Sidmouth Town Reserves beat Colyton 2-1 in a clash between two sides chasing a top-three finish in Fresha League Division Two.

And if they win their games in hand, Sidmouth can still reach second place.

Colyton,who were playing their final league game, bore no resemblance to the side the Vikings comfortably beat earlier this season.

After a tight, cagey opening period in the midweek game, the hosts gradually played more in the visitors’ half and looked the more threatening.

Ten minutes before the break the in-form Andrew Lord flighted another assist, headed home at the far post by Rikki Pitter.

The second half produced more of the same intensity, Sidmouth having to defend their box for longer periods.

From a Colyton corner keeper Rob Prowell caught then distributed to the right flank.

Pitter first out-muscled and then out-ran the visiting defence before squaring to man of the match Will Jenkins to dispatch the cleanest of breakaway goals.

In the final ten minutes the visitors pulled one back after a lapse at the back. The final minutes were played in near-darkness and but for three consecutive blocks from Jamie Newberry, Colyton may have found an equaliser

? With a bare 11,it was with some trepidation that the Vikings second string welcomed their Newtown counterparts on Saturday.

The previous encounter had produced a lively eight-goal game against a decent side.

Fortunately Newtown were also suffering the woes of player availability, arriving also a bare 11 and no-one to run their line.

Thankfully Dave Ogley stepped manfully into the breach and spare the lottery of the referee having to make the assistant’s decisions.

The opening exchanges saw both sides struggling to adjust to their situations.

The hosts, though solid at the back, struggled to create much going forward, the departing Tim Lister coming closest to breaking the deadlock with a smart header.

The second half started with a flurry of Sidmouth goals that effectively ended the contest.

Rich Johnson’s instinctive strike was doubled by a crisp volley into the corner from Borja Andrade.

On 15 minutes it was three as last-minute inclusion Darren Thomas, put a curling free-kick into an area defenders do not want to go and, under pressure from Johnson, the Newtown centre-half obliged heading into his own net.

At this point the home side stopped playing and with no personnel to introduce the game stagnated until the simplest bit of football saw Andrade poach his second for the final goal of the game.

The Spaniard again impressed just shading the man of the match award from the injured Thomas and will be sorely missed as he heads home after his final game on Saturday.

? Sidmouth Town Reserves defeated Newton Poppleford 3-0 on Wednesday night to narrow the gap to four points between them and the second promotion place.