Sidmouth Raiders Under-13s shared the spoils with Cranbrook in a 1-1 draw.

Rarely has a one-all draw seemed so gratifying!

Raiders found themselves a goal down in the first half conceding on the counter-attack.

Sidmouth seemingly had a metaphorical mountain to climb, despite only being a goal-down, Raiders found themselves up against a brick wall of a very well organised Cranbrook defence. Raiders launched wave after wave of attack, various tactics, formations, and personnel were attempted and yet still no breakthrough.

Cranbrook did have opportunities and Raiders’ goalkeeper Owen Baldwin made some great saves and interceptions. Cranbrook were largely content to let the time slip by with the game being periodically stopped with substitutions and the Cranbrook goalie regularly being assisted by his defence to tie his shoelaces!

When a another surging Raiders attack resulted in the ball going out of play, Raiders boss Mark O’Connor proved that he had lost none of the old magic by hitting a 40 yard effort back to the Cranbrook keeper who them dropped the ball into the net. Whether this was an omen or not is unclear, but it was certainly a direct demonstration of what was needed.

Sidmouth continued to press for the equaliser, and just as it seemed that a defeat was on the cards, Reuben Bennett gained possession in a promising area and slid a diagonal ball to Jamie Salter who demonstrated remarkable presence of mind and calmness to slot the ball home to the delight of the Raiders team and supporters.

The cheers were so loud that speculators from neighbouring games looked round to see what the fuss was all about!