Exeter City FC

City opinion: Time to start giving younger players a chance with a view to next season
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: February 26, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Jimmy Keohane has not started a game for Exeter City since a 3-2 win over Shrewsbury in November - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City fans not going to Bootham Crescent this Saturday will, no doubt, still be interested in the team selection for the match against York City.
Manager Paul Tisdale has said that there will be no knee-jerk reactions in wake of the shameful 3-1 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle, but I can’t see a similar set-up and starting line-up being greeted with much enthusiasm.
The City boss has come in for heavy criticism this week for the tactics he chose in the Devon derby and the fans are demanding change.
They argue that too many players were playing out of their natural positions – a common complaint in recent weeks.
Scot Bennett was given the role of sitting just behind the front two, despite his best position being in defence; Christian Ribeiro was playing at centre-half, when arguably he is more suited to a right-wing back role and Ryan Harley was in a left-sided midfield position when he could have been the one playing just behind the front two. Added to that Arron Davies, although he did well, was a left-footed midfielder playing at right-wing back. In total that made four players starting the game not in their natural positions.
At the start of the season, Tisdale said City had a small squad and players would have to be versatile as a result. However, if you take the starting XI alone on Saturday, you could get everybody in their natural positions just by switching them around. Ribeiro, from central defence to right-back, Davies, from right-back to left-midfield, Harley, from left-midfield to supporting striker and Bennett from supporting striker to central defence. So is Tisdale guilty of over-complicating things without good reason?
He is probably the only person who knows the true answer to that question, dealing with the players on a day-to-day basis, but it is certainly a complaint the supporters are labelling at him at the moment.
So, with City now falling nine points behind in the race for a play-off place, where does the team go from here?
I think a play-off place looks extremely unlikely and the team should be concentrating on giving the younger members of the squad valuable experience for next season. City, if they improve the players they have and spend the Matt Grimes money wisely, could be serious promotion challengers next campaign. But they have to start giving younger players a chance now.
Jimmy Keohane, who has not started since City beat Shrewsbury in November, deserves a run in the side to prove he should be at the club next season. As does Graham Cummins, a player who was at the top of his game in mid-November, but has been used sparingly since Christmas. David Wheeler and Alex Nicholls, although used regularly from the bench, could also improve their chances of doing well next season with more starts.
There are also squad players like Connor Riley-Lowe, Jordan Tillson, Jamie Reid, Matt Jay and Ollie Watkins who could get a look in. Fans would certainly be more accepting of losses with players like that in the side, because at least they can see progression. This is because those players are learning and have not reached anywhere near their peak yet


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York City v Exeter City: Match preview
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: February 26, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale - Picture: Pinnacle
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Sulking or making knee-jerk reactions will not help Exeter City, according to manager Paul Tisdale.
The Grecians suffered a humbling 3-1 loss at home to Devon rivals Plymouth Argyle on Saturday – a game many supporters view as their biggest match of the season.
Tisdale criticised his side’s defending in that match as they conceded three soft goals. However, while upset, Tisdale said it would be unprofessional of him to let the anger and disappointment of that result affect his thinking when choosing his starting XI for the York City game on Saturday.
“You have to be professional and pragmatic,” said Tisdale. “You don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. I consider all things whether we win or we lose.
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“I’m not one for knee-jerk reactions because of a mistake or two.
“If you make changes it really depends on a couple of things. One is clearly the performance and the result from the previous week. The second thing is, if I am going to change it, who is going to play? Is that going to give me an improvement in certain areas, but then affect the way we play in other areas?
“Every player is different and every player brings different things to the team. You may gain with the one hand and lose with the other.
“It doesn’t serve a great purpose to go into the next week trying to rectify the problems that happened last week.
“Invariably there will be a different set of problems and different set of things to encounter at York City than there was last week against Plymouth.
“There is balance to all of this and sometime it is right to change the players and sometimes it is not.
“I’m certainly not going to, in public, discuss those personal decisions about players, but generally there are plenty of things to discuss and that is one of them.”
The mood around St James’s Park was a solemn one on Saturday as the crowd of 7,440 – City’s biggest gate of the season – made their way back home.
Fans have continued to vent their anger and frustration at the result in the days that have followed but Tisdale said the players, who were also upset, couldn’t afford to do that.
“You can’t expect the players to work and react in the same way the supporters do, because the players’ job is to be professional, pragmatic and efficient and you can’t work by lurching up and down with your emotions,” he said.
“So, regardless of how disappointed you are – and of course everyone is disappointed – the fact that you don’t go around moping and acting in such a way doesn’t mean that you are not bothered.
“It just means that you are professional and you are doing your work correctly.
“That is a strength of a team and a squad and it is a strength of what we do.
“You just carry on and do your job correctly. I wouldn’t say it is about belief, I would say it is about professionalism and doing things correctly.
“The players do believe they’re good enough to ultimately do well, but it is certainly not a straight path to success.
“You get used to it when you have been involved in so many games as a manager or a player. It is not a drama and you just carry on.”
City are likely to have Danny Butterfield available for the game, but Craig Woodman remains a doubt and David Noble and Pat Baldwin are both definitely missing.


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York City 0 Exeter City 0: Match report
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: February 28, 2015
By Simon Larkins at Bootham Crescent

Tom Nichols battles for the ball against York City - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City picked up their first 0-0 draw of the season as a solid second-half defensive display saw them come away from York City with a point.
The Grecians struggled to create chances in the second half and had to withstand a late rally from the Minstermen to take a share of the spoils, but they were good value for a point having had the better of the first-half proceedings.
Following last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle, manager Paul Tisdale made four changes to the starting line-up, with the most notable change coming in goal as James Hamon came in for Christy Pym.
Danny Butterfield also took the armband off Matt Oakley as City’s skipper was ruled out through injury.
Craig Woodman (hamstring) was also missing, replaced by Jamie McAllister, while Alex Nicholls came in for Scot Bennett.
Both sides came into the match woefully out of form, with Exeter City having picked up just one win in their last 10 games and York City one in their last nine.
City had the better of the first half chances, with them forcing York City keeper Bobby Olejnik into a couple of saves and having two more efforts cleared off the line.
The visitors’ best moment came in the 16th minute as Liam Sercombe broke forward and played a one-two, with Tom Nichols, before hitting a half-volley at goal. Olejnik got a strong hand to the shot, but the ball rebounded to Clinton Morrison, who had a shot cleared off the line. Alex Nicholls followed that up with another effort, but that was also blocked on the line by Marvin McCoy.
Nicholls had a better chance to score six minutes later though as Tom Nichols chipped a ball to him in yards of space at the back post. However, the former Northampton forward first touch evaded him when he needed it most.
At the other end Wes Fletcher had a drive at goal blocked by Hamon’s legs. Other than that City’s teenage keeper wasn’t tested in the first-half.
Penn hit a shot wide from the edge of the area and McCoy also headed off target from a corner, but with Ryan Harley also bringing another save out of Olejnik, as the half drew to a close, it was the Grecians who went into the half-time break the happier of the two teams.
Penn warmed the gloves of Hamon with another long range effort just after the break, but the start of the second half was a very quiet period in terms of chances.
York had the better of the territory, but every time they sent a long ball forward Jordan Moore-Taylor was there to head it away.
Wes Fletcher did manage to get his head to one cross into the box, but he put his effort over the top and was in an offside position when he did as well.
Having seen his side fail to test Olejnik in the first 25 minutes of the second half Tisdale made a double substation, bringing on David Wheeler and Jimmy Koehane for Morrison and Nicholls.
At this stage City began to push men forward as the home side, more content to settle for a point, played on the counter.
However, it was York still creating the clearer opening as Fletcher sent a shot whistling past the upright with 12 minutes to go.
It was also York pressing in the closing stages of the match as McCoy hit another shot over the crossbar as the fourth official put up the board to indicate a further three minutes of additional time.
Koehane then brought down Penn on the edge of the box to give Coulson a sight of goal but, with the aid of a deflection, that free-kick ended up over the top.
A goalmouth scramble, from the resulting corner, saw City just get the ball clear and hang on for a well-earned point.
York City (4-2-3-1): Olejnik; McCoy, Lowe, Zubar, Benning; Penn, Halliday; Coulson, De Gorilamo (Sinclair, 67), Carson (Meikle, 83); Fletcher. Subs not used: Illesanmi, McCombe, Montrose, Platt, Ingham.
Booked: Carson.
Exeter City (4-4-2): Hamon; Davies, Ribeiro, Moore-Taylor, McAllister; Butterfield, Sercombe, Harley, Nicholls (Koehane, 71); Nichols, Morrison (Wheeler, 71). Subs not used: Bennett, Tillson, Pym, Cummins, McCready.
Booked: Harley (40).
Attendance: 3,209 (227 away).


