Sidmouth Town claimed their first clean sheet success since August 17 with a confident all-round display in a 3-0 victory at Liverton.

The Vikings went into the game knowing that a win would see them move up to a respectable mid-table position. They opted to defend the howling wind in the first half and were well marshalled by the vocal Anthony Griffiths, this ensured that goal keeper Alex Bowring was rarely tested.

The opening goal arrived in the 15th minute with Cameron Vere picking up on a defensive mix-up that saw the home custodian out of position. Vere expertly curled home a left foot effort from 25-yards out.

Sidmouth were in complete control of the game and were rewarded for their dominance on the 30th minute when Vere found the net again. The second goal oozed class! Vere jinxed past two defenders before sitting the keeper down and then passing into an empty net.

In the 40th minute, after keeper Bowring had handled outside of his area, Liverton were awarded a free-kick, which was to be their only shot at goal. The 30-yard wind-assisted strike smashed against the outside of the upright and out for a goal kick, much to the relief of Bowring.

The second half saw Liverton change formation this change saw them overload the midfield, but they still could not find a way past the excellent Sidmouth defence of White, Newbery, Griffiths and Wellman. The Town midfield of Dixon, Davies, Swingler and Evans were a class above, playing quick and decisive football.

The third and final goal came on the 65th minute and was fittingly scored by Ashley Small playing in his last game, the tireless forward is embarking on a year’s trip to Australia.

The 75th minute saw Vere go desperately close to scoring his third goal, Vere firing over from three-yards out! Skipper Davies also missed a glorious chance on 80 minute, blazing over from 20 yards out with an empty goal to aim at.

Town boss Josh Stunnel said: : “We played well and that’s allowing for what were horrendous conditions. A huge positive for me is the clean sheet coupled with the fact that we might, perhaps should, have scored five or six.

“I’ll settle for a 3-0 though and now it means real section headache for the next game with the team having recorded back-to-back wins.”

Tomorrow (Saturday), Town entertain Tiverton Town Reserves who were surprisingly beaten for the first time last weekend when they lost in extra-time to Elmore in a Devon Premier Cup tie.

Stunnel says of the game: “I relish challenges like this and hope the players embrace it too. Hopefully conditions will be much better than last week and we’ll be able to get the ball down and play. That’s something we like to do and I know, given the quality in their ranks, that Tivvy can do the same. It has the ingredients of being a special match.”