Sidmouth and Ottery Hockey Club (SOHC) men’s fourth team travelled to Exeter to take on Exeter and Culm Vale Hornets, writes Andrew Coley.

With only 10 players available, it was likely to be a challenge to compete against a well-organised ECVH B team.

The home side came away with a 6-1 win, but SOHC played well, although the result leaves them near the bottom of South East Two.

It was a valiant effort by the 10 men of SOHC after captain Dan Weedon had two players withdraw from the side on Saturday morning, having only had 11 to start with.

He managed to drum up one more player and the 10-man team passed the ball well and applied pressure at times, but ECVH scored regularly in both halves.

SOHC did give themselves a chance when Richard Lucas levelled the scores at 1-1 but ECVH quickly responded and controlled much of the game after that.

Although the fourths occupy a space near the bottom of the division, the spirit in the side is always positive and it's great to see the youngsters performing well against the more experienced players.

Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the halfway stage of the South East Two campaign reached.

The final game for the SOHC men's 4th XI before the festive break sees them in home action against a Chard B side that sit eighth in the table, four places and 11 points above them.