Sidmouth and Ottery Hockey Club (SOHC) men’s 2nd XI were edged out in a close encounter of a South East One meeting, beaten 1-0 at home by Chard.

SOHC began brightly and moved the ball around well, but, for all their enterprise, they were unable to fashion any clear-cut chances and conceded the only goal of the contest to a penalty flick, awarded following a clash of sticks in the D.

At half-time the message to the team was to increase the overall work rate with a particular strategy of trying to get in behind the Chard defence.

After the break, some clever through balls from midfield lead to an improved team performance throughout the second half, but Chard, who were very strong in their defensive play, held firm to take the points.

At the final whistle, SOHC were left reflect on the fact that despite plenty of possession in the match they had been unable to create clear-cut chances. Tomorrow (Saturday) the 2nd XI travel to face an East Devon C side that sit rock bottom and, although they have drawn one of their six games so far, they sit with a minus two points tally so far this league term.