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York City 0 Exeter City 0: Match report
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: February 28, 2015
By Simon Larkins at Bootham Crescent

Tom Nichols battles for the ball against York City - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City picked up their first 0-0 draw of the season as a solid second-half defensive display saw them come away from York City with a point.
The Grecians struggled to create chances in the second half and had to withstand a late rally from the Minstermen to take a share of the spoils, but they were good value for a point having had the better of the first-half proceedings.
Following last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle, manager Paul Tisdale made four changes to the starting line-up, with the most notable change coming in goal as James Hamon came in for Christy Pym.
Danny Butterfield also took the armband off Matt Oakley as City’s skipper was ruled out through injury.
Craig Woodman (hamstring) was also missing, replaced by Jamie McAllister, while Alex Nicholls came in for Scot Bennett.
Both sides came into the match woefully out of form, with Exeter City having picked up just one win in their last 10 games and York City one in their last nine.
City had the better of the first half chances, with them forcing York City keeper Bobby Olejnik into a couple of saves and having two more efforts cleared off the line.
The visitors’ best moment came in the 16th minute as Liam Sercombe broke forward and played a one-two, with Tom Nichols, before hitting a half-volley at goal. Olejnik got a strong hand to the shot, but the ball rebounded to Clinton Morrison, who had a shot cleared off the line. Alex Nicholls followed that up with another effort, but that was also blocked on the line by Marvin McCoy.
Nicholls had a better chance to score six minutes later though as Tom Nichols chipped a ball to him in yards of space at the back post. However, the former Northampton forward first touch evaded him when he needed it most.
At the other end Wes Fletcher had a drive at goal blocked by Hamon’s legs. Other than that City’s teenage keeper wasn’t tested in the first-half.
Penn hit a shot wide from the edge of the area and McCoy also headed off target from a corner, but with Ryan Harley also bringing another save out of Olejnik, as the half drew to a close, it was the Grecians who went into the half-time break the happier of the two teams.
Penn warmed the gloves of Hamon with another long range effort just after the break, but the start of the second half was a very quiet period in terms of chances.
York had the better of the territory, but every time they sent a long ball forward Jordan Moore-Taylor was there to head it away.
Wes Fletcher did manage to get his head to one cross into the box, but he put his effort over the top and was in an offside position when he did as well.
Having seen his side fail to test Olejnik in the first 25 minutes of the second half Tisdale made a double substation, bringing on David Wheeler and Jimmy Koehane for Morrison and Nicholls.
At this stage City began to push men forward as the home side, more content to settle for a point, played on the counter.
However, it was York still creating the clearer opening as Fletcher sent a shot whistling past the upright with 12 minutes to go.
It was also York pressing in the closing stages of the match as McCoy hit another shot over the crossbar as the fourth official put up the board to indicate a further three minutes of additional time.
Koehane then brought down Penn on the edge of the box to give Coulson a sight of goal but, with the aid of a deflection, that free-kick ended up over the top.
A goalmouth scramble, from the resulting corner, saw City just get the ball clear and hang on for a well-earned point.
York City (4-2-3-1): Olejnik; McCoy, Lowe, Zubar, Benning; Penn, Halliday; Coulson, De Gorilamo (Sinclair, 67), Carson (Meikle, 83); Fletcher. Subs not used: Illesanmi, McCombe, Montrose, Platt, Ingham.
Booked: Carson.
Exeter City (4-4-2): Hamon; Davies, Ribeiro, Moore-Taylor, McAllister; Butterfield, Sercombe, Harley, Nicholls (Koehane, 71); Nichols, Morrison (Wheeler, 71). Subs not used: Bennett, Tillson, Pym, Cummins, McCready.
Booked: Harley (40).
Attendance: 3,209 (227 away).


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York City 0 Exeter City 0: Match highlights
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 01, 2015
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Watch the match highlights from Exeter City's 0-0 draw with York City at Bootham Crescent on Saturday.


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Match highlights from York vs ECFC match (such as they are)

 

sadly I missed this one.....

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7.2 °C
Partly sunny
Podcast: ECFC Talk discuss whether Paul Tisdale is the League Two Arsène Wenger


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Exeter City FC (14th) travel to Hartlepool (24th) this Saturday, May 7th. Start time is 10:00A (EST).

 

One Club One Vision
In their letter to current Season Ticket-holders this week, Exeter City Interim Chairman Julian Tagg and Exeter City Supporters’ Trust Chairman Laurence Overend took the opportunity to outline their joint vision for the future of Exeter City Football Club.

To make Exeter City an outstanding community-owned club, playing football at the highest sustainable level. Underpinning this vision are six commitments:

• To grow the Trust-ownership model
• To promote sporting excellence
• To develop homegrown Academy talent
• To engage with our members, supporters and the wider community
• To deliver viable financial performance as part of an integrated business plan
• To develop first class capabilities – people, premises, pitches, pride

Julian Tagg said: “Whilst it is always sad to have to lose a talent like Matt Grimes his recent sale to Swansea City is a great example of this vision in action. Matt has been part of the Academy since he was 10, his silky skills in the first team have entertained us for the past two seasons and now the revenue from his sale will be reinvested wisely across infrastructure, the Academy, the pitches and the first team.”

Laurence Overend said: “The challenges of running a viable, sustainable football club outside of the Premier League are widely documented. It’s certainly not easy and it’s definitely a work in progress but we believe that our community-owned model is the right one.”

Read more at http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/article/one-club-one-vision-2314425.aspx#IREH6pucLhviz1Xy.99

 

Liam Sercombe: It ain’t over until the fat lady sings
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 05, 2015
By Liam Sercombe

Exeter City's Liam Sercombe - Picture: Pinnacle
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It's fair to say things haven’t gone as we’d have hoped over the last couple of months and the play-off place which looked a distinct possibility before Christmas now seems a long way off.
At the same time, the fat lady hasn’t started clearing her throat quite yet – with 12 games remaining, there are still 36 points up for grabs and if we could string two or three wins together, sooner rather than later, then we might still be in with a squeak.
While we were desperate to get back to winning ways at York on Saturday, the point we picked up was at least a welcome step in the right direction. What is more, it was only the fourth occasion this season on which we’ve not conceded a goal and that is a big positive which we must look to build on.
James Hamon will have been delighted to have kept his third clean sheet of the season on his return to the starting line-up but I can’t let the black ‘tights’ he wore under his shorts go unremarked upon.
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I can just about understand why one or two Premier League stars, who’ve come to England from rather more exotic climes, might go the extra mile to keep warm. However, I can’t help thinking it’s a bit OTT for a young lad from the Channel Islands!
Young midfielder Tom McCready, who joined us in January after being released by Morecambe, was an unused substitute for Saturday’s game and, while he will have been disappointed not to have got on to the pitch, should take plenty of encouragement from his first involvement with the first-team. Clearly, he must be impressing Tis and, if he continues to do so, could well feature at some point between now and the end of the season.
As regular readers of this column will know, I’m a doting dad these days and spending time with baby George and my partner Amy has provided a welcome antidote to some of the disappointments we’ve endured on the pitch.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m every bit as committed to the Exeter City cause as I’ve ever been and not the best of company after we’ve suffered a reverse. However, having a young child makes it that much easier to keep things in perspective and I don’t let the defeats get me down like they might have done in the past.
I must take this opportunity to wish a belated happy birthday to Matt Jay, whose teenage years are now drawing to a close.
Having made his first team debut back in September 2013, it’s easy to overlook that fact that Matt has only just turned 19 and from what he shows us day in day out at the Cat & Fiddle still has a very bright future in store.
While I’m dishing out the congratulations, I’d like to say a huge well done to someone at the opposite end of his career – the evergreen Jamie Cureton notched the 250th league goal of his remarkable career in Dagenham’s 2-1 defeat at Mansfield on Saturday.
I was pretty chuffed when I played my 250th game recently, but scoring 250 goals is on another level completely and it’s little wonder Curo finds himself in a pretty exclusive club, alongside the likes of Alan Shearer, Ian Rush and another old pal, Marcus Stewart!
Jamie’s going to be 40 in August but, with 11 goals to his name already this season, it seems he’s still going strong and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him continue playing for long enough to realise his oft-stated ambition of bagging 300-plus career goals.
As I said earlier, until it’s mathematically impossible we’ll continue to believe we’re in with a shout of making the play-offs. At the same time, we’re all too well aware that time could come sooner rather than later unless we resume winning ways quickly and there would be no better time to begin than against Carlisle on Saturday.
Like York, Carlisle are desperate for points to avoid finishing in the bottom two and, despite their lowly league position, we’re travel north under no illusions about what it will take to come home with all three points.
If we can demonstrate the same kind of defensive resolve we showed against the Minstermen then, clearly, that will be a great start. However, that will only get us so far – if we are to record our first win in seven games then it’s imperative that we also show a bit more going forward.
Three points on Saturday would set us up very nicely for the back-to-back home games against Stevenage and Morecambe which follow. Fingers crossed we can deliver!



Tom McCready loving life at Exeter City and can't wait for his debut
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 05, 2015
By Simon Larkins
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Tom McCready says he is loving life at Exeter City and can’t wait to get his first start for the club.
The 23-year-old midfielder signed for Exeter City from Morecambe at the start of February in order to train with the club with a view to becoming a more regular first team player next season.
However, it appears he has come into manager Paul Tisdale’s thinking for this campaign somewhat more in recent weeks as he was named on the substitutes’ bench for City’s 0-0 draw with York last weekend.
Having achieved that, McCready is now eyeing an appearance in the first team away at Carlisle United this Saturday.
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“Being on the bench against York is a step in the right direction,” said McCready. “I knew the situation when I signed. Although Tis said he liked what he’d seen in training, the club had been doing well and they’ve got a big squad, so it was a case of biding my time and working my way in. Now I want to keep going, by getting on and then starting.
“The aim of me coming here was to get off the bench and start starting games so I’ll keep working towards that like I’ve been doing so far.
“Ideally, I’d love to play some games before the end of the season but it’s all about working hard each day and trying to impress on a daily basis because it’s not just given to you, so to speak.
“I know I’ve got work to do each day in training to show that I can be an important member of the squad.”
McCready played 90 minutes in a 2-1 reserve team victory over Bristol Rovers on Monday and says he is enjoying his time at the club.
“So far I’m loving it,” he said. “I’m trying to play how Tis wants me to play so I can fit into the team, which hopefully will happen as soon as possible.
“Against Bristol we could have won by a few more, but I was happy with my performance and it was important to make a good start as it was the first time the coaches had seen me in a match situation.
“I’m happy with the way it’s gone and I just want to keep progressing.”
McCready is no stranger to League Two football though – he played eight games for Morecambe earlier this season including one against Carlisle.
Having been so close to the first team at Globe Arena a few eyebrows were raised when he made the switch to St James’s Park, especially without the guarantee of getting starts.
However, that is not the way McCready saw things.
“At the time of me leaving Morecombe, I was a lot closer to the first team there than I initially was at Exeter,” he said. “It was a bit of a step back in terms of playing time but my aim is for it to be a small step back and a leap forward.
“The way Exeter City plays football and its philosophy suits the way I want to play football.
“The way Tis likes us to play has got a lot of potential. The best teams in the league like to play football.
“The way I’ve seen us play in the last couple of weeks gives us a lot of room for improvement, as we want to be winning games, but the way we set up is going to allow us to do that sooner rather than later.
“Joining Exeter was a small sacrifice to make initially in order to work my way into a club that I want to stay at for the foreseeable future. It was the right move.”


