Steve the weave wrecks Wigan.

Exeter City 2
P. Rogers, Kellow (pen)
Wigan Athletic 1
Weston

Match Report by Trina Lake

STEVE Neville sparked Exeter City into life last night with a riveting per- formance that had the fans buzzing with excite- ment after the win over Wigan Athletic. Neville, making his first home appearance since rejoining the club on loan from Sheffield United, was in the thick of it throughout. His pace and ability to jink into dangerous positions always had struggling Wigan in trouble as he beat their weakened defence time and again. Neville was determined to make his homecoming a night to remember and all that was missing was a goal to put the icing on an other- wise rich cake. But he did provide plenty for the fans to savour including involvement in the 39th minute sending off incident. He was fouled by 16-year-old central defender Steve Walsh as City broke quickly and as he squared up to the teenager in disgust, Walsh appeared to flatten him. Young Walsh, playing only his third league game, picked the wrong referee to do that in front of in Dennis Hedges the man who hit the headlines by sending off Manchester United's Ashley Grimes on Saturday. Mr Hedges ordered him straight off and three minutes later City took the lead that their exciting first half performance richly deserved. Keith Viney, fast earning himself a hot shot reputation, fairly rocketed the ball in from 30 yards. His shot hit the foot of the post and City's leading league goalscorer this season, Peter Rogers, was on hand to tap the ball in. City's first half display was a revelation. They created more chances in those 45 minutes than in the whole of the match against Sheffield United. "All that was missing were the goals," said manager Brian Godfrey, who was a little disappointed that his side didn't take greater advantage of 10-man Wigan. The old tenseness crept into City's play in the second half and although Wigan never looked capable of upsetting them there was always a chance of the visi- tors sneaking a share of the points with just one goal between the sides. But that man Neville, who emerged from the dressing room with a cut over his eye to remind him of his clash with Walsh, helped make City's third home win of the season a certainty in the 78th minute. He ran on to a through ball from Dave Harle, who turned in a more effective display, and was felled by makeshift defender Les Bradd, filling in at the back for Walsh. It was an indisputable penalty and Tony Kellow made no mistake from the spot to bring his goal tally to four in the Third Division this season. Dave Pullar, who had a quiet game, should have made it 3-0 and a true reflection of City's dominance but he missed the simplest of close-range headers. Wigan, with former Scotland skipper Archie Gemmill a disappointing shadow of his old dynamic self in midfield, snatched a late face-saving goal through former Torquay United player Jimmy Weston. Stylish Stan McEwan made a rare hash of a back pass setting up Weston with a gift chance. But that slip was one of very few made by a more comfortable City defence in which apprentice Frank Howarth was again outstanding.