Sidmouth Town were hampered by availability issues as they slipped to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Brixham.

Vikings boss Josh Stunell found himself unable to call on Dan Evans, Ben Burrows, James Clampin, Dan Norman and Brendon Green for the trip to South Devon, but Town were still able to travel with a fiercely competitive squad and called up a couple more talented local teenagers, Ollie Jarrett and Tom Badcott in a bid to continue the club’s decent recent league form.

Perhaps it was due to the changes, or maybe the journey to Brixham, but the Vikings made a sluggish start and found themselves a goal down inside five minutes as they struggle to contain a home forward line with serious pace.

Things got worse in the 20th minute when Brixham scored a second with a clinically executed lob that out foxed Vikings’ goalkeeper Jack Burgess.

At that point of the contest it looked as if Town might get a good beating. However, sleeves were rolled up and, by the 30-minute mark, the Vikings had a good foothold in the game.

With 10 minutes to play before the break Shaun Densham raced clear on only to be hauled down on the edge of the 18-yard box and the offending player received a straight red card.

The resultant free-kick was curled delightfully into the top corner by teenage midfielder Tyler Wellman.

Minutes later Town suffered a big blow when talented Devon Under-18 striker Jamie Orchard had to go off to hospital with a damaged shoulder.

Within a minute of second half starting Nathan Antat missed a glorious chance to level the scores, the former Devon U18 skipper dragged his shot wide with just the keeper to beat!

After that initial scare Brixham set their formation to be compact and tried to hit Sidmouth on the break, the greens failed to produce enough quality to punish the 10 men of Brixham, and, if anything, the home side had the better chances in the second half and only a couple of last-ditch tackles from Jamie Newbery and some smart stops from Burgess kept Sidmouth in the game.

The Vikings huffed and puffed, but failed to create any clear cut chances. Brixham deserve a lot of credit as they worked tirelessly to frustrate the visitors.

Town boss Stunell said: “On the day I am afraid we were well below par. That said, I though Connor Swingler and Tyler Wellman were excellent.”

This Saturday (October 29), Town host high flying Stoke Gabriel at Manstone Lane. Kick-off is at 3pm.

Town: Burgess, Badcott, Jones, Newbery (c), White, Swingler, Binion, Wellman, Antat, Orchard, Densham. Used Subs Jarrett and Dobinson

Star Man – Connor Swingler