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Carlisle United v Exeter City: Match preview
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 05, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale - Picture: Pinnacle
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Manager Paul Tisdale hinted that there is likely to be few changes to the starting line-up as Exeter City head to Carlisle United searching for their first win in seven games.
The Grecians put in a much-improved defensive showing in their last match to pick up a 0-0 draw at York City.
Having watched his side make mistakes the previous week, as they fell to a 3-1 loss at home to Plymouth Argyle, Tisdale simplified his defenders’ task and set his team up to be hard to beat.
York are on the same number of points as Carlisle, with both teams struggling at the wrong end of the table. As a result Tisdale could be forgiven for wanting to adopt a similar approach.
.“I see a very similar team playing in terms of selection to the one we had last week,” said the Exeter City boss.
“There won’t be too many changes and I would hope and imagine that we go into the game with the same tone that we played with at York.
“However, I see there being distinct difference in the styles of York City and Carlisle.
“There will also be distinct differences in the quality of the playing surface, because I think Carlisle’s pitch is more conducive to a better level of playing football than we got at York.
“There is the odd game where your defenders will defend for the whole game and have a steely mind-set and be focussed on defending.
“That was very much the case on Saturday at York. It wasn’t an expansive game – our defenders were there to defend – and we sort of kept things solid.”
Carlisle’s pitch is one of the biggest in League Two, so as a result could Tisdale be tempted to ask his defenders to play are more expansive, passing game as a result.
“It will be whatever the game presents us,” said Tisdale. “We always start the first 10 minutes with certain discipline, to do certain parts of the game simply and strongly.
“Then you see how the game is going and 15 minutes tends to be the point where we either tighten, we open up or keep going as we are. That is when we begin to put into action some of our pre-game plan. All I will say is it is a big pitch at Carlisle. I think it is probably the biggest in the league and there is always an opportunity to play some football and that is what we will have in our mind, if we get the opportunity.”
Tisdale will be without Craig Woodman and David Noble for the match on Saturday, with hamstring injuries.
Matt Oakley, who was rested for the game at York City, will be back available and a number of the players who impressed in the club’s reserve match on Monday will also be pushing for a start.
The Grecians beat Bristol Rovers 2-1 away, with David Wheeler grabbing both goals.
One player who is likely to keep his place in the side is Jamie McAllister though.
He played his first full 90 minutes for the club, in the absence of Woodman.
McAllister, 36, joined the Grecians in January and Tisdale admitted that it was perhaps not a signing that would have excited fans when you consider the player’s defensive position and age.
However, it was one that he says is proving very useful now.
“I’m sure when people look at it, when we signed Jamie McAllister in January, it was not the a sexy signing,” he said.
“It wasn’t a ‘let’s change the team’ kind of signing, but any squad that develops and becomes successful needs good strong depth of quality and experience.
“This signing shows that, because Craig Woodman has been out for two games now and I have got a very able, experienced, quality player to come in.
“The strength of the team of the team is not just about the players that make a big difference at the sexy end of the team, it is often about players who provide competition for places and provide a good continuity when players come in and out.
“I couldn’t have got anyone better to come in and cover Jordan Moore-Taylor and Craig Woodman than Jamie McAllister.”


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Carlisle United v Exeter City: Match preview
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 05, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale - Picture: Pinnacle
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Manager Paul Tisdale hinted that there is likely to be few changes to the starting line-up as Exeter City head to Carlisle United searching for their first win in seven games.
The Grecians put in a much-improved defensive showing in their last match to pick up a 0-0 draw at York City.
Having watched his side make mistakes the previous week, as they fell to a 3-1 loss at home to Plymouth Argyle, Tisdale simplified his defenders’ task and set his team up to be hard to beat.
York are on the same number of points as Carlisle, with both teams struggling at the wrong end of the table. As a result Tisdale could be forgiven for wanting to adopt a similar approach.
.“I see a very similar team playing in terms of selection to the one we had last week,” said the Exeter City boss.
“There won’t be too many changes and I would hope and imagine that we go into the game with the same tone that we played with at York.
“However, I see there being distinct difference in the styles of York City and Carlisle.
“There will also be distinct differences in the quality of the playing surface, because I think Carlisle’s pitch is more conducive to a better level of playing football than we got at York.
“There is the odd game where your defenders will defend for the whole game and have a steely mind-set and be focussed on defending.
“That was very much the case on Saturday at York. It wasn’t an expansive game – our defenders were there to defend – and we sort of kept things solid.”
Carlisle’s pitch is one of the biggest in League Two, so as a result could Tisdale be tempted to ask his defenders to play are more expansive, passing game as a result.
“It will be whatever the game presents us,” said Tisdale. “We always start the first 10 minutes with certain discipline, to do certain parts of the game simply and strongly.
“Then you see how the game is going and 15 minutes tends to be the point where we either tighten, we open up or keep going as we are. That is when we begin to put into action some of our pre-game plan. All I will say is it is a big pitch at Carlisle. I think it is probably the biggest in the league and there is always an opportunity to play some football and that is what we will have in our mind, if we get the opportunity.”
Tisdale will be without Craig Woodman and David Noble for the match on Saturday, with hamstring injuries.
Matt Oakley, who was rested for the game at York City, will be back available and a number of the players who impressed in the club’s reserve match on Monday will also be pushing for a start.
The Grecians beat Bristol Rovers 2-1 away, with David Wheeler grabbing both goals.
One player who is likely to keep his place in the side is Jamie McAllister though.
He played his first full 90 minutes for the club, in the absence of Woodman.
McAllister, 36, joined the Grecians in January and Tisdale admitted that it was perhaps not a signing that would have excited fans when you consider the player’s defensive position and age.
However, it was one that he says is proving very useful now.
“I’m sure when people look at it, when we signed Jamie McAllister in January, it was not the a sexy signing,” he said.
“It wasn’t a ‘let’s change the team’ kind of signing, but any squad that develops and becomes successful needs good strong depth of quality and experience.
“This signing shows that, because Craig Woodman has been out for two games now and I have got a very able, experienced, quality player to come in.
“The strength of the team of the team is not just about the players that make a big difference at the sexy end of the team, it is often about players who provide competition for places and provide a good continuity when players come in and out.
“I couldn’t have got anyone better to come in and cover Jordan Moore-Taylor and Craig Woodman than Jamie McAllister.”


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Ryan Harley with a brace and ECFC boy with the 3rd goal to put it away.......

Carlisle United 1 Exeter City 3: Match report
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 07, 2015
By Simon Larkins at Brunton Park

Ryan Harley gets congratulated after scoring his second goal of the game against Carlisle United - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City picked up their first win in eight games as they beat Carlisle United away thanks to two goals from Ryan Harley.
It was the 30-year-old forward’s first goal for the Grecians since he returned for his second spell at the club in November.
However, coincidently, it was also his first double in a match since February 2011 when he scored two goals for City in a 2-2 draw at Brunton Park.
This match could have ended in a 2-2 draw as City survived a couple of late scares, most notably when Kyle Dempsey and substitute Josh Gillies whistled shots past the post in the final three minutes of the match.
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As it was those chances didn’t go in and City were able to hit Carlisle on the counter as Liam Sercombe ran through on goal and chipped Hanford to make it 3-1 in injury-time.
City were unchanged from the side that drew 0-0 at York City last time out and there was only one change on the bench as Matt Oakley, returning from injury, replaced young defender Jordan Tillson. Tillson was absent as he as recently joined Weston-super-Mare on a one-month loan deal.
Carlisle United made one change, bringing in Danny`Grainger, who missed the last game through suspension, and giving him the captain’s armband.
City started the match the brighter of the two teams, with Alex Nicholls sending in a couple of low crosses and Harley having a deflected shot well saved by Dan Hanford.
It took the Cumbrians until the 21st minute for them to test the visitors as David Amoo picked the ball up on the right side of the box, sold Jamie McAllister a dummy and drilled a low shot towards goal. City keeper James Hamon got a hand to the ball and thankfully parried the effort straight to a City player.
The Grecians were still threatening as Nichols put a glorious chance a foot wide of the post, with only Hanford to beat, on 25 minutes.
They then took the lead just after the half hour mark as Clinton Morrison flicked a ball over his head towards Nicholls in the area. The 23-year-old forward did brilliantly to chip a shot over Hanford’s head, but was denied by the crossbar. However, Nichols reacted to the loose ball quickest and pulled the ball back for Harley to side foot home.
Carlisle, battling to avoid the drop, responded and were level within eight minutes. Their dangerman Amoo was the provider as he broke down the right and chipped a ball into the edge of the six yard box, where Sean Rigg volleyed a shot past Hamon.
The home side also had the first chance of the second half Rigg knocked a long ball down for Charlie Wyke to fire an effort high and wide of Hamon’s goal.
Harley responded with a 25-yard strike that had Hanford diving across his goal to make a great one-handed save.
Amoo and Nicholls then both went on marauding runs through the opposition’s defence only to be stopped by last-ditch tackles before Harley produced the shot of the match to put City back in front.
The 30-year-old forward picked up the ball just outside the area and side-footed a shot in the bottom right corner of the goal with 56 minutes played.
Carlisle started to flood men forward in search of an equaliser and, with 25 minutes to go, Hamon produced a smart catch to stop a Gillies cross that was drilled towards the near post.
Hamon then produced a great save to deny Wyke as the Carlisle forward turned and fired towards goal from 12 yards.
City made a change with 15 minutes to go as Morrison, suffering from cramp, was replaced by Graham Cummins.
Cummins, who has found his first team chances limited in recent months, had a sight at goal with eight minutes to go but his weakly-struck shot was easily saved by Hanford.
But, it was Carlisle who were looking the more dangerous of the two teams and had they grabbed an equaliser it would have been deserved.
They couldn’t finish their chances though and Sercombe made them pay by added another goal in injury time to make the scoreline look a lot more comfortably for City than it actually was.
Carlisle United (4-4-2): Hanford; Young, O'Hanlon (Asamoah, 77), Archibald-Henville, Grainger; Amoo, Griffith (Meppen-Walter, 65), Dempsey, Sweeney (Gillies, 37); Rigg, Wyk. Subs not used: Spiegel, Paynter, Thirlwell, Brough
Booked: Archibald-Henville.
Exeter City (4-3-2-1): Hamon; Davies, Ribeiro, Moore-Taylor, McAllister; Sercombe, Butterfield (Oakley, 56), Harley; Nicholls, Morrison (Cummins, 77), Nichols (Wheeler, 87). Subs not used: Bennett, Keohane, Pym, McCready.
Referee: T Harrington.
Attendance: 3,724 (154 away).


