forward but failing to convert in the final third. Finally, Ottery managed to break down the right and the resulting cross found a free man who managed to deflect the ball past keeper Mike Pigeon. The first half proved to be low scoring - the sides going in 1-1 - which was in complete contrast to the second half which produced a flurry of goals. It was the Seagulls who capitalised first as they re-took the lead when a goal kick from Ben Clay was flicked on. It found its way into the path of Dan Norman, who was able to lob it over the advancing keeper. Unlike before, the home side did double their lead as they hit Ottery on the counter-attack by exploiting a hole in the defence which led to Churchill scoring a second from an extremely tight angle.It seemed the game had become out of reach for the visitors and that the home side would coast the last 15 minutes to claim three points, but this wasn't to be. Ottery ensured it would be a tense final 10 minutes, when a strike from the edge of the area found a way through the keeper's grasp. Sidbury still felt they had enough about them to win but were caught short after a clearance found its way into the Sidbury half and the ball deceived the defence and keeper, after bouncing off the slick surface, leaving the striker a simple finish. Final score 3-3! See Ottery Res report left.