Exeter City Ladies played their first home game for two months when they hosted St Nicholas at Speeds Meadow the home of Cullompton Rangers.

 

City got off to a bad start as St Nicholas took advantage of disastrous lapses in concentration and went 2-0 up after four minutes of play.

 

This shocked Exeter into action and they swiftly got into their rhythm with the forward trio of Amber-Guy Kemp, Sarah Hill and Kate Finch looking sharp. 

However, City were unable to score and on the half hour mark they conceded a third when a free-kick on the edge of box looped into Durva Vahia’s net.

 

At the other end, Sarah Hill hit the post before Kemp got her first goal for the club just before half-time with an instinctive finish.

 

Exeter rang the changes at half-time with Jazz Hervin and Dani Skinner being replaced by Phoebe Licence and Millie Pearce.

 

It didn’t take long for the changes to take effect and soon after a goal came Millie Pearce’s cross-shot managed to find the back of the net.

 

Some neat play in the midfield area saw Molly Booth, Kate Finch and Manfy Sharpe play some fantastic balls over the top for the City strikers to chase but sadly none of these efforts were rewarded.

 

Exeter then conceded a foul on the edge of the 18-yard box which was ferociously whipped in to the area and somehow found its way into the net.

 

In the closing stages both teams battled the conditions as Exeter pushed forward desperately searching for a way back into the game, and were caught on the break as St Nicholas scored their fifth of the match.

 

Afterwards manager Adam Grove, said: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb by conceding two goals early on before we really got going.

 

“Sadly we lacked a cutting edge and our final ball at times was poor.”

 

 “However we strive to work harder as each week passes and we will continue to fight to pick up as many points as possible between now and the end of the season.”

 

Exeter City Ladies are most grateful to the officials of Cullompton Rangers for allowing them to play at their ground and make use of their facilities.