Sidmouth & Ottery Hockey Club (SOHC) men’s 4th XI were beaten 10-0 when they travelled to take on title-chasing Taunton Vale D, who have gone top on goal difference as a result of their latest win, writes Andrew Coley.

Ahead of the meeting in Taunton, 50 points separated the teams in the South East Two table.

SOHC were always going to have a tough time and they discovered just why the home side are sitting top as they moved the ball around with pace and precision and, while SOHC battled well from first whistle to last, the difference in class between the teams was clear.

That said, in the first half the home side only managed to score three times and SOHC and in particular, Will Harris, Laurence Walker, Charlie Board and Khishan Prasad, worked hard to try to make things happen for the visitors.

But in the end, it was the home side that ran out as the victors.

And the score line could have been worse, had it not been for captain Dan Weedon who pulled off some great saves, including one right at the end where he dived to prevent another goal, only to leave himself winded for the last action of the game, successfully defending a short corner.