EXETER CITY 2
Warren Ward, Alan Craw- ford
COLCHESTER 2
Tony Adcock, Simon Burman

Report by TRINA LAKE

EXETER CITY bounced back from their midweek humbling by Swindon to earn a draw with a very useful Colchester United side at St James's Park on Saturday.

City still looked a little shell-shocked in a dreary first half and were behind to a 42nd minute Tony Adcock goal at the break. But they came out in far more positive mood for the second half with the old master Tony Kellow orchestrating an inspired fightback. The Cornish craftsman replaced Ray Pratt, who had made no impression in midfield, and turned on 45 minutes of memory-jerking magic. He may not be as quick as he was in his heyday but his positional sense and deft touches are still good enough to enliven a pretty stale City attack. He was involved in both goals that should have clinched three valuable Fourth Division points for City Warren Ward's 50th minute equaliser and Alan Crawford's header that made it 2-1 in the 67th minute. But Colchester refused to roll over and play dead and staged their own comeback with Simon Burman snatching an equaliser five minutes from time. And the lively Essex side. could have won it in the dying moments when they sensed slight panic in City's usually calm and collected defence. Neither side really deserved victory, though, in a fairly even contest that produced little excitement in the first half but came to life in the second. Colchester were fluent going forward with neat one-touch football and plenty of intelligent running, especially by their red-headed strike pair of Adcock and Perry Groves. City too were positive in attack early on, throwing men forward and getting plenty of quick crosses into the penalty area. Martin Ling set up a fifth minute chance with a driven cross from the right that Stewart Houston failed to cut out adequately and Crawford seized on the half chance to send a snap shot curling just past the post. Apart from one brave save at the feet of Crawford and Harrower in the 34th minute, Colchester goalkeeper Alex Chamberlain had little else to worry about. Ling made a couple of promising breaks but was never decisive enough to profit from the openings. Colchester just about had the edge with Adcock always looking sharp and dangerous. He and full back Ian Phillips both tested City 'keeper John Shaw in fleeting moments of goalmouth incident. The game looked to be heading for a half time stalemate when Nick Marker, usually so composed and determined, blundered with a routine clearance. He allowed Adcock to steal in and plunder his 16th goal of the season. Shaw got his hands to the striker's rasping shot but couldn't deflect it enough. City manager Colin Appleton reached the inevitable conclusion at half-time that Pratt was making no impact in a midfield support role. Rather than switch him to more favoured striking a position he left him in the dressing room and gave Kellow the task of breathing some life into City's attack. It proved an inspired move as Kellow coaxed and cajoled his team into a higher gear. They survived 49th a minute scare when Adcock again rose above Marker and McCaffery to get in a dangerous header which Shaw was content to tip over the bar. Then it was City's turn to cause the problems and they were swiftly back on terms. Ling provided his best cross of the afternoon from the right, Kellow flicked the ball on and Ward powered in unmarked to send a flying header past Chamberlain. That restored some much needed confidence in City. With Danny Keough and Steve Harrower working particularly hard in midfield and Kellow up to his old tricks up front, they seized the initiative. Ling sent an angled shot wide and Kellow almost put Ward and Ling in on goal but Rudi Hedman managed to hack the ball clear as City went hard on the trail of a second goal. It came with Kellow inevitably in the thick of the action. He fed a fine ball through to Harrower on the left and his perfectly measured cross to the far post was met by a perfectly positioned Crawford who nodded home from five yards. It was only the fourth time this season that City have scored more than one goal in a league game and they should have protected that rare advantage far better than they did.
Instead of shutting up shop they allowed themselves to be pulled around by a reshuffled Colchester side that had lost defender Terry Baker with an ankle injury and brought on forward Tommy English. The substitute should have equalised in the 80th minute when Groves and Adcock combined to set up a great chance for him, but he ballooned a close range shot over the bar. He returned the compli- ment by crossing for Adcock to head straight at Shaw with City on the rack. English, the former Coventry City striker, finally made his mark with another awkward cross from the left that somehow squeezed through to Burman who made no mistake in equalising from inside the six-yard box. Not content with a saved point, Colchester went in search of the winner but ran out of time as City reeled from the pressure.

Exeter City: Shaw, Harrower, Viney, McNichol, McCaffery, Marker, Ling, Pratt, Ward, Keough, Crawford. Sub: Kellow (on for Pratt 45 min).

Colchester United: Chamberlain, Hedman, Phillips, Osborne, Baker, Houston, Burman, Parkinson, Groves, Adcock, Farrell. Sub: English (on for Baker 63 min).

Attendance: 1,520.