Sidmouth Warriors powered their way into the last four of the Exeter and District Youth League Under-9 KO Cup with a 5-1 success at Stoke Hill in Exeter,

The Exeter-based side made a slick start and took an early lead.

They looked to add a second, but were kept at arms length thanks to some excellent defending by Callum French and Finn Upsher.

With half-time beckoning Warriors were awarded a free-kick just outside the box. Toby Edmunds stepped up, struck the ball sweetly, and, with a bit of curl and wind assistance, it ended up in the top corner of the Stoke Hill net!

After the break Warriors stepped up the pace, rang the changes to keep legs fresh and took the game to the home side. The ball was moved around well and it was no more than they deserved when Jamie Pitter got on the end of a confident passing move to fire Warriors into a 2-1 lead.

Charley Turley made it 3-1, finishing from close range during a goal mouth scramble and Pitter struck a second to make it 4-1 and book the last four berth.

The ‘icing on the cake’ for Warriors came in the closing stages when young Pitter recorded his latest hat-trick, firing home from the penalty spot.

This game demonstrated how well the Warriors are developing as a team and how much they all play for each other.

The Man of the Match award was shared between two very deserving recipients in hat-trick hero Pitter and the bulldog French!