TWO GOALS BY HOUGHTON GAVE CITY BOTH POINTS.

ARGYLE DESERVED BETTER FATE:
BOXING DAY

WEDNESDAY 26th December 

Two second half goals by Houghton gave Exeter City a win they hardly deserved against Plymouth Argyle at St James's Park. The 10,301 crowd will agree that Plymouth's performance at the least merited a point. They were far too good for Exeter in the first half and when Langman headed a neat goal in the 43rd minute the Argyle looked likely to be on the way to repeating their F. A. Cup success earlier this season. But the City had plenty of fight in a rousing second half and two good goals by Houghton gave them the points.

EXETER CITY 2 
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 1.
Half-time City 0 Argyle 1.

Referee Mr C.G.Porter of Taunton. Linesmen Messrs W.Webster and G.E.Hoskin.
Exeter City:- Hunter; Doyle, Ferrier; Lackenby, Harvey, Porteous; Thomas, Houghton, John, Currie, Buckle. Plymouth: Brown; Robertson, Jones; Williams, P.Langman, Tilley;Dougall, Davis, N.Langman, Kearns, Anderson.

The Argyle forwards swarmed around the City penalty area towards the end and only a magnificent save by Hunter stopped a high powered shot by Williams. Hunter was Exeter's hero in those closing minutes. He had to pull out all the stops to save Williams's effort and minutes earlier had made an equally brilliant save from N.Langman.

HEAVY BALL AND THICK MUD DID NOT HELP.
In the thick mud the Argyle always tried to lay on the intelligent pass and Williams had a good shot saved by the alert Hunter early in the match. Williams let fly several times but things did not go quite right for him. He was Plymouth's chief marksman before the interval and in the first half the Argyle were much the better side and much the superior craftsmen. Conditions were bad, and the thick mud and heavy ball did not favour either team. Exeter were not impressive up to half-time, though Currie missed an easy chance early in the game. The Argyle's pressure mounted and the City defence became noticeably rattled, being often reduced to desperate kicking anywhere for safety. Hunter, the busier of the two goalkeepers, did well when he smothered a ground shot from Langman.

THE GOALS.
The Argyle kept on top and their goal was scored two minutes before the interval. Houghton obtained the equaliser with a fine diving header after 55 minutes. Then, ten minutes from time Houghton put the ball into the Argyle net for the match winner. Buckle and Thomas had a part in the move and Houghton hit the ball hard and straight first-time. Christmas bonus marks are deserved by both sets of players for a rousing second half, and especially on the Exeter side to Lackenby, a strong tireless worker, Doyle, Houghton, and John, and to Williams, Tilley, and Kearns in the Argyle side.

• Exeter City Reserves had a blank Christmas. Their Christmas Day game with Worcester at St James's Park was cancelled because the referee, Mr G.Sawyer, decided it was too waterlogged. And with snow seven inches deep on the Worcester ground, on Boxing Day, the City Reserves' Southern League match there was called off several hours before the kick-off time. The Exeter team learned of this at Gloucester railway station where "The Cornishman" was already waiting to take the players home. The Gloucester stationmaster had obligingly held up the express for a few minutes to save the football team a long wait.