Sidmouth Town saw a two-goal lead slip as they ended up banking a point from their midweek visit to the only side to sit below them at the foot of the South West Peninsula League Premier East table - Plymouth Marjons.

Town arrived in good time for the game but had to wait to get onto the pitch which was being used for the regular junior coaching session that are held on the 4G surface at the University.

The Vikings made a confident start on the 'very true' surface and it was no more than they deserved when they took the lead with an Ash Matthews free-kick that was turned past the home glovesman by an unfortunate defender. The free-kick had been awarded after some slick approach play from Eliot Kierle.

The lead was doubled when Dean Billingsley, who had missed the three previous Town outings, scored.

The students kept plugging away, but it could be argued from the Vikings' side of things that both the home goals, scored in the final 30 minutes, were very preventable!

The first was a close range header, but it was all too easy for the students to get the cross into the area and then, with eight minutes to go, Town had a throw-in in the home half, but possession was conceded cheaply and, when another cross came in, birthday boy Brandon Milford made an initial smart save only for the ball to rebound kindly to a home striker who tucked it away!

Town boss Danny Burwood said: "It's disappointing that we only got a point for our efforts for I felt the lads did enough to win the game. We really are not that far away right now and the margins really are very small. I am confident that we are going to turn this round."

He continued: "We have seen enough of the current season for us all to accept that this is a tough level to play at. There is no question in my mind that we are good enough to be competitive at this level. Yes, we may be naïve at times - we were certainly that with the late throw-in at Marjons when the ball 'had' to go down the line and be kept there, but we chose to try and be clever and got caught out. But, as I say, it's all part of a sharp learning curve and I am confident that our youngsters are indeed leaning - albeit the hard way and, if we keep applying ourselves as we did on the artificial surface at Marjons then we will be OK."

Town are back in action on Saturday (October 19) when they entertain Torridgeside (3pm) and they are also at home next Wednesday (October 23) when Cullompton Rangers provide the Manstone Lane opposition.