Sidmouth Town went down by the odd goal in three when they men University at Manstone Lane.

The Vikings were hit by a lightning-quick goal with the students taking the lead after just 13 seconds!

From the kick-off the ball arrived at the feet of University left back Ben Witcherek who set off on a run that saw him ease his way through the Town defensive ranks before picking his spot and rifling the ball home!

It was not surprising that the home side were somewhat shell-shocked and they fell further behind after 20 minutes.

Town regrouped and got to half-time without further damage and, in the second half, were the better side, and they halved the deficit with an Adam Kannah penalty.

However, that was as good as it got for the Manstone Lane faithful as they saw their team beaten for the fifth time in eight Eastern Division outings.

Vikings boss Josh Stunell said: “There was an element of naivety about our first 45 minutes, but that happens when you play youngsters and it certainly not something to be too concerned about because the fact is we have some talented youngsters who will only benefit from such experiences. We improved a great deal in the second half.”

He continued: “They (university) are a cracking side with an abundance of pace and quality. For me they look a top six side playing that way and I’ll be very surprised if they are not up amongst the leading sides in the division come the business end of the campaign.”

Town face the students again this Saturday (September 19) when the teams meet in Exeter to contest a Walter C Parsons Cup tie that kicks-off at the University ground in Topsham Road, Exeter, at 2.30pm.