Second Round of the Charity Cup Swindon's "Reserves" Play a Good Game:

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 12TH:
CITY V SWINDON
Exeter City 2, Swindon Town 0.

Exeter City and Swindon met in the second round of the Charity Cup at St. James's Park this afternoon, before a crowd of 2,500. The Grecians were at full strength, but Swindon had only Skiller and Giles, of the side which won at Norwich last Saturday. The rest were reserves, including three locals, namely, Woolford, Hicks, and Davies. Teams :
CITY: Pym Fort Hurst Rigby Lagan Lockett Whittaker Cooper Rutter Crompton Ives

SWINDON TOWN: Skiller Woolford Giles Lockhead Kennedy Hicks Davies Batty Ward Burkinshaw Bolland

Crompton beat Skiller with the toss, but Swindon were soon on the move, and were dangerous from a free-kick given for a foul on Batty. Exeter then asserted themselves, and subsequent moves in midfield by Lagan and Whittaker put Crompton in possession, but after going through to within fifteen yards of Skiller he drove the ball wide of the posts. Whittaker forced his way nearly to the goal-line and banged across a centre, Ives raced in to meet it, but put his shot into the side of the net. Hurst failed to tackle Burkinshaw properly, and the Swindon man went ahead only to put the ball over the bar, Kennedy doing the same from about thirty-five yards, and Burkinshaw putting his next one wide of the posts. So many shots had been either too high, or wide, that the goalkeepers had had very little to do. However, all the "reserves" of Swindon were doing very well indeed, and were going "all out". Ives was injured in a collision with Giles, and had to retire. He returned after a short absence, and Pym was at last seen in action, saving a powerful header from Batty.

A Goal After Twenty Minutes.

The first goal came twenty minutes from the start. Whittaker trapped a pass from Cooper almost on the goal-line, and putting across one of his best centres had the satisfaction of seeing Crompton head the ball past Skiller from ten yards' range. The City had hardly deserved this goal on the run of the play, but their forwards had showed a bit more "class" than those of the visitors, whose efforts were more enthusiastic than skilful. Ives, however, was now almost a passenger, having hurt his thigh, and on the advice of Mr Chadwick he retired, but only to come back once more in ten minutes time and just fail to head a goal from another of Whittaker's excellent centres. Giles gave away a corner, and Skiller beat down a hard sharp volley from Cooper. Half-time:
CITY 1-0 SWINDON
Second Half.

The City forced a corner straight from the restart, but the ball was cleared by Lockhead. Crompton (over the bar) and Rutter (wide) failed from two more of Whittaker's centres, and Skiller saved a point-blank drive from Rutter. At the other end of the field Batty was given a clear chance from Bolland's centre, but Pym made the save look easier than it probably was. For a time Swindon were very energetic, and they appeared to have a chance from a free-kick, given against Hurst for fouling Batty, but it went astray when Bolland allowed himself to be robbed in simple fashion by Lockett.
Lockett passed forward to Ives, who beat two men in a fine dribble and centred, Rutter putting narrowly wide with a fast Swerving shot from a sharp angle. Batty, the most prominent of the Swindon forwards, made a spirited effort to go through, but was charged off the ball, and just afterwards Giles miskicked and left Rutter with a clear field, but Woolford got in the way of his final shot.

Rutter's Great Goal.
In the next move the City centre-forward slipped when going through to put "paid" to Rigby's forward pass, and then, to complete his trio of efforts he brought out the best in Skiller with a storming drive from about fifteen yards. Not to be out done, however, he beat Lockhead near midfield and again set off on his own. Twice he was challenged, but got the better of his opponent each time. With Woolford at his heels, and Skiller making a despairing dive, he flashed the ball to the back of the rigging amid an uproar of cheering. It was a perfect goal, and good enough to settle the issue. With twelve minutes to go, the mist thickened and began to obscure play. Crompton brought Skiller to his knees with a hard ground shot, and after Rutter and Crompton had bewildered the Swindon backs with a series of quick short passes, Cooper sent in a "pile-driver" which just cleared the crossbar. Swindon made a big effort to score but without success. Ward forced a corner, which was kicked clear, and in the last few seconds Batty shot tamely wide. The gate realised 62. 10s. 9d. of which Exeter City take one third. The City are now in the semi-final of the Charity Cup, the other teams being Watford, Queen's Park Rangers or Crystal Palace, and Portsmouth or Brentford.

Notes on the Game.
Many familiar faces were missing from the Swindon Town team, but their deputies did not let the side down. The City did the lion's share of the attacking in the first half, but without too much effect. In the Swindon team Bolland, who received some very nice passes from Lockhead and Hicks, took some watching, whilst Hicks and Giles were prominent in a very sound defence. Rutter, after making three determined efforts to find the net in the second half, at last got his reward with one of the finest goals he has ever scored. From the halfway line he came, with the obvious intention of getting a goal, beating first Lockhead and then holding off two other defenders, before lashing in a shot of such power that the ball went into the net like a bullet. It was entirely a "solo" effort, and the final shot was delivered with perfect timing, accuracy, and pace. Despite intensive pressure by the Grecians in the closing stages, the Swindon custodian was unbeatable, and among several other clearances and "pick-ups" he effected three wonderful saves from Rutter, Crompton, and Rutter again.