Stevenage 5/04/08

W 1-0

Attendance: 2146

Report by Kirstie Bowden.

In a tactical change the Bowden's were back on the bus for our trip to Stevenage. City went in search of a result given their decidedly lacklustre performance against Droylsden some 48 hours previous. I went in search of Lewis Hamilton, with Stevenage the home town of the future Formula 1 legend. Arriving some two and a half hours before kick-off there would have been great potential to do this had he not been in Bahrain for the Grand Prix.

Inside the ground Grecian the Lion was, as ever, centre of attention. Putting him on the wall a steward told me "you can't put him there" and I expected him to follow this with "you'll cover up the advertising". I was somewhat surprised then to hear his real reason, because "he might fall off!" Needless to say, he has now taken the title of my favourite steward, previously held by an informative steward of Forest Green. In the end Grecian ended up with his own seat, which luckily he didn't have to pay for. Stevenage was a bit pricey - £12 for a concession! The refreshment hut was impressively stocked with a decidedly shorter queue than that at Weymouth. I had a 'slight' problem putting the salt on my chips, lightly salted they definitely were not. Spotting my problem, Julian commented "want some salt with that?" as I tried to minimise the damage!

Nine minutes in and City took the lead. Distracted by an off-field commotion I very nearly missed the goal but managed to look just in time to see Bash score what proved to be the winning goal of the game. Peter Taylor was not happy, throwing the proverbial toys out of the pram on the touchline. It can't have helped to hear cries of 'sit down shut up' from the travelling supporters. My Mum was in fine form at Broadhall Way heckling Morison's early miss, shouting "go and do your shopping". This was a chant no doubt up there with the predictable abuse Histon's 'Cambridge' and Woking's 'Lorraine' receive! Some time later Bash seemingly got bashed and left the field injured. Having been a key player up until this point, this proved worrying and the apocalyptic hail-storm that marked his departure only served to further concern. Half-time was marked by a cessation in the hail and games of spot the Grecian in the burger queue. The final tally consisted of Lee Elam, Wayne Carlisle, Rico and a person that clearly could not have been anyone other than Richard Logan's brother.

For the second half the away support was treated to Alan Julian, a nutter if ever I saw one! He proved more entertaining than the game especially during and after the penalty debacle. He wasn't happy with the penalty to start with, let alone the retake. Even after he'd saved it he spent his time berating the linesman! Arriving back in goal for a drink, my brother told him to zip it. He responded by apologising, saying he was too into the game! His commitment was nearly rewarded in the last minute as Stevenage had a goal cleared off the line. I swore it had gone in, only realising it hadn't when the Stevenage fans suddenly shut up and the supporters around me started cheering. The final whistle marked scenes of jubilation amongst the Exeter contingent of the 2146 crowd, scenes somewhat enhanced by the earlier news that play-off rivals Burton, and of course our good 'friends' Torquay had lost!