PARK REPORT:
THE VIEWS OF ANTONY MOXEY

Tuesday 6th March 2007

NATIONWIDE CONFERENCE EXETER

CITY 2 GRAYS ATHLETIC 1

So a moment of magic from Billy Jones sealed the points for the Grecians on a dull and drizzly night at the Park to lift the spirits of 2894 real fans who prefer to watch their football 'in the flesh' rather than the turgid Champions' League fare served up on the telly instead.

The game started off as miserable as the weather with neither side able to cope with a combination of a completely saturated pitch and constant drizzle. Indeed it wasn't until half way through the half that either side produced anything worthy of comment when a Carlisle free kick on the edge of the box found its way to Elam out wide on the left, who then lifted it back in towards the far post where Carlisle was just unable to reach it.

Fifteen minutes later Mackie was invited to scamper after a ball down the right where he laid it inside to Challinor who in turn fed Carlisle whose powerful drive was blocked for a corner. Jones hit the corner long to Carlisle lurking deep at the back who scooped it back in to the area where Mackie looped a header from the edge of the box towards the top corner - not dissimilar in fact to the fine Dazza header that gave City the lead in that famous FA Cup third round match against Norwich back in the Championship season - that the keeper did well to paw away.

But with City finally beginning to dominate it was inevitable that they would score. With five minutes to go to half time Jamie Mackie was freed through the middle to produce a series of step-overs too outrageous even for Cristiano Ronaldo to contemplate before guiding the ball through a crowd of bedazzled defenders to the unmarked Buckle ten yards out. With time to spare Buckle coolly side-footed past the keeper into the bottom corner to give City a 1-0 half time lead. In the second half Grays were straight back in it. A ball played in from the right was fed through to Glenn Poole on the edge of the box who rather nonchalantly flicked the ball into the roof of the net with some aplomb to make it 1-1 with merely two minutes expired.

With Mackie still feeling the effects of his previous week's illness, manager Tisdale had little choice but to replace his flagging striker with a fresh set of legs and thus with ten minutes expired it was Stansfield's chance to join in the action.

Five minutes later he almost embarrassed former City keeper Ashley Bayes as chasing a loose ball he forced Bayes into slicing a hurried clearance five yards sideways. Stansfield collected the ball and swivelled to shoot with Bayes still sat on the grass, but he had the wherewithal to quickly get to his feet and push Stansfield's effort over the bar with some sense of relief. On the half hour, with energy levels flagging, Tisdale needed a final push for the points so at the expense of Buckle and Carlisle

Logan and Cozic were introduced in their stead. It picked City up for the remaining quarter of an hour with the ball finding itself deep in the Grays half more and more often. With five to go Stansfield and Elam broke from a rare Grays attack, and when Stansfield poked the ball through to Elam for a one on one it looked for all the world as though the winner would come, but the keeper stood big and saved well. With the board having showed four minutes stoppage time four minutes ago, it was time for one last push when Logan invited Stansfield to try his luck but once again the keeper saved well with defenders' close attentions forcing Stansfield to rush his shot. But it wasn't quite over as the clearance only fell as far as Billy Jones, steaming in from deep to smash an unstoppable pile driver into the top corner of the net from the corner of the box to make it 2-1 and send the crowd wild. There was barely enough time for Grays to take the restart before the ref blew and that was it. But in truth it was a torrid affair, brightened only by Jones' quite magnificent goal of the season contender deep into stoppage time. Neither side, by and large, could string two passes together and the game from almost the first whistle had degenerated into a frustrating stop-start affair as the referee continually blew for niggly nothing fouls from both sides. In goal, and mirroring the team's general performance, Paul Jones was shaky early on but recovered well by the end. Some of his kicking was wayward to say the least, but he made a couple of tricky collects from crosses under pressure well. The two full backs were largely untroubled by the seemingly constantly offside Grays attack, and whilst Tully almost opened his Grecians' goalscoring account with a vicious close range low drive late on, it was Billy Jones who will steal the headlines with his match winner. In between them Edwards and Todd were equally unflappable, although some of the distribution gave cause for concern for long periods of the game.

In the middle it was meat and drink for Buckle, and in conditions he thrives on. Not much got past him, and it was a sublime finish for his goal. Indeed, on another day he might have had a hat trick had his long range drive crept inside the post and his uncharacteristically loose control inside the box late on not let him down when well placed. Gill suffered more from the conditions, and although he battled gamely and chased well, his passing wasn't its normal self.

Out wide the two men had contrasting fortunes with Carlisle much more involved in both general play and in getting crosses in, and up front Challinor struggled a bit too, his control wavering in boggy conditions. Mackie fared little better with some poor pass selection, but he gives all he has and those step overs before laying off for Buckle to score certainly brightened up the dull evening.

The subs all played their parts too, Cozic replacing Buckle seamlessly and Logan adding an aerial threat that Mackie just isn't built for. Stansfield looked eager too, although he, like Elam, will be kicking himself for not converting a one on one that he would be expected to score. They say the sign of a good team is winning when not playing well, so in that case we must be dead certs for a play-off spot! To be fair the conditions did play a huge part in determining the style and effectiveness of both teams' play, and although it was frankly a Herculean task to prepare a playable surface by the overworked groundstaff, the torrential rain of late, and in particular overnight, meant it didn't take long for the ground to bear a not too dissimilar appearance to a World War One French battlefield. But their efforts do not go unnoticed and they, and us, were rewarded with three more points on the road to securing a play-off spot.

Match Details 

Exeter City 2 Grays Athletic 1.

Tuesday 6 March 2007.

Referee A Watts

Attendance 2894

Exeter: Paul Jones, Tully, Todd, Edwards, Billy Jones, Carlisle (Cozic 77), Buckle (Logan 77), Gill, Elam, Mackie (Stansfield 55), Challinor.

Subs Not Used: Rice, Richardson.

Goals: Buckle 39, Billy Jones 90.

Grays Athletic: Bayes, Tonkin, Stuart, Kemp (Smith 90), Mawer, Harding, Martin, Thurgood, Poole (Howell 81), Grant (Eribenne 62), Griffiths.
Subs Not Used: Joyce, Williamson.

Booked: Tonkin, Griffiths, Kemp.

Goals: Poole 48.