Sidmouth Town picked up a vital three points away at Torrington in the South-West Peninsula League, a result made even more valuable considering the goalkeeping crisis that the team faced.
Number one Jacob O’Callaghan was carrying an injury from the previous fixture, so Matthew Rowland was due to travel with the squad but unfortunately had to pull out in the morning.
O’Callaghan tried to complete the warm up but had no luck, so goalkeeping Coach Stuart Fraser pulled on the jersey for the first time in 15 years to step in for the Vikings, making his debut at the age of 44.
The game started with Torrington winning a free-kick in a dangerous position and a first test for Fraser, who comfortably claimed the cross.
Sidmouth’s first big chance came in the 14th minute when Marcus Fanson found Matt Webb high on the left, he cleverly nutmegged the defender before standing up the perfect cross for Louis Jagger-Cane who whistled a speculative volley just wide of the post.
Torrington then had a good chance as George Nancekivell flashed an effort just wide of Fraser’s goal from 20 yards. A neat passing move then saw the ball make its way out wide to Tom Bray but his cross-come-shot was well dealt with by the Torrington keeper.
The Vikings did find the breakthrough just before half time when a slick passing move, started by Fraser, saw Bray combine with Will Jenkins who slipped the perfect ball through to Jagger Cane and he made no mistake with a perfect finish across the keeper. Unbelievably, disaster struck just before half time, as Fraser was forced off and had to be replaced in goal by forward Luka Nickles.
Nickles was soon called into action, making a good stop to deny Sam Ellis. In the 69th minute, Torrington were level when Webb’s defensive header fell perfectly to the striker, who moved the ball wide to Dean Hutchins and he hammered home a stunning strike.
The Vikings responded when Liam Carey delivered a corner, which evaded everyone and saw the ball fly into the top corner to make it 2-1. The game looked set in the 87th minute when Carey released Jagger Cane who raced beyond the backline before cooly skipping past the ‘keeper and slotting home.
A nervous last few minutes was set up when a long ball was dallied on by the otherwise impressive Nathan Cooper and he was punished by the quick thinking Nancekivell, who lobbed Nickles from 25 yards but the Vikings held on for a memorable win.
The Sidmouth Spar Man of the Match was awarded to Isaac Furness.
Sidmouth 2nds were unlucky in falling to a 1-0 defeat against University of Exeter.
In a tight first period, the Vikings went closest with Scott Hughes almost opening the scoring five minutes before the interval. The second half started in the same fashion, with the Sidmouth defence was outstanding, although Exeter did hit the woodwork.
Heartbreak arrived in the final minute, despite great goalkeeping from Ryan Windsor, as the students notched a last-minute winner.
Sidmouth Town 3rds restored the good feeling with a 3-1 win over Exeter United. The Vikings took an early lead when Charlie Roberts finished off a delightful assist from Soren Hall.
Kieran White then played a pass that split the Exeter defence and put Soren Hall through to double the lead. Shortly after, Sidmouth were able to find the back of the net again, with White getting himself on the scoresheet from a Tom Nicholls assist, taking a 3-0 lead into halftime.
The second half was much tighter and Exeter grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot, but with the score at 3-1, the final whistle blew and Sidmouth took the three points. Overall, a solid team performance for Chris Roberts’ first game in charge.
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