'Things starting to fall into place at Exeter City,' says Paul Tisdale
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 07, 2015
By Simon Larkins at Brunton Park

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale - Picture: Pinnacle
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MANAGER Paul Tisdale feels things are ‘starting to fall into place’ at Exeter City following an away victory at Carlisle United.
The 3-1 win lifted the Grecians to 13trh in the League Two table and a point closer to the play-off places. However, with only 12 games to go and eight points to make up, promotion this season still looks a tall order.
However, what the victory at Brunton Park showed was that City are well placed to push forward next season. Ryan Harley has been criticised by sections of City faithful in recent weeks for his poor form, since returning for his second spell at the club in November, but on Saturday he looked back to his best. The forward opened the scoring after 31 minutes when he side-footed home Tom Nichols’ pass and then expertly finished another effort 11 minutes into the second half from the edge of the box.
He, like many other players in the City line-up, have benefitted from getting minutes on the pitch, according to Tisdale.
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Tisdale said: “When you think of the players that I have signed this season; Alex Nicholls hadn’t played for a year and a half, Ryan Harley had been out of football for the best part of a year in terms of match play, Clinton (Morrison) hadn’t played for anybody since last season, Christian Ribeiro was a free agent and Jamie McAllister was in India and then had a long gap before playing for us.
“All the players that we have picked up and signed have been players who, for one reason or another, haven’t been playing football elsewhere.
“It is going to take time. I’m just looking forward to going into next season with players who have got games under their belts and a proper run into next season. That is not to say that I’m ruling this season off but, if that conversation presents itself for discussion, we have got a real good opportunity in the next dozen games to bed people in and keep people playing.
“It is great to see Alex Nicholls finding his energy, and playing for 90 minutes, and Ryan Harley looked almost back to his best. Then there is Arron Davies playing in a new position. We can talk about players playing out of position, but he looks like he’s played at right-back for years. His performance was once of the most silky and competent displays you are likely to see from a full-back.
“Things are starting to fall into place, but it is not a surprise because I think recently, away from home, we have done particularly well.”
Harley’s second goal on Saturday gave the Grecians the lead for the second time after Steven Rigg had equalised for the Cumbrians.
Keith Curle’s side piled on the pressure in the closing stages of the match and had a couple of chances to draw level as Charlie Wyke and Kyle Dempsey both fired effort narrowly wide of the City goal.
Therefore, Tisdale was delighted when Liam Sercombe made sure of the points in the first minute of stoppage time as City broke on the counter-attack and he chipped a shot over Carlisle keeper Dan Hanford.
“They were flooding men forward and it was a lovely bit of play from Alex Nicholls,” said Tisdale. “We had a couple of opportunities to break away late on, in that middle third of the pitch, but we just hadn’t looked after the ball well enough. We just needed to do that once or twice because I thought we had the chance of a breakaway and it was a lovely finish and it just put the game to bed. It was lovely to have that last two or three minutes without the stress of a one-goal lead. So thank you very much Liam for that.
“I’m really pleased we got the points, because we needed it. Above all else we needed the win just to settle one or two anxieties. I’m not saying with us, but just generally. It also makes the trip home a lot nicer.”


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Carlisle United 1 Exeter City 3: Match highlights





Ryan Harley shows a return to form with double against Carlisle United
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 09, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Ryan Harley celebrates with Tom Nichols after scoring against Carlisle United - Picture: Pinnacle
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It has been so long since Ryan Harley last got his name on an Exeter City scoresheet that, when he did, the club were battling towards the top end of League One.
It is fair to say that things haven’t really gone to plan for the Bristol-born forward or the Grecians since then.
However, on Saturday, thanks to two goals against Carlisle United at Brunton Park, Harley showed a glimpse that he could return to his former glories and lead City back to the third tier of English football.
It is just one game of course and if those fans who, prior to kick-off, roundly criticised his selection in the City starting line-up were too hasty to write off their former hero, then the same can be said for those now declaring that their king has returned.
It is easy to get excited though, especially as you watch Harley – renowned for his ability to find the back of the net from outside the area – firing into the bottom corner from 20 yards to give the Grecians a 2-1 lead.
It was a Harley strike of old, reminiscent of his most memorable goals against Leeds United and Huddersfield Town – controlled, accurate and out of reach.
“It just goes to show you haven’t got to whack a ball,” manager Paul Tisdale said with approval after the game.
“There’s ways to score a goal, but he certainly knows how to do it from the edge of the box.
“I have used him as an example for the past four or five years to players of how to score goals from the edge of the box. That was a side-foot shot. It is all about finding the right spot, where the keeper can’t reach it.”
Harley’s first goal, on 30 minutes, was a more straightforward finish as he placed a right-footed shot past Carlisle keeper Dan Hanford from eight yards out.
However, he showed great energy and awareness to follow his own pass into the box and then work a yard of space as Tom Nichols cut a ball back to him.
Harley is quite clearly benefiting from having a few games under his belt, having arrived at City short of match action having been left out in the cold at Swindon Town.
He is not the only one – Alex Nicholls and Clinton Morrison both put in one of their better performances in a City shirt.
Nicholls, who spent two years on the sidelines after suffering a double-leg fracture in October 2012, was full of energy and was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet himself as his lofted shot cannoned back off the crossbar.
Morrison didn’t look like scoring, but his overhead flick helped set-up the first goal and then he provided the assist for Harley’s second with some good hold-up play on the edge of the area.
The pass for the third goal was Nicholls’ though. He showed great awareness in the centre of the park to play a ball out to the right for Liam Sercombe. The Exeter-born midfielder did the rest as he raced through on goal and provided a delicate chip over Hanford to put the game to bed.
“All the players that we have picked up and signed have been players who, for one reason or another, haven’t been playing football elsewhere,” said Tisdale, who was delighted with the final goal.
“It is great to see Alex Nicholls finding his energy, and playing for 90 minutes. They were flooding men forward and it was a good bit of play from Alex.
“It was lovely to have that last two or three minutes without the stress of a one-goal lead. So thank you very much Liam for that.”
The 3-1 scoreline makes the game look comfortable, but City had another top performer, James Hamon, to thank for the points.
Although not lacking in match fitness, it could also be argued that Hamon is benefiting from having a few games under his belt.
The 19-year-old keeper, a rookie without any Football League experience before November, looked confident as he claimed a number of crosses into his box including substitute Josh Gillies’ ball that fizzed towards his near post with 25 minutes to go.
That came at a stage in the match when Carlisle were pushing to get back into the match and Hamon had to be alert to stop a shot from Charlie Wyke moments later.
However, the headlines belong to Harley and rightly so.
Carlisle must be sick of the sight of him as his last brace came in February 2011 at Brunton Park when City drew 2-2.
That might seem like a striking coincidence, but there is evidence to support why that just hasn’t happened by chance.
Carlisle’s pitch, seemingly to their detriment, is spacious, quick and flat – just the kind of surface Harley likes to operate on.


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Exeter City v AFC Wimbledon: Match preview
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 12, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale - Picture: Pinnacle
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Paul Tisdale says he hopes the pressure will have been lifted off his players slightly but says that they must collect more victories at home.
The Exeter City manager will lead his side into back-to-back games at St James’s Park in the next six days with AFC Wimbledon the visitors on Saturday and Stevenage on Tuesday.
The Grecians are still looking to re-ignite their play-off push this season, but need to improve on a run of five wins from 17 games on their own turf this season.
However, they will at least go into Saturday’s match with a bit more belief after they ended a run of seven games without a victory with a 3-1 win at Carlisle United last weekend.
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Tisdale said: “I think football is about confidence, but our issue will be the home form.
“Our away form has been good. I don’t think anybody would look at it and think there is an issue there, but it is pretty apparent that we need to win more games at home.
“The pressure away from home hasn’t really been mounting other than to say that we hadn’t won for over a month. So it was very important we won a game, be that home or away, and now everyone can relax a bit more off the back of it.”
The 3-1 win at Carlisle was arguably City’s best performance of the year.
Tisdale named an unchanged side for the match at Brunton Park, after the previous week’s 0-0 draw with York. So could the manager be tempted to do the same again this weekend?
“It would make sense,” he said. “The team are doing very well. There is a lot of cohesion in the side but, as we know, we have a very different set of challenges at home from what we have away.
“It is not set in stone that the same team will play. We will have to find the right mix and ingredients to give us the best chance on Saturday.
“However, everyone will be fit. We have got a few players who needed a couple of days off to recover from bumps and bruises, but they will all be fit and available for the weekend. So, it looks likely that it is going to be the same team.”
There are a number of players pushing for places in the starting line-up though. Craig Woodman, who picked up a hamstring injury in the 3-1 loss to Plymouth Argyle on February 21, is rated as 50/50 for the Wimbledon game.
In addition, Matt Oakley, returning from injury himself, and Graham Cummins both impressed as second-half substitutes against Carlisle.
“It’s something we have improved on over the season in terms of the strength of the squad and the number of players who are capable of producing performances,” said Tisdale.
“It was good to see Matt (Oakley) come on the pitch and play Danny Butterfield’s position and do very well. It was even more pleasing to see Graham Cummins come on. He has had a mixed last few months in terms of selection, but he came on and did really well. I think he will be pushing for more match-time over the next couple of games.”
City lost 4-1 to Wimbledon when they faced them at Kingsmeadow on December 28. However, Tisdale felt the scoreline wasn’t a fair reflection on the match.
“I think the scoreline was possibly flattering to them,” said the St James’s Park chief. “It wasn’t as close as the competition was on the day.
“I certainly wouldn’t grumble about the fact that Wimbledon won the game. They were very competitive on the day and they gave us a lot of problems and I’m sure they’ll pose similar issues for us this weekend.
“However, I think it is symptomatic of most League Two games. There is rarely a game where one team is very comfortable.
“The only game we have had this season where we felt totally in control for the whole game was at Morecambe.”


