Sidmouth Town Under-14s made a triumphant return to the top division by winning their opening game of the new Exeter and District League season, beating Pinhoe Spartans 5-3.

The first 20 minutes produced an even contest with both sides working hard to create chances.

Pinhoe carried a threat, but Town goalkeeper Sam Fernly played almost a ‘sweeper’ role to thwart the opposition raids whilst Tom Moore, Matt Salter and Ben Goodier combined well in midfield.

However, a couple of lapses in concentration resulted in two gilt-edged being presented to the Spartans who took them gleefully!

Stung by the double setback Town responded well. Toby Garrick put a long ball through to Louis Adey who finished coolly before another through-ball from Goodier sent Jay Harris away and when his shot cannoned back out to Adey he drilled home the equaliser.

The Vikings started the second half full of belief, but were brought down to earth when an opportunistic strike from 20-yards restored the Pinhoe lead.

However, that merely served to draw a superb response from Town who took near total charge of proceedings!

The ball became attached to Town players as they dominated all areas with Tom Moore, Ben Goodier, Matt Salter, Louis Spalding and Jack Miller combining to great effect.

Shots rained in before Salter threaded an inch-perfect ball to Miller to equalise before Salter himself struck a superb 25-yard strike that rifled its way into the top left hand corner – an early contender for goal of the season!

Any Pinhoe attacks were snuffed out by the Sidmouth defence with Will Ashby controlling the right hand side while Ollie Truman and Man of the Match James Emmett were a superb central combination. With just a few minutes to go Garrick picked the ball up just outside the box and hit a sweet strike with his weaker left foot into the top corner.

This was the icing on the cake and a fitting way to end a superb team performance.