Gravesend and Northfleet 0
Exeter City 2.

Saturday 13 August 2005.

Nick Southwood reports on the City victory at Gravesend and Northfleet

Last Saturday i travelled the short journey from London to Gravesend and Northfleet for Exeter City's opening match of the season. Gravesend have been something of a bogie side for City since we dropped into the Nationwide Conference. On the two previous trips to the north Kent coast, City have picked up just one point and shipped five goals. Not to mention losing on penalties in the FA Cup 4th qualifying round a couple of seasons ago at Gravesend. All in all not a happy hunting ground for the Grecians.

The drive was a fairly quick 40 or so minutes and i was early enough to be able to park in the small car park at the ground. For the princely sum of £1. I was ushered into a caged enclosure which already had half a dozen cars belonging to the City faithful. During the recent CSKA Sofia versus Liverpool game the BBC Radio 5 Live commentary team were discussing the floodlights in Bulgaria. They were apparently older style lights sat atop huge towers, a kind only seen in Eastern Europe. Well, i can only assume that the 5 live bods have never been to Northfleet as the floodlights here were of the same description as the Bulgarians. In fact there is something of the old Soviet bloc about Northfleet as a whole. I'd heard that it was turned down as the set for Robocop for being too wastelandish. I had a good time in the Plough, a pub just across a roundabout from the ground. Plenty of City fans were in, so i caught up with lots of summer news. The atmosphere was pretty optimistic for the coming season, unusual in itself!

The ground has seen better days. The largish away terrace is completely open, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by the City fans in the rain. The far end has a terrace with the rear part covered. Sadly the home fans couldn't use the cover as it has been apparently condemned, leaving a hardened few stood along the front. To our left was an older style seated grandstand and to the right an older style covered terrace, home to the majority of the home support and a drum.....

The admission price was £12, and the programme was £2.50. Not a bad read but suffering from the usual Conference club problems of too much advertising and not enough articles. Writers are probably short on the ground. Already there was a formidable queue at the tea hut, so no change from last season on that score.

City have signed a few new players this summer. Pick of the bunch from the pre-season games seemed to be Jon Challinor, signed on a free from Aldershot Town (his older brother is at Tranmere Rovers - he of long throw in fame). Another notable signing was Chris Vinnicombe, returning to the club of his youth via Glasgow Rangers, Burnley, Wycombe Wanderers and Tiverton Town. Also Paul Jones has signed permanently after his loan spell at City last season, during which he won player of the round for his performance at Old Trafford.

City lined up Paul Jones, Scott Hiley, Santos Gaia, Chris Todd, Chris Vinnicombe, Andy Taylor, Paul Buckle, Jon Challinor, Dean Moxey, Steve Flack and Lee Phillips.

The new away kit is a deep blue which I thought looked really good. City were kicking into the wind and away from the massed City fans. The first 20 minutes or so were a bit scrappy as both teams settled into the new season. Jones made a good save to keep it at 0-0. Moxey took a couple of clattering tackles and was substituted after 30 minutes through injury, with Les Afful coming on. Just before the break Taylor put in a cross and Phillips slotted home, 1-0 to the City.

I braved the tea hut queue and after 25 minutes (I was lucky) I was rewarded with a burger and a hot drink. I needed the hot food as it had started to drizzle. It was sunny when i'd left home.

The second half started with City in charge and looking for number two. However, on the hour Mark Afful was fouled in the middle of the pitch and he chopped his hacker down.

Straight red. Having seen it I have no complaints, but many in the away end had missed his retaliation. With a man advantage Gravesend pushed on, only to be denied by an awesome save by Jones. On 74 minutes Challinor broke into the box and was brought down by a lunge. Penalty and another red card. Ten men apiece and Phillips blasted home to make it 2-0. Jones made another top quality save to keep a clean sheet. New signing Craig Farrell came on for Phillips late on and looked OK.

So 2-0 is pretty good for an away game to open the account for the season. Especially as this is the kind of game where City have dropped points in the last two seasons. A good performance too. Total crowd of 1,500 swelled by 500 or so City fans, maybe more. Jon Challinor was my man of the match, and Steven Gerrard had obviously been watching his technique. Paul Jones and Lee Phillips were also tremendous.

BBC Match summary and information 

Lee Phillips' brace gave Exeter the win at Gravesend in a game which saw both sides have a man sent off. A minute before half-time Phillips latched onto Andrew Taylor's right-wing cross to slam home from close range. The visitors started to dominate but then had Les Afful sent off for a crunching tackle on Danny Slater and Gravesend came back into the match. Phillips doubled the lead from the spot after Ross Graham-Smith was dismissed for bringing down Jon Challinor.

Gravesend: Holloway (Kerr 45), Gooding, Graham-Smith, Skinner, McCarthy, Slatter, Bowry, Saunders (Omoyinmi 76), Jackson, Grant, MacDonald.

Subs Not Used: Surey, Drury, Glozier.

Sent Off: Graham-Smith (71).

Booked: Omoyinmi, Slatter.

Exeter: Paul Jones, Hiley, Gaia, Todd, Moxey (Afful 35), Taylor, Challinor, Buckle, Vinnicombe, Phillips (Farrell 82), Flack (Cronin 69).
Subs Not Used: Rice, Seaborne.

Sent Off: Afful (65).

Booked: Phillips.

Goals: Phillips 44, 73 pen.

Attendance: 1,578

Referee: R Lee (Essex).