Match 29
16th January 1937
Oldham Athletic (h)

Exeter and District League
Kingsteignton (a)

The F. A. Cup Third Round. Exeter City v Oldham

It was a great day for Exeter City, who at St James's Park this afternoon passed into the fourth round of the Cup by means of a victory over Oldham Athletic by three goals to nil. It was a victory complete in all its phases, for although Oldham played good football in the first half they were overwhelmed for long periods later in the match. While Exeter were at full strength Oldham were not so fortunate. They had to make two changes as Gray and Robbins were down with the 'flu. 

Heavy overnight rain had left the ground in a soft condition but otherwise everything was perfect. There were early indications of a large crowd. At one o'clock the gates were opened, and people soon came streaming in. By the time of the kick off (2.30) the crowd numbered 14,000. Oldham won the toss and set the City to kick off towards the Exeter end.

EXETER CITY
Chesters
Brown Stimpson
Clarke Angus Young
F.Smith Bussey Williams Pope Owen
Referee:- Mr G. W. Jones.
Downes Leedham Davis McCormick Jones
Milligan Ratcliffe Williamson
Price Hilton
Caunce
OLDHAM ATHLETIC

Smart work on Exeter's right wing soon aroused the enthusiasm of the crowd, and Price had to pass back to his goalkeeper in order to frustrate a neat inter-passing raid in which Williams, Bussey, and Smith had participated. Recovering from their opening uncertainty Oldham, a big and smart looking set of players, were menacing in a series of attacks, and Chesters had to gather a swinging centre from McCormick. Maintaining the pressure, the visitors sorely tried the Grecians' defence, and several mistimed kicks by Brown and Stimpson did not help the City's plight. Davis, a sharpshooting centre forward, got through and drove the ball a yard wide, and a free kick five yards outside the penalty area led to further anxiety. But Exeter survived the siege and broke away to take the lead six minutes after the start. Receiving from a throw-in Williams beat Hilton in a brilliant run, and although he was forced out to the left he hit the ball with all his might, and Caunce was beaten all ends up with an oblique shot which flashed into the opposite corner of the net. It was a great goal and all the credit for it belonged to Williams, the scorer.
OWEN'S SPARKLING SOLO RUN.

A quarter of an hour had gone by when another mighty roar broke out. Exeter scored again! Credit for this goal must nearly all go to Owen, who beat man after man in a sparkling solo run. Clever footwork, ball control, and sheer persistence carried the little winger past the human barrier, and after he had dribbled to within tempting distance of the Oldham goal he centred with grand judgment for Williams to send the ball flashing high into the net with a glorious header. Oldham had a lot of the play territorially in this half, but were weak in front of goal. Their best effort was a downwards header by Leedham, which Chesters saved, and Milligan on the stroke of half time struck the crossbar with Chesters out of position. The City had done remarkably well to establish a two goals lead in the first half, seeing that they were facing the wind and sun, but they had done what Oldham failed to do, and taken their chances.

The visitors were in fact sadly lacking in thrust, and Milligan's miss just before half-time was a bad blunder indeed. Little had been seen of Davis, the Irish International. He was well held by Jack Angus, a player who once more revelled in the Cup-tie atmosphere. The first threat after the restart came from Oldham, and Chesters saved well from Downes.

CAUTIONS ADMINISTERED.
The City were prominent after this, and Milligan was pulled up for a bad foul on Smith. Caunce caught the ball from the ensuing free kick, which Smith took himself. Caunce saved another "piledriver" from Smith, and then Ratcliffe was booed all round the ground for an unnecessary foul on Owen. A rasping twenty yards drive by "Nobby" Clarke was enthusiastically cheered by the crowd. The ball travelled less than a foot over the bar, gathering speed all the way. The "Latics" were lucky when the referee chose to ignore a deliberate handling offence by Ratcliffe inside the penalty area, and tempers were inclined to be getting frayed by now. The Oldham defenders were fast getting panicky. The contest was ebbing and flowing in the usual cup-tie style and a spell of Oldham aggression was followed by renewed City attacks, during which Williams, right-footed, fired just wide of the goal. An incident at the opposite end of the ground where Chesters, with the ball in his grasp, Davis, and two Exeter defenders, were seen to be at loggerheads, culminated in a free kick to the City and a caution by the referee to players of both sides. Pope shot less than a foot wide, and Caunce made two good saves in less than a minute from Bussey and Williams. With time running out the City were in a rampant mood, and their pressure was fittingly rewarded when Owen got away and lobbed the ball across into the penalty area. Williams could not reach it and neither could Caunce, but Smith, following up, easily ran it into an empty net to complete Exeter's jubilation.

FIRST TIME FOR SIX YEARS.
Exeter City thus advance beyond Round III again after six years, and they carry Devon's banner in collaboration with the Argyle, who beat Crewe Alexandra by 2 goals to nil.

The official attendance was 12,412, gate receipts £718. 18s. 6d.


EXETER AND DISTRICT LEAGUE.
Kingsteignton v Exeter City Reserves 

Playing at Kingsteignton before the best gate for many weeks the City Reserves were yards faster than the home side, and in eight minutes were two goals up, Urmson and C. Smith scoring. From a rare breakaway Howard scored for Kingsteignton, but Exeter went further ahead through two goals by Urmson. In another sudden raid the amateurs advanced down the field and Davis scored. From the commencement of the second half Exeter established their superiority, and it became only a question of how many goals they would score. Their speed was too much for the home team, and Smith, two goals, and Chudleigh, one, Ebdon one, Chudleigh one and Urmson one, took the score up to double figures. Johnson from Endacott's centre headed a goal for Kingsteignton. In a collision between Nixon and Urmson both players were injured but although Urmson resumed after attention Nixon did not return. Lear played a fine game in goal for the home team and could not in any way be blamed for all the shots that beat him. Result:-
Kingsteignton 3
Exeter City Reserves 10.

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