Sidmouth Town claimed an extraordinary 6-3 win when they travelled to Cullompton Rangers on Tuesday night to contest the fourth game of their South West Peninsula League Premier East campaign.

What made the final score so remarkable was, that for 40 minutes of the game, Town were considerably ‘second best’, trailing 3-0 and seemingly on their way to a heavy defeat.

However, a piece of individual brilliance from Lukey White to make it 3-1 was swiftly followed by a goal from Ferenc Bodor and, in the second half, four further goals saw the Vikings to victory – read a report now inside on page 45.

Town boss Danny Burwood was naturally delighted with the final score – and with 50 minutes of his team’s performance!

He explained saying; “For much of the first half we were clearly second best and then, suddenly, things changed and, throughout the second half, we were, to a man, magnificent.”

He continued: “What we saw at Cullompton is so typical of a young side. There’s no doubting the quality we have in the ranks, but what we do seem to lack, at times, is those two key elements of belief and confidence.

“There’s no doubting the desire or the will to want to do well, but, as we saw during the first 40 or so minutes, we do have a tendency to be ‘too nice’ but, when we get our ‘A game’ going, we are a very good side.”

In terms of individuals, the Town boss said: “Tom Diamond was immense and Lukey White showed a good crowd what he is capable of. Ethan Slater grows in stature by the outing, Jack Wreford has brought power and presence to the goalkeeping slot and up top, Scott Hughes repaid the faith I have in him with a great shift, particularly in the second half and Joe Mckenzie, at right back, overcame a few ‘first start’ nerves, and ended the game looking like a seasoned ‘old hand’ in the role.”

The Vikings chief was keen to focus on striker Hughes, of whom he said: “Scotty, like many of the lads is raw at this level and it does take some getting used to, especially when you come up against wily campaigners who have been around the block a few times.

“Sometimes, it’s all too easy for defenders – and midfielders – for that matter, to lump the ball forward and ‘hope’ the big man up top will do his bit, hold the ball up and bring others into play, but that is not always the case and, as we saw in the second half at Cully, Scotty can do more than simply play the ‘target man’ role and he fully deserved his goals, particularly the one where he worked his own opportunity – and finished.”

Tomorrow (Saturday) Town are in home FA Vase action with a 3pm start for their Manstone Lane meeting with Western League Division One side, Cheddar.

Burwood says; “We set a standard at Cully on Tuesday night and now we need to show consistency of that sort of performance.”