LAST MATCH OF THE SEASON:
EXETER SAFE.

FRIDAY EVENING,
MAY 6TH 1955. WATFORD 1 CITY 1

In extracting a point from their visit to Watford on Friday evening Exeter City owe much to the work of their goalkeeper, Alec Bell. He coolly collected one well-placed shot from Bateman while an eager posse of Watford forwards jostled him, ready to pounce in case he stumbled.  A tenser moment followed when the ball bounced past Bell and into the goalmouth, but he whipped round and grabbed it clear with Watford's raiding pair, Cook and Hernon, unmarked at his elbow. Exeter were almost completely unconstructive in the first half, and Watford deserved their early lead, won for them by Meadows. On one occasion Walton outpaced Bewley and kept possession, only to shoot wastefully and ineptly across the face of the goal. On a later occasion a better effort from Walton caused Bennett to head clear from almost beneath the crossbar. Exeter's defenders too readily ballooned the ball out of play when under pressure during the early stages, and several times the referee had to warn Mackay about being too robust.
Second half play became faster and rougher, but a cold, blustery wind, greasy turf, and poor light, contributed to turning the game scrappy. The City's equalising goal was shot home by Thomas from a move began by Mackay, and both players were overwhelmed by their colleagues at this success. The last quarter of an hour took on an all-out "no quarter" quality with Watford's attack looking the more dangerous, but again Bell rose to the occasion, particularly with a close-range save from Catleugh. Exeter's most effective defenders in addition to Bell, were skipper Doyle, and better still Mitchell.

WATFORD:- Bennett; Bateman, Bewley; Meadows, Shipwright, F.Mitchell; Catleugh, Bowie, Cook, Hernon, and Walker.

EXETER CITY:- Bell; B.Doyle, Douglass; Davey, Harvey, A.Mitchell; Thomas, Mackay, Walton, Murphy, and McClelland.