Playing at home, team spirits were high, but with only one point and second to bottom of the league, Sidmouth Ladies were desperate for a win and raring to go.

At the blow of the whistle, Sidmouth were quick to start and were in Dart’s D early in the game, but they quickly fought back and they soon had a game on their hands.

Throughout the first half, both sides had many goal opportunities, but Sidmouth were awarded a penalty flick.

With Lea Pidgeon on the mark and the goalkeeper poised, the flick was taken… the ball hit the backboard to the sound of cheers.

With play continuing and Sidmouth’s spirits high, the opposition responded to Sidmouth’s lead and bought the score level to 1-1 and with that the half-time whistle blew.

After the restart, Sidmouth kept up the pressure on their defence and were rewarded when Lea Pidgeon stepped into their D and, with a cracking strike, put them back into the lead.

Shortly after this Taryn Beuthin scored an even better goal that might well have qualified for goal of the season. A fabulous reverse hit from the top of the D left the keeper with no chance. However, the joy was short-lived as, to everyone’s astonishment, it was disallowed by the nearby referee for what he thought was obstruction.

The situation got even worse when, a short while later, Taryn finished up with an inexplicable red card.

Despite this setback, the team had to rise to the challenge of having only 10 players on pitch and continued to play well.

Karen Cann, who played brilliantly throughout, scored a goal from the post to give Sidmouth a lead of 3-1. They then conceded a goal in the last few minutes to give us a final winning score of 3-2.

With this first win of the season Sidmouth are confident going in to next week’s home game against Plymouth Marjon.

Finally, the whole team would like to welcome Sarah Thomas back into the hockey club after a season’s break. To learn more about the club visit www.sidmouthhockeyclub.