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Exeter City 3 AFC Wimbledon 2: Match report

Express and Echo | Posted: March 14, 2015
By Simon Larkins at St James's Park


Tom Nichols, Clinton Morrison and Ryan Harley celebrate Exeter City scoring against AFC Wimbledon - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City kept their slim hopes of making this season’s League Two play-offs alive as they put in a great attacking display at home to AFC Wimbledon.
The Grecians, having fallen behind to an early strike from Ade Akinfenwa, battered the visitors’ goal for the majority of the match by hitting 11 shots on target and striking the woodwork twice.
In the end it was three second-half goals that got City the points, with Tom Nichols grabbing two and setting up the other one for substitute David Wheeler to score.
Manager Paul Tisdale made two changes to the starting line-up as Danny Butterfield and Jamie McAllister were both ruled out through injury. That meant 19-year-old Connor Riley-Lowe started only his second league game for the club and Matt Oakley, at the age of 37, picked up his 35th appearance of the campaign.
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City were behind in the third minute to Akinfenwa 14th goal of the season. The former Torquay United striker did well to cushion a long diagonal ball on his chest, outmuscle Christian Ribeiro and hit a half volley into the top corner.
It was a poor start to the game for the Grecians as they searched for their first home victory of 2015. However, for the rest of the match, they were much the better side.
They should have levelled the scores in the 14th minute as Liam Sercombe teed up Ryan Harley with a shooting chance. However, Harley’s effort was well saved by Dons keeper Joe McDonnell and then Nichols could only strike the base of the post with the follow up effort.
City were given a numerical advantage as Dannie Bulman was sent-off for a two-footed tackle on Riley-Lowe as the Exeter full-back was battling for the ball on the left.
The lunge was so late that the Wimbledon midfielder hadn’t even heard the referee Darren Deadman blow his whistle for an earlier infringement. However, the Cambridgeshire official was quick to brandish his ninth red card of the season and Bulman walked slowly across the pitch and down the tunnel with 65 minutes of the match left to play.
Wimbledon were under pressure before that, but with a man less, the intensity increased. Harley and Sercombe both had efforts at goal comfortably saved by McDonnell before Nichols hit a rasping drive against the crossbar on 30 minutes.
Nichols was in on goal again moments later as he outpaced the home defence, to get on a ball from Alex Nicholls but, as he tried to find the bottom corner, McDonnell made a smart save with his legs.
Wimbledon could have made it 2-0 on 36 minutes though as George Francomb’s long range effort deflected off Jordan Moore-Taylor onto the inside of the City post, but that was the only other effort of note for the Dons in the first half.
City were still the side pressing and Nicholls, Nichols and Sercombe all had shots blocked on the edge of the six yard box as the half drew to a close.
It took four minutes of the second half before City had their next effort on goal as Sercombe’s corner found Nichols unmarked, but he headed over the top.
The home side were level on 52 minutes though as Harley threaded in Nichols on the right side of the area and he took a touch before firing a low shot into the net.
It then seemed to be, with 38 minutes of the game to go, a case of when, rather than if, the Grecians were going to score another. Wimbledon, content to waste time, were sitting nine-men behind the ball and inviting pressure as Davies flashed another effort just wide of the upright.
Neal Ardley made a triple substation to try and change things, but minutes later they had conceded a penalty as Morrison was tripped in the box. Nichols stepped up and side-footed the ball home to put City ahead and grab his 13th goal of the campaign on 66 minutes.
Wimbledon looked a beaten side at this point and substitute David Wheeler was soon on the scoresheet as Nichols pulled a Sercombe cross into his path so he could fire home from close range.
Harley and Nichols both tested McDonnell with further strikes at goal in the final 20 minutes of the match and such was the comfortable nature of the game in the closing stages that Tisdale was able to give Tom McCready his debut for the club off the bench. Morrison was the player to be be substituted to a standing ovation from the home crowd in the 81st minute.
However, AFC Wimbledon made it a nervy final few minutes as Adedeji OShilaja headed the ball against the post from a corner and the ball rebounded off Hamon and into the back of the net.
City held on for the points though and moved above AFC Wimbledon and six points off the play-off places.
Exeter City: Hamon; Davies, Ribeiro, Moore-Taylor, McAllister; Sercombe, Oakley, Harley; Morrison (McCready, 80), Nichols, Nicholls (Wheeler, 59). Subs not used: Pym, Bennett, Keohane, Cummins, Jay.
AFC Wimbledon: McDonnell; Fuller, Oshilaja, Winfield, Smith; Francomb, Reeves, Bulman, Potter (Azeez, 60); Tanner (Kennedy, 60), Akinfenwa (Moore, 60). Subs not used: Worner, Rigg, Fitzpatrick, Phillips.
Attendance: 3,713 (354 away)


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'We are not a Chelsea-esque team,' says Paul Tisdale as players react to bad challenge
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 14, 2015
By Simon Larkins at St James's Park


Dannie Bulman is shown a red card for lunging into a tackle on Exeter City's Connor Riley Lowe (no. 25) - Picture: Pinnacle
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‘We are not a Chelsea-esque team,’ said Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale after his players reacted angrily to a two-footed challenge on Connor Riley-Lowe.
The tackle came in the Grecians’ 3-2 victory over AFC Wimbledon on Saturday and saw Dannie Bulman shown a straight red card for the offence.
Reactions to bad challenges has been something that has been in the media spotlight the past few days after Chelsea players were accused of trying to influence the referee into sending off Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a rash tackle on Oscar during their Champions League match last Wednesday night.
However, Tisdale said the reaction of his players was totally understandable given the circumstances and they were not trying to influence the match official, who was in a very good position to see the tackle.
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“I’m not surprised our players reacted,” said Tisdale. “When you are down pitch side and you are looking across the pitch, it is not always easy to get the greatest perspective on it. All I could see was that their player (Bulman) has gone in and it looked like he jumped into a tackle.
“Now, whether he caught anybody, I don’t know. It was really hard to see, but our players reacted and they don’t always react. We are not a Chelsea-esqeue team, but the referee was a lot closer than I was and he obviously deemed it to be dangerous.”
Riley-Lowe, 19, was starting only his second game for the club and, as a first-year professional, it could be argued that the older City players were just trying to protect their younger teammate.
“Maybe that had a part to play in it,” said Tisdale. “The referee was closer than I was though and better placed to judge and you know me, I say that even when it goes against us. Rarely am I one to think I know better than a referee from 60 yards away. I think the point that has to be made is that if you go into a tackle, in that manner, then you run the risk of a referee giving that type of decision.”
City fell behind in the game to Ade Akinfenwa’s third minute volley, but battled back to win the game thanks to second half goals from Tom Nichols (2) and David Wheeler.
Tisdale praised his side for the patience they showed in attack, but admitted that the sending off probably played a part in the result.
“There was very little wrong with our performance, our speed to the ball and our passing,” said Tisdale. “We had some really good patience across the midfield, with Matt Oakley and Ryan Harley together. They were really composed and kept the pressure on. It meant their midfield had a lot of running to do between the edge of their box and the halfway line. They had a lot of area to cover and we played the game really well.
“The players played really well as a group and looking back now you would say that it is really useful that we played again 10 men. That gave us an opportunity to govern the game, but I think we took advantage of it and you can only play what is in front of you. I’m really pleased we got a win because we needed it.”
City are now six points off the play-off places with 10 games of the season to go, starting with Tuesday night’s home game against Stevenage.


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Exeter City attack with belief to get back in the hunt for the play-offs
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 16, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City's Tom Nichols strikes the ball home from the penalty spot - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City may have a creaky defence and a poor home record, but one thing they don’t lack is belief.
Many other squads, after getting humbled 3-1 at home by their local rivals in mid-February – to fall nine points off the play-off places – would have given up on their prospects of promotion.
However, City are made of sterner stuff. Saturday’s 3-2 win against AFC Wimbledon represented the 23rd point the Grecians have picked up from a losing position this season, which is almost half their overall total.
It stretched their unbeaten run to three games and points to the fact that a late push for the play-offs isn’t out of the question. City are only six points adrift of the promotion spots with 10 games to go.
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They will still need seven wins from their remaining fixtures to reach the magic 70-point mark normally required to secure a play-off spot, but if they play like they did on Saturday then they are capable of doing that.
Despite going a goal down in the third minute to a wonder-strike from Ade Akinfenwa, City attacked like a team on a mission.
They took control of the game long before Dannie Bulman was shown a straight red card for a 24th minute tackle on City’s teenage full-back Connor Riley-Lowe.
Ryan Harley had already forced a good save out of Dons keeper Jamie McDonnell and Tom Nichols had hit the base of the post.
McDonnell had to make four more saves in the first half and Nichols struck the woodwork again, before the assault continued in the second-half as the Grecians turned the match around with two goals from Nichols and one from substitute David Wheeler.
In truth, Wimbledon should have been the side more optimistic of reaching the play-offs as going into the match they were only six points adrift and on better form than their hosts.
However, if they have any expectation that they will be in the promotion shake-up come May, it wasn’t apparent at St James’s Park on Saturday.
Akinfenwa’s early volley was their only shot on target as they sat back, wasted time and let City dictate the pace and flow of the game.
It was an error on Dons boss Neal Ardley’s part. His players had shown, in this season’s reverse fixture at the Kingsmeadow on December 28, that they had the pace and power to trouble the Grecians’ backline but, after losing Bulman down the tunnel, it was only Akinfenwa who stayed ahead of the ball.
By the time the 42-year-old manager decided to change things on the hour – with a triple substitution – the match was already slipping out of their grasp.
Nichols had equalised as he picked up a pin-point pass from Harley and drilled a low shot through full-back Jack Smith’s legs and past McDonnell.
At that point it was a case of when, rather than if, City were going to score another.
Ardley’s replacements had little time to make an impact before Dave Winfield bundled Clinton Morrison over in the box in the 66th minute to give Nichols the chance to complete the turnaround from the penalty spot.
The Dons will point to two big refereeing decisions that went City’s way in the match, but Bulman’s tackle was over the top of the ball, two-footed and worthy of a red card. And, while Morrison’s penalty was harsh on the visitors, there wasn’t much evidence to support the notion that they were capable of hanging on for a point at that stage had the spot-kick not been given.
City were creating chances at will and it was little surprise to see Wheeler fire home the third goal from close range after Nichols had pulled a Harley cross into his path.
Such was the comfortable grip the Grecians had on the game that manager Paul Tisdale decided to give Tom McCready his debut for the club as he replaced the hard-working Morrison.
However, you get the impression from his post-match comments that the City manager wishes he had substituted two-goal hero Nichols.
“I wasn’t too impressed with his last 10 minutes of defending, so I will have to have words with him about that,” said Tisdale.
It was Nichols who got out-jumped at a corner by Ade Azeez for Wimbledon’s second goal of the match, which deflected in off keeper James Hamon, and then he let his man run past him as the Dons attacked in the four minutes of injury-time. It didn’t lead to an equalising goal as Riley-Lowe came to City’s rescue, but it was perhaps proof that attack was Wimbledon’s best form of defence.
If Wimbledon had believed that for the rest of the match, it could have been different.


