Ace striker reaches a milestone

SCORE THAT 'SCARED' TONY

Exeter City 4-3 Preston North End 

Report by Martyn Dean. 

TONY KELLOW almost chickened out of scoring the goal which set him on the way to another milestone in his remarkable career. For the City striker revealed after Saturday's seven-goal thriller that having missed two on the trot he was extremely dubious about taking the penalty which brought him the 99th League goal of his career. "As soon as the referee pointed to the spot I thought: "Oh no!" said Kellow. "I did not really want to take the kick - especially as it was at the same end where I had missed the other two. But then I thought I would give myself one last chance.

"Strangely enough I did what you should never do and changed my mind as I was running up to take the kick. "I was going to try to place the ball but I saw the goal- keeper start to move so I decided to blast it instead. Fortunately it finished up in the roof of the net." There was certainly no indecision about the goal 10 minutes from time which finally brought Kellow his magical ton. "It was a typical striker's goal really," said Kellow. "The ball came to me off Pete Rogers' knee and I managed to tuck it away." "You have to react quickly in the box and I think that has been one of my strengths over the years."

Kellow's 100 goals have come in 232 League games in a little over five seasons since he was plucked out of the Western League.

"Not many players from non-league get the chance to play 100 league games let alone score 100 goals," said Kellow. "I suppose I have been fortunate in that respect, but I have worked hard and I like to think that I have done reasonably well." Seven goals, two penalties, a couple of bookings, and another triumph for Kellow. Yes, all in all City's 4-3 victory over Preston was just about par for the St. James's Park course this season. It may not yet have reached the stage where supporters are crying out for a boring goalless draw just to relieve the monotony, but few of the regulars can have been surprised at a scoreline that would have seemed pretty remarkable anywhere else. There are really two distinct ways of looking at City this season. They are either a brilliant attacking side or a defensive disaster. Manager Brian Godfrey decided to introduce a slightly different defensive system on Saturday in an effort to solve his team's one major problem. "We tried to back off a little more instead of diving in and challenging for the ball," explained Godfrey.