Sidmouth Town scored one of the fastest goals ever seen at Manstone Lane when they scored just 10 seconds into their South West Peninsula League Premier East meeting with Torridgeside. However, all did not end well as the Vikings went on to lose 6-2.

Straight from kick-off the ball was played back to right back Joe McKenzie who launched it upfield where it was received by striker Scott Hughes and, after a neat first touch he drilled the ball home!

After that early goal, parity was restored on 13 minutes thanks to a header from a corner and the visitors struck again two minutes later before adding on the half hour and then tucked away a 42nd minute penalty to lead 4-1 at the interval.

Torridgeside scored a fifth early in the second half – and this was almost as quick as the first half goal!

Town fought back well and enjoyed good spells of second half possession.

They were rewarded for their endeavours with a deserved second goal before the visitors scored a sixth in the dying moments.

Town boss Danny Burwood said: “We had spoken before the game about our apparent ‘desire’ to go a goal down before getting our act together and how good it would be if we could score first, so, to do that so early was brilliant!”

He continued: “That said, they [Torridgeside] are a very good team and, once they levelled and then got ahead, we were always chasing the game.

“A 6-2 final score suggests we were very much second best, but that was not the case. We gave as good as we got for long periods and, once again, it’s the old chestnut from me of the margins being fine while I’d also beat the drum again of ‘consistency of availability’ is what is really required at our level.”

It does not get any easier for the Vikings for tomorrow (Saturday) they entertain table-topping Millbrook and, just as they were on Wednesday night, they will be without the influential Ben Clay who is an integral part of the Town defensive line.

The Town boss says: “Ben [Clay] is such an important player to us. However, on the plus side we do have Jack Gibson back, he played for the last 15 minutes on Wednesday night and it’s good to get him back while we are also able to welcome Jack Rawlings back from injury for tomorrow’s game.”

Speaking specifically about the Millbrook game, the Town boss said: “They [Millbrook] are flying and so will provide us with another huge challenge. However, we have the quality in our ranks to give any side a game at this level. There’s nothing wrong with our work rate or commitment, it’s all about confidence and inner belief.”

Town have now played eight league and cup games this season and, in those matches, there have been no fewer than 45 goals!

After tomorrow’s game, which kicks off at Manstone Lane at 3pm, there’s a Wednesday night (October 7) visit to top five outfit Elmore.