Sidmouth Town suffered a second successive defeat at the hands of University when they were beaten 5-1 in Exeter in a Walter C Parson Funeral Directors KO Cup 1st Round tie.

Just seven days before the Vikings had been beaten 2-1 by the same side in a South West Peninsula League Eastern Division meeting.

It took a last minute penalty from Riki Pitter, for Town to scupper what had been a n excellent performance by the students sailed who were four goals up at half-time after a near perfect performance that had the Vikings ‘chasing shadows’ for much of the half.

To the students surprise the Vikings were a much changed side that they had beat in a close 2-1 encounter last weekend. Former St Martins player Luke Barner opened the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes and further goals from Chris Lund and the University Man of the Match, Andy Varely, made it three before leadings corer Ben Mogg added a fourth just before the break.

Town, with a change of formation, did look a more solid unit in the second half. Teenagers Joe Miller and Connor Swingler were outstanding, both displaying superb determination and passion.

With minutes remaining Sidmouth’s Joe Gosse teased his marker on the left wing and delivered a fabulous cross that was handled in the penalty area by a home defender. Pitter made no mistake with the finish, smashing the ball into the net for his sixth goal of the campaign.

With four regulars missing, Town took the opportunity to blood more youngsters with Ben Gosse, Joe Goss and Joe Miller all making the step up from youth team football and all three emerged from the contest with real credit against a side that could well be the best team in the league by the season’s end.

Town: Bowring, Cox, Newbery, Davies, Binion, Small, Cooper, Doble (C), Miller, Swingler, Pitter. Used Subs: J Goss and B Goss.

Man Of The Match: Connor Swingler