EXETER CITY O
MANSFIELD 1 Kevin Kent

Match Report by Trina Lake

THE GREAT Exeter City goal drought of 1986 must go down as one of the most depressing perlods in the club's re- cent history. It is now more than nine hours since they scored, with the result that they have slipped perilously close to the re-election zone and out of the Freight Rover Trophy. They drew their latest blank against promotion contenders Mansfield Town on Saturday, losing to a 24th minute goal by Kevin Kent. City were never in the running against a quicker and mnore competitive Mansfield side in the first half but were unlucky not to equalise in a much more positive second half display. And that is the frustrating thing. City seem incapable of raising their game until they are a goal down and have had a roasting from manager Colin Appleton at half time. His mid-point pep talk on Saturday certainly sparked a City revival but with Mansfield goalkeeper Kevin Hitchcock in sparkling form they couldn't find that elusive goal. You have to cast your mind back to January 14 and the Freight Rover tie against Wolves for the last time City found the back of the net. Their inefficient finishing has cost them dear and despite their second half superiority on Saturday they were still pretty short on shots. Appleton's latest attacking permutation of Ray Pratt and Alan Crawford as twin strikers failed to do the trick. They were dominated for much of the game by giant defenders George Foster, the former City and Plymouth Argyle skipper, and Gary Pollard. Martin Ling, when he got the ball, showed flashes of his explosive talent; Steve Harrower beavered away as tirelessly usual, and as Danny Keough was always purposeful in midfield. There is still no real bite, though; nobody in midfield who can make their tackles count and rattle the opposition. The tidy patterns City try to weave are far too intricate for the Fourth Division. They need to be much more direct and remember the old saying: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." City's defence, sound enough to have one of the best records in the division, are none too adventurous when it comes to providing fresh attacking options. Only right back Jim McNichol consistently made himself availabe in threatening positions on Saturday. No wonder Appleton was left shaking his head in bitter disappointment after the game. "I know we're down to 12 or 13 fit players but we've been badly let down by them today. I'm afraid we've got to start all over again, certainly with some of the younger players. I've got to look at the professionalism of some individuals. Things that are happening around here aren't up to my standards," he said. He conceded that City had created enough second-half chances to have won the game, but it was their sorry showing in the first half that caused most concern. Describing City as a Jekyll and Hyde side may be a well-worn cliche, but it accurately sums up Saturday's performance. They allowed Mansfield to control the first half with the classy touches of experienced striker Neil Whatmore a constant threat. Nick Marker, restored to the centre of defence in place of injured Aidan McCaffery, worked especially hard to contain him and Keith Cassells. But Whatmore had enough guile to make something out of nothing several times and fittingly set up the decisive goal from a well worked move on the right. Mike Graham's throw-in was flicked on by Tony Lowery, Whatmore shielded the ball superbly with his back to goal until Kent came storming in to crash home a shot that gave goalkeeper John Shaw no chance. There were a number of other close first-half calls for City with Shaw claiming well from Mick Vinter, saving close-range shots from Cassells and Whatmore, and