EXETER CITY 0, BRISTOL ROVERS 1

Attendance: 5,741.

EXETER CITY'S Easter egg turned out to be addled as it contained two defeats in successive days, no goals and a worrying slide back into the relegation zone just when it looked as if they were starting to climb away from it. They are still six points clear but the sides below them have games in hand and it is going to be a cliff-hanger from now on with every point precious in City's remaining six games. Manager Brian Godfrey agreed afterwards: "We have not done much to help ourselves today. It is all in our hands now. We cannot count on other teams. If we want to stay up we have to win games. And the infuriating thing for Godfrey and the City fans was that despite a poor first-half performance, they contained promotion-chasing Bristol to a slender one-goal lead and could well have got back into the game in the second half. To add to their troubles Exeter squandered a penalty at a time when Bristol looked to have lost their composure. The difference between City's first and second-half performances was total. In the opening period they could make little headway against a Rovers' side that looked head and shoulders the better formation. Brisk and business-like Bristol were always probing in a series of fast and intelligent raids with midfielders Alan Ball and Paul Randall seeking and making openings. Yet for all their superiority Rovers could not improve on the one goal they grabbed in the second minute of the game. Certainly they had some bad luck a rasping shot from Randall thudded against the Exeter bar and later in the game Martyn Rogers had to clear a shot from off the line. But Exeter's defence got through a lot of work with central defenders Nick Marker and Stan McEwan proving particularly sound. City's first-half trouble was that the midfield were not in control and the front-runners could make nothing of the little service they got.

Godfrey's assessment of Exeter's first-half performance was simply: "We were abysmal." But all that changed after the break as Exeter found new determination and for long periods pinned Rovers down. It looked as if they had won the reward for their efforts when in the 66th minute Tim Parkin was judged to have handled in the area and referee Alan Gunn pointed to the spot. But McEwan did not strike the shot with his customary force and Phil Kite guessed right as he dived to his left and saved. Even that setback did not deter Exeter as they continued to press forward and when substitute Tony Kellow came on the attack looked even sharper. A spectacular overhead shot from Ray Pratt was only inches wide of the target and then came a moment when City could and should have salvaged a point. A superb cross from Steve Neville on the right caused panic stations in the Rovers' defence. Both Pratt and Kellow lunged in with shots that were somehow blocked in a desperate goalmouth, scramble. The ball ran loose to David Harle but he snatched at his shot and miscued the ball high and wide with the goal at his mercy. Rovers' goal came when Graham Withey pulled Exeter's defence apart with a beautifully chipped cross into empty space and the unmarked Randall drove the ball firmly wide of Len Bond.

Star players
EXETER: Nick Marker.
BRISTOL R.: Paul Randall.

PF