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11th place ECFC will host 8th place Stevenage tomorrow (3/17/15) at 3:45P (EST)

 

Exeter City v Stevenage: Match preview
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 17, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City full-back Connor Riley-Lowe - Picture: Pinnacle
Connor Riley-Lowe will retain his place in the starting line-up against Stevenage on Tuesday night if Jamie McAllister doesn’t recover from his injury in time.
Riley-Lowe, 19, performed well in the Grecians’ 3-2 win over AFC Wimbledon on Saturday in only his second league game for the club.
He was called into the starting line-up as McAllister failed a late fitness test on a hamstring injury. McAllister is expected to come back into the side on Tuesday if fit but, with fellow left-back Craig Woodman also out, Riley-Lowe is the only available option if he doesn’t.
However, manager Paul Tisdale admitted that he was not worried about giving Riley-Lowe his chance on Saturday and will be happy do the same against Stevenage.
“Connor is a young player and it is how we do things at Exeter City,” said Tisdale. “My options were to move the back four around a bit, play Jordan (Moore-Taylor) at left back and change the back two partnership, but we have got a young player, who we have got high hopes for, and he is left-back. So I decided to play him.
“That is why young players like Connor sign for Exeter City, because they get their chance. I have to say he took his chance extremely well. He had a really good game.”
City have moved to within six points of the play-off on the back of Saturday’s result and, with Stevenage eighth in the table, Tuesday’s game represents another chance for them to make up ground on the sides above them. However, Tisdale isn’t getting drawn into talk of the play-offs just yet.
“Let’s just play the game in front of us,” he said. “We’ve certainly put ourselves out of the race over the last couple of months and the only way we will get back in it is by winning games.
“We have only won a couple, so let’s look at Tuesday first. We have got something to play for and hopefully we will move forward.”


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Exeter City sign Lee Holmes on loan from Preston North End until the end of the season
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 16, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City's new loan signing Lee Holmes - Picture: Pinnacle

Exeter City have completed the signing of Lee Holmes on loan from Preston North End until the end of the season.
The 27-year-old left-sided midfielder was on loan with Portsmouth earlier this season.
Holmes began his career with six years as a pro at Derby County, just down the road from his hometown of Mansfield, and then spent a further four years on the books at Southampton. He moved to Deepdale in 2012.
Subject to clearance from the Football Association and the Football League, Holmes will be available for selection in Exeter City’s fixture against Stevenage at St James's Park tomorrow, and will wear the number 16 shirt.


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Holmes: “A simple decision”
image: http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/cms_images/player/holmes-4x3125-2340344_478x359.jpg

PUBLISHED
15:31 17th March 2015
New signing on decision to join the Grecians
Exeter City’s newest arrival Lee Holmes – who joined on Monday afternoon on loan from Preston North End – felt that the decision to move to St James Park was a ‘simple’ one.

The winger was a regular in the Lilywhites team which finished fifth in League 1 last year, but injury curtailed his pre-season ahead of 2014/15 and appearances for the Deepdale club have consequently been restricted this year.

And he admitted that his mind was made up after talking with manager Paul Tisdale, as well as picking the brains of his former Southampton teammate Danny Butterfield.

“The manager contacted me to see if I would be interested, and having had a few long chats it was a very simple decision,” he said.

“Me and my family spoke about it – it’s obviously a long way from home – but the manager and I had in-depth chats and it was mainly him that convinced me to come down.

“He sold it for me in everything he was saying. The atmosphere and what he is trying to create, and what he has created already – being able to play football with a smile on your face is an amazing thing to do and a privilege.

“I spoke to Butts before I came down, who I’m very good friends with. He only had good things to say about the club, the management staff and everyone connected with the club.

“That was another selling point for me to come down and finish the season down here, and see what happens.”


The 27-year-old had a stint with Portsmouth earlier this year on loan from Preston, which helped him to keep his match sharpness high.

And now Holmes is just looking forward to featuring in the Grecians’ run-in to the campaign and bringing his abilities to the squad.

He has played at St James Park once before, and scored his first Southampton goal in a 3-1 Carling Cup game on that occasion back in 2008.

Paperwork permitting, the winger could be eligible to make his second appearance at the Park with a City debut in Tuesday evening’s home game against Stevenage.

“Portsmouth was a great thing for me at the time because it got me games and got me match-fit,” he continued.

“Then I went back to Preston for a bit and now I’m itching to play week-in, week-out. Hopefully I can bring something good to the table.

“Since I heard that this was a possibility, I’ve kept an eye on the results. The last two results have been great, with six goals in the last two games. I’m excited to be part of it.

“I love to get on the ball and attack full-backs, and make things happen – assists, crosses and goals.

“I can also play in behind the front-man, as I played a lot of in my campaign last year at Preston.

“Across the front three I’m very versatile and I can go either way on either foot, which hopefully makes things better for me and worse for defenders.”


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Exeter City 0 Stevenage 0: Match report
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 17, 2015
By Simon Larkins at St James's Park

Exeter City's Matt Oakley in action against Stevenage - Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City’s now only have nine game left to bridge the six-point gap between them and the play-off places after they played out a goalless draw with Stevenage on Tuesday night.
There was little goalmouth action for the Grecians, with the closest they came to scoring when substitute David Wheeler crashed a second-half header against the crossbar.
It was Stevenage who had the clearer openings in the game, but they will have been the happier of the two sides with the draw as they went back in to the top seven with the point they gained.
City manager Paul Tisdale kept faith with the same starting line-up that had performed so well against AFC Wimbledon on Saturday to pick up their second win on the bounce. However, there was one change on the bench as new loan signing Lee Holmes, who has joined the club from Preston North End until the end of the season, replaced Matt Jay.
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Stevenage also included their new loan signing, former Charlton Athletic striker Kevin Lisbie, in their squad. However, they threw him straight into the starting XI alongside Charlie Lee up front.
Both those strikers had a chance to score in the opening minute as Lisbie had a close-range header blocked and then Lee’s follow up effort was cleared off the goalline by Clinton Morrison.
City responded as Matt Oakley fed a ball to Tom Nichols in the area and he pulled the ball back to Liam Sercombe, whose shot was blocked.
However, that was about as good as it got for the Grecians in the first half as they failed to test Boro keeper Chris Day.
At the other end James Hamon had to be alert to stop a Dean Wells header from a corner and also turned a Keith Keane shot, from outside the box, around his post.
However, it was a largely uneventful first half and unsurprisingly both sides went into the break having failed to find the back of the net.
Morrison, who still hasn’t found the back of the net during his time at St James’s Park, went close at the start of the second half as he worked a yard of space on the edge of the box before curling a shot just past the post.
However, the chances still weren’t coming for either side so Tisdale made a couple of changes of 60 minutes, with Holmes coming on for his debut along with David Wheeler. Alex Nicholls and Tom Nichols were the players to depart.
Stevenage boss Graham Westley also made a change bringing on Ben Kennedy for Dave Martin, but you got the sense, as the match entered the final 20 minutes, a draw suited the Boro's hunt for an end of season play-off place better than the home side's.
With that in mind Holmes got to the byline and delivered his first telling cross in a City shirt. It evaded everyone, but Sercombe pulled the ball back into the box and Wheeler crashed a header off the crossbar.
At the other end, a corner from Kennedy saw Bira Dembele nod an effort just wide of the post. Wheeler then had to stand firm to block, as Wells fired an effort at goal from the edge of the area.
Stevenage then had a couple more chances with eight minutes to go as Lisbie had a header saved and Wells follow up effort was once again blocked on the edge of the six yard box.
City did have a chance to win the game in stoppage time when Wheeler headed just wide from a corner, but they had to settle for a point and the six-point gap between them, Stevenage and the play-off places remained the same.
Exeter City (4-3-3): Hamon; Davies, Ribeiro, Moore-Taylor, Riley-Lowe; Oakley, Sercombe, Harley; Morrison, Nichols (Wheeler, 60), Nicholls (Holmes, 60). Subs not used: Pym, McCready, Cummins, Koehane, Bennett.
Booked: Sercombe
Stevenage (4-4-2): Day; Henry, Wells, Dembele, Okimo; Pett (Andrade, 81), Parrett, Keane, Martin (Kennedy, 69); Lee (D Johnson, 73), Lisbie. Subs not used: Beasant, Ashton, D Johnson, Conlon, Bond.
Referee: Kevin Johnson.
Attendance: 3,149


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Exeter City travels to Cheltenham Town, 3/20/2015 11:00A (EST)

