Sidmouth Under-16s finally got back onto a football pitch to contest a competitive match after the long lay-off owing to sodden grounds, writes Mat Ogley.

In what was to be the teams final cup tie asd a youth side – there is currently no Under-17 football on offer locally, the Sidmouth players looked ready for the challenge against a strong Alphington side

With coach Ian Peacock absent, Stuart Cavin stepped in to manage the side and Sidmouth started brightly putting the opposition under a mountain of pressure giving them no time on the ball!

This approach led to Sidmouth creating a number of chances and they also bagged a succession of corners.

When the Exeter side broke out they go little change out of the impressive defensive duo of Josh Worthington and Jack Scrivens who made countless crunching tackles to keep the Alphington attack at bay.

Alex Seward along with the rest of the midfield kept a solid line in midfield, but an unfortunate and unlucky error in defence caused Sidmouth to concede 10 minutes before the break and they took that narrow deficit into the interval.

The message at the break was to maintain the high intensity and keep Alphington under pressure. They couldn’t lose focus if they were to still take something from the game. Sidmouth started the second half much as they did the first, but legs soon began to tire on the heavy ground.

Three goals were conceded in quick succession crushing any chance of a comeback. The team lost its shape in the last quarter with a final score 0-6.

Although a heavy defeat, a lot of positives could be taken from the game as the first half display was superb. Sidmouth face Crediton at home this Saturday.

The team would like to express many thanks to Stuart (Cavin) for standing in as match manager for this game.