Sidmouth Raiders Under-15s went down 3-0 when they met Central Redstar in an Exeter and District Youth League game.

It was certainly a soggy Saturday that Raiders battled, as well as a determined opposition, and, after shipping three first half goals, they were left with a second-half mountain to climb!

Two of the three Redstar goals came from well-executed set-pieces and their other goal was a clinical finish.

One of the first-half highlights for Raiders was undoubtedly Owen Baldwin’s energetic performance on the right wing, while Yan Mercan attempted to get a goal back with one of his trademark long range ‘ballistic’ free-kicks that the opposition goalkeeper was grateful to gather safely! In the second half, Raiders appeared more energised and provided much sterner opposition for the Exeter-based opposition.

Playing some decent football, and clearly growing in confidence, Raiders pressed, with Ryan Kubaczka and a fully fit Joel Evans, looking to make a mark on the game, pressing forward.

The closest they came to a goal was when Ethan Gribble attempted an audacious scissor kick which, on another day, would surely have gone in!

This weekend Raiders travel to Tiverton and will be looking to build on their second-half performance in the defeat to Redstar and come back from Mid Devon with a positive result.