Cheltenham Town v Exeter City: Match preview
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 19, 2015
By Simon Larkins

• 
  Lee Holmes, in action against Stevenage on Tuesday, is expected to be involved against Cheltenham Town - Picture: Pinnacle

Connor Riley-Lowe could get his third consecutive start in an Exeter City shirt after manager Paul Tisdale revealed that both Jamie McAllister and Craig Woodman are struggling to be fit for Saturday’s game at Cheltenham Town.
Nineteen-year-old Riley-Lowe, a first-year professional at the club, has started the last two games against AFC Wimbledon and Stevenage after both McAllister and Woodman were ruled out with hamstring problems.
If either of the more experienced left-backs do recover in time for Saturday, they are expected to get their starting places back in the team, but Tisdale is not sure if that will happen.
“Craig Woodman is still not ready and I think Jamie (McAllister) is probably closer to being fit for Cheltenham than him, but I have been proved wrong on those things before.
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“In all honesty I don’t really know if either will be fit yet.
“Jamie wasn’t close to be ready for Stevenage in the end, but Connor (Riley-Lowe) has done great.
“He has had two games and he will learn a lot from it, but it is a big ask for him to continue that over the next nine games.”
One player who is expected to play a key role in the next nine games though is new loan signing Lee Holmes.
The midfielder, who has joined the club on loan from Preston North End, can play on either wing or just behind the front two. He came on and played 30 minutes of the match against Stevenage on Tuesday.
However, Tisdale says he will have to wait and see how Holmes responds in training before deciding if he is ready to start Saturday’s match.
“I will have to see how his training goes and see how sharp and strong he is,” said Tisdale. “He hasn’t played a lot of football from his previous loan spell at Portsmouth until now.
“I think it will be fair to say that we are just going to take it game by game, but he is not here to sit in the reserves or warm the bench.
“He is here to be part be part of the performances and whether that is 30 minutes, like on Tuesday, 60 minutes or 90 minutes he will be part of it.”
Holmes offers something different to the City line-up as he is an out-and-out winger.
Tisdale felt it was important their team added another weapon to their arsenal
“The team evolves and with Liam Sercombe and Ryan Harley, with those inside right and inside left positions, I just thought it was something that was going to benefit us,” he said.
“We have got to evolve more and it is impossible to predict how it is going to go, but he is an out-and-out wide player.
“He can play off both flanks and I think it is interesting to see what will happen next.”
Holmes joins City with the club just six points off the play-off places.
They missed the chance to close that gap on Tuesday when they drew 0-0 with Stevenage – the side that occupy the last play-off place.
However, the signing is one that signals City’s intention to make the promotion places with a month-and-a-half of the season to go.
“We have still got something to fight for this season,” said Tisdale. “Lee is an attacking player and Stevenage stifled our play on Tuesday night and we needed that width in the second half.
“That is what we were able to bring onto the pitch.
“You certainly want to give him the ball on the touchline areas and he is good at that.
“And that is what we have in mind with him coming to join us for the rest of the season.
“A signing will always be a good signing when it has proved to be so, but it was a step forward to be able to do that and make a straightforward change to try and affect the game in that way.
“Of course we want to keep going forward and we have got it all to play for still.”


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Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale says Cheltenham Town must not be taken for granted
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 20, 2015

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale. Picture: Pinnacle
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Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale has warned against taking relegation candidates Cheltenham Town for granted on Saturday.
Cheltenham were sucked into the relegation positions in midweek as Carlisle United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United all won.
Dropping into the bottom three came despite solid draws away to Newport County and Portsmouth for Russ Milton’s side.
And Tisdale insists that the Robins must not be taken lightly.
“We have to go and play against a competitive team – they have had a good month and they have been very close in all the games they have played,” he said.
“I understand that situation and I’ve been there once or twice myself, where there is a huge amount of pressure on every game.
“It looks to me like a side that is trying very hard for each other and they are competitive and close in every game. Every point means so much to them.
“I empathise with that. I’ve managed teams in those sorts of situations once or twice, and I understand that there’ll be no easy game for anyone else either because there is so much to play for.
“They have had two very good draws – bizarrely they will have come off on Tuesday night and seen that other results went against them – but they have had very good results at Newport and Portsmouth, which shows you that they are in a very competitive mindset at the moment.
“There is a lot between us and winning three points on Saturday – and that’s Cheltenham and their desire for the same.
“The bottom line is that Cheltenham have so much to play for and we can’t take anything for granted on Saturday.
“They have had an unsettling season, with their third manager in charge – but it is all about Saturday.
“Any team can put in a big performance on any day, and we have to assume Cheltenham will put in their best on Saturday and be ready for it.”


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Liam Sercombe: We are not giving up on the play-offs yet
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 19, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Liam Sercombe in action against AFC Wimbledon recently - Picture: Pinnacle
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Having beaten AFC Wimbledon at the Park on Saturday, it was frustrating we couldn’t make it a quick double when we entertained Stevenage on Tuesday night.
A second home win, in the space of just four days, would have put us within four points of the team in seventh place and right back in the play-off picture.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and, while we huffed and puffed, neither side looked much like scoring and, all said and done, a goalless draw was probably just about the right result.
It’s probably not a game that will linger long in the memory but, on the plus side, at least we continued to look pretty solid at the back and our new loan signing Lee Holmes made a very positive impression coming off the bench for the final half hour.
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Lee is an old-school winger with bags of pace and more tricks than Paul Daniels and, while he hasn’t been at the club for more than a few days, I’ve already seen enough to let me think he can pose a real threat for us between now and the end of the season.
If the Stevenage game wasn’t one of the more enthralling fixtures to have taken place at the Park this season, Saturday’s game against Wimbledon must have made for rather more compelling viewing.
While it wasn’t quite as close as the 3-2 scoreline might suggest – the Wombles only reduced the deficit to a single goal in the final few minutes – there was certainly plenty to keep supporters entertained.
The game had barley got underway when Ade Akinfenwa volleyed Neal Ardley’s side into the lead with a spectacular effort from just outside the box. The big man has bagged plenty of goals over the years, but I think it’s fair to say that was probably right up there with the best of them. For sure, there was very little James Hamon could do about it.
Fortunately, our task was made a little easier when they had a man sent-off for a nasty tackle on the excellent Connor Riley-Lowe midway through the first half and from thereon in I thought we assumed control of the game. We were comfortable until the Dons scored again with injury time beckoning to make the final few moments a little more anxious than they might otherwise have been.
It was great to see Tom McCready get a few minutes on Saturday. Tom came on as an 81st-minute substitute and showed a few good touches in his brief cameo – he did also shank a cross horribly into the Big Bank, but assures me that was entirely down to an unfortunate bobble!
As I’ve said before, Tom’s been with us at the Cat & Fiddle for some considerable time now and it’s clear he’s a real talent. I dare say it will be next season before Exeter City fans get to see the best of him but, take it from me, he won’t disappoint!
I don’t think too many people will disagree when I say that Clinton Morrison has been excellent in the last couple of games and was a thoroughly deserving recipient of Tuesday night’s man-of-the-match award.
It’s clear for all to see that Clinton is loving it at St James’s Park and, having all but hung up his boots earlier in the season, is getting better with every game. Indeed, he might have notched his first Exeter City goal had Wheels (David Wheeler) not got in the way of a goalbound effort against the Wombles. No matter, I’m sure we won’t have to wait too much longer for Clinton to register his first Grecian goal.
At the same time, as Tis is always at pains to impress on us, it doesn’t much matter who it is who puts the ball in the back of the net as along as everyone is making a positive contribution and Clinton is certainly doing that.
Moreover, as I’m sure is evident to everyone who’s watched us over the past two or three months, he’s a real character – and that’s invaluable when things aren’t quite going to plan and spirits are in danger of flagging, as was the case a few weeks ago.
Our failure to beat Stevenage leaves us six points off a play-off place with nine games to go and makes it imperative we get something from Saturday’s trip to Cheltenham.
Having made the play-offs last year, the Robins have endured a miserable season this time around but, with their place in League Two still very much in the balance, they aren’t going to roll over and make it easy for us.
That said, our away form has been pretty good and we’ve only lost once on our travels this year so we have to go to Whaddon Road believing we can get the win we so desperately need.
While it’s not quite a local derby it is not a million miles and I’ve no doubt there will be a big turn-out of away fans willing us on to victory. If you’re contemplating making the trip then please do; your support could make all the difference in helping us to secure a top-seven finish!


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City opinion: Exeter City building a strong squad for next season
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 20, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Clinton Morrison has hit form recently, but is he doing enough to convince manager Paul Tisdale that he is worth a contract in the summer? - Picture: Pinnacle
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Signing Lee Holmes on loan until the rest of the season is an interesting deal for Exeter City to have done.
The Grecians are six points off the play-off places and, despite a run of four games without loss, their chances of making it into the top seven look remote.
However, signing Holmes clearly indicates that they are not willing to give up the fight just yet. He is an attacking player and, as an out-and-out winger, offers something different.
It is of course great for City to have another option or skill that they can utilise if their usual free-flowing passing game is not working.
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That was clearly the case on Tuesday night as Stevenage disrupted the flow of the game.
Holmes’ arrival sparked a slightly different ploy as City looked to get wide and send a few crosses into the box – one of which led to their best chance of the game as David Wheeler crashed a header against the crossbar.
However, while having one eye on this season, it is also clear that manager Paul Tisdale is building for next campaign.
Holmes is out-of-contract at his parent club Preston North End in the summer and it is highly probable that he won’t be getting offered a new deal at Deepdale. Therefore, by bringing him in on loan for the remainder of the season, Tisdale is putting City in pole position to sign the former Derby County player in the summer. He did similar with the likes of Alex Nicholls, Ryan Harley and David Noble this season.
It would not surprise me at all if Holmes were to be at City next season.
Who will he be joining? Well, Clinton Morrison is certainly a player doing his very best to earn a contract in the summer. He does turn 36 in May, so that could work against him but, on the basis of the last three games, I think he is worth a contract.
Jamie McAllister, Noble, Nicholls and Harley, having only signed new deals in January, you would figure are already sorted for next season.
However, the club never release details on the lengths of their players’ contracts so you can’t be sure.
You would hope that talented youngsters like Tom Nichols, Jordan Moore-Taylor and James Hamon are also tied down for next season and if they are not perhaps contract negotiations should start soon. It would be a very productive way of spending the money the club received from the Matt Grimes transfer.
Arron Davies and Matt Oakley, who stayed loyal to the club last close season, will likely do so again if they are out of contract. However, the future perhaps looks less certain for Liam Sercombe, with transfer rumours circulating around him in January, and no real indication of whether he is on a deal for next season or if his time is up in the summer.
If it is, the likes of Portsmouth and Oxford United might be able to offer him more cash than he is currently on at City and tempt him away.
Then you get onto players like Christy Pym, Scot Bennett, Jimmy Keohane and Graham Cummins, who have found first team opportunities hard to come by in recent months.
They are perhaps players who might be looking to impress a little bit more in the final nine games to earn a deal.
I don’t mention Wheeler in that category as, while he has found starts difficult to come by, his appearance record for City this season is pretty good.
He has played 38 times for the Grecians this season – only Oakley (39) can better that.
Therefore he is clearly part of Tisdale’s plans. If you add some of the up-and-coming youngsters into that mix – of which Connor Riley-Lowe is one – then City have the nucleus of a very good squad going forward.
It is clear that it might be a summer of change at St James’s Park, but I think the future is looking bright.


