AN appeal for funds has been launched by one of Ilminster’s flagship sports clubs after vicious vandals struck in the night.

Volunteers from Ilminster Town Football Club found the damage on Saturday morning, as they went down to carry out work on the dugouts.

The group spotted a large square hole had been cut in the senior team’s net, and on further inspection found fatal damage to the junior team’s goals as well.

Malcolm Brown, the committee member in charge of sponsorship at Ilminster Town, said: “Some of our lads had gone down to the pitches on Saturday morning to do something else.

“We are trying to get new dugouts built so they went down to measure up and one happened to notice the nets had been cut.

“They examined further and the nets the juniors use had been done too.”

Malcolm was shocked when he found out.

“I just couldn’t believe it. I thought Ilminster was a little friendly town,” he said.

“This isn’t something I would have expected. It just shows every place has little pockets like this.”

A JustGiving page was launched later that day, with the club expecting £500 should civer the cost of the nets.

Malcolm added: “”I had my eye on the JustGiving page on Sunday and it was all very quiet. I didn’t think it would take off.

“Then someone donated £200. They said the club has supported them in the past so they wanted to give something back.

“The club gets the youth off the streets and out of trouble. We are doing something good for the community, and this just goes against that.”

The fundraising effort is already above £400, but Malcolm said even if they exceed the target, every penny will be used to improve the town’s facilities.

“Even if we go over that, we have ongoing developments to improve the club,” he said.

“There are the plans for the dugouts, we have a project going on to get a pathway in - there is plenty we need help with.

“We are trying to get boards around the whole football pitch as well, and that will probably be our ongoing project for this year.”

To support Ilminster Town Football Club’s effort, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ilminstertownfc.