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Former Exeter City midfielder Matt Grimes called up to England under-20s squad
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 20, 2015

Former Exeter City midfielder Matt Grimes. Picture: Pinnacle
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Former Exeter City midfielder Matt Grimes has been called up to the England udner-20s squad.
Grimes, 19, has been added to Aidy Boothroyd’s squad for the matches against Mexico on Wednesday and the USA next Saturday.
Grimes is yet to make a senior appearance for Garry Monk's men, since moving to the Liberty from League Two Exeter for £1.75 million in January, but has impressed for Swansea's development side.


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Tom Nichols celebrates his opening goal with David Wheeler at Cheltenham Town - Picture: Phil Mingo/Pinnacle
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Cheltenham Town 1 Exeter City 2: Match report
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 21, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Exeter City moved to within four points off the play-off places as they beat Cheltenham Town 2-1 at Whaddon Road.
It was a game of very little goalmouth action for 85 minutes, with Tom Nichols 25th-minute goal looking as though it was going to settle the match for the majority of the game.
However, after Cummins had put City 2-0 up, an own goal gave the home side hope and the Grecians were left hanging on for the victory.
There were four changes to the Exeter line-up as injuries hit the squad. Both Clinton Morrison and Alex Nicholls were deemed not fit enough to start and made way for Cummins and David Wheeler, while James Hamon suffered a nose bleed in the warm up and was replaced by Christy Pym in goal.
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There was some good news though as Jamie McAllister, who missed the last two games, recovered from his hamstring injury to take his place in the side. Connor Riley-Lowe dropped out as a result.
Cheltenham had former City defender Matt Taylor in their starting line-up, but Eliot Richards, who spent the second half of last season on loan at St James’s Park, was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The home side had the better of the chances early on as on-loan Bristol City striker Wes Burns caused problems down the right. In the second minute he managed to latch onto a through-ball from Danny Haynes, but pulled a shot wide of goal.
Burns then got past Jordan Moore-Taylor too easily in the 16th minute before delivering a low cross that Shaun Harrad glanced wide.
Pym was not called into any serious action though and City had weathered the early storm before they took the lead on 25 minutes.
Wheeler did well to win a free-kick deep inside his own half, with City under pressure. He then raced up pitch to be in the right spot to flick Pym’s long ball forward into the path of Nichols, who lifted a shot over the advancing Trevor Carson and into the net for his 14th goal of the season.
City had the better of the half after that, with Cheltenham picking up three bookings and creating little. Wes Burns, Craig Braham-Barrett and Matt Sparrow all went into the referee’s notebook and Sparrow was perhaps fortunate to stay on the pitch as he lunged into a tackle on Moore-Taylor.
Tisdale made one change at half-time bringing on Tom McCready for Liam Sercombe. His first real involvement in the game was a shot from the edge of the box, following good work from Davies and Harley, but it was comfortably saved by Carson.
In truth though it was a slow start to the second half as a Cheltenham, lacking in confidence, struggled to create any openings.
Robins boss Russ Milton tried to change things by bringing on Joe Hanks and Omari Sterling-James, while Tisdale introduced Lee Holmes to the match.
Nichols then had a great chance to put the game to bed with 15 minutes to go as City worked a good crossing position on the right. Davies swung the ball over and Cummins missed the header in the centre and Nichols blasted over at the back post.
A minute later and Cheltenham could have been level as Burns found Sterling-James in a yard of space in the box, but his shot took a deflection of a City defender as it ended up a foot wide of the post.
Then, with six minutes to go, City grabbed their second as Davies attacked the box from a corner and fired a shot at goal that Carson spilled into the path of Cummins, who was left with a tap in.
That looked to be game over but, following a corner for the home side, Davies turned the ball into his own net to give Cheltenham a lifeline.
The Robins then had three great chances to grab a point as Burns fired a volley over the top, from the edge of the six yard box, Harrad shot wide from inside the area, with plenty of the goal to aim at, and Hanks forced Pym into a low diving save from the edge of the box.
However, they couldn’t find an equaliser and City hung on to grab all three points.
Cheltenham Town (4-5-1): Town: Carson; Berry (Vaughan, 80), Packwood, M Taylor, Braham-Barrett; Burns, Mills, Sparrow (Hanks, 68), M Richards, Haynes (Sterling-James); Harrad. Subs not used: Gould, Vaughan, Deaman, Kotwica, Wynter.
Booked: Sparrow (27), Braham-Barrett (31), Burns (34), Taylor (66)
Exeter City (4-3-3): Hamon; Davies, Ribeiro, Moore-Taylor, McAllister; Sercombe (McCready, 45), Oakley, Harley; Wheeler (Holmes, 66), Nichols, Cummins (Morrison, 88). Subs not used: Pym, Keohane, Bennett, Reid.
Referee: Darren Drysdale.


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A frustrating game as Exeter City's Tom Nichols sees red in draw with Morecambe
By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: March 30, 2015
By Simon Larkins

Tom Nichols gives a rueful look back towards referee Michael Bull having been shown a straight red card during second-half injury time at St James’s Park against Morecambe - Picture: Pinnacle
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As Tom Nichols walked off the pitch on Saturday, having been sent-off for a kick at Morecambe’s Ryan Edwards, it summed up what had been a frustrating afternoon for Exeter City.
The Grecians were seconds away from picking up a point when Nichols saw red. And it is a draw, which thanks to Alex Nicholls second-half equaliser, keeps City’s chances of making the play-offs alive.
However, despite manager Paul Tisdale claiming that it was a valuable result, it felt like the Grecians should have, and probably needed to, pick up the victory.
They are only five points off the top seven, but with a tough run of fixtures to come in April, when they play five teams in the top eight, they could have done with being within touching distance of the promotion places rather than two wins away.
City deserved the victory against Morecambe. They started the game brightly and were unfortunate not to be in front when Aaron McGowan found the back of the net for the Shrimps in the 17th minute.
They didn’t respond to that goal particularly well, but having kept the scoreline to 1-0 at the break, City improved in the second half and created enough chances to turn the match around.
David Wheeler had headed a Lee Holmes cross just wide before he had another effort, which hit the back of the net, chalked off for offside. Ryan Harley and Graham Cummins also sent shots over the crossbar in the closing stages as the Grecians racked up 13 efforts at Morecambe’s goal.
There were not enough of those on target though, with a weak Clinton Morrison shot and a curling effort from Tom McCready testing Morecambe keeper Andreas Arestidou in the first half and Nicholls was the only player to find the target after the break.
In truth it was, as Nicholls said after the game, a bit of a ‘mixed bag’ of a performance from City.
That was certainly the case in the first half as the Grecians were good up until the opening goal but poor after.
Tisdale had little complaint with how City conceded, admitting that it was a well-worked move from the visitors.
Captain Mark Hughes was the creator as he nutmegged McCready before playing a neat one-two with Jamie Devitt. However, at that stage, too many of the City defenders got drawn to the ball and Hughes combined with Andrew Fleming and Aaron Wildig to set up McGowan who, in yards of room on the right side of the box, was left with a simple first-time finish.
After that, City struggled to create openings as Morecambe sat men behind the ball and tried to break up the play. The visitors also resorted to a few rough challenges, with Morrison and Lee Holmes both going down just outside the box and Nichols taking a tumble in the area.
However, on all three occasions the referee, Michael Bull, waived away City’s appeals.
Chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing,’ echoed from the Old Grandstand towards the Essex official. If it was an attempt to get the referee to show more leniency towards the home side, it didn’t work.
When Cummins was hauled to the ground in the second-half, as he battled for possession with Hughes, the free-kick went Morecambe’s way and protests from the home supporters roared out again.
The St James’s Park faithful were already getting angered that none of Morecambe’s time-wasting was being punished by yellow cards, so they were left incensed when the match official denied their side a free-kick on the edge of the opposition’s penalty area.
What affect that had on the City players probably came down to the individual.
Nicholls did what the more experienced player should and, instead of getting wound up, let his football do the talking by springing the Morecambe offside trap and firing home with 11 minutes to go.
However, in fairness, he hadn’t been subjected to the same rough tactics that Nichols had, with him only appearing as a second-half substitute.
Nichols is also a more feisty character and, despite being only 5ft 10, has squared up to defenders much taller than him in the past.
So when Edwards tried to obstruct him, off the ball, the Exeter striker kicked out at the Liverpudlian and was sent from the field. It had little affect on the match, with only minutes to play, but City’s top scorer will now be banned for the upcoming matches against Luton Town, Newport County and Shrewsbury.
If the Grecians struggle for goals during that time it could turn out to be a very frustrating stoppage time incident for Nichols, manager Paul Tisdale and the Exeter City fans.


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