FA Cup 2nd Round 
Exeter 1-2 Swansea 
Abandoned after 84 minutes due to Floodlight failure. 

Floodlight failure plunged half of St James Park into darkness with just six minutes of the second round tie remaining and City trailing 2- 1. Cornish referee Martin Bodenham attempted to finish the tie 45 minutes later with only half of the Big Bank end floodlights working. But, after one minute of play - and a pitch invasion by 100 angry Exeter fans - more lights failed and the game was finally abandoned 10 minutes later.

• The match will now be restaged on Tuesday, December 15.

All this was welcome news for City Manager Alan Ball, for his reshuffled side were second best in most departments and trailed by two stunning individual goals before Eamonn Dolan gave them some hope with a 76th minute strike. City entered the game on the back of a hat-trick of victories - but injury and suspension forced Ball to change his line-up. Eamonn Collins, normally a midfield playmaker, appeared at right back, John Hodge switched to the left side of a five man midfield that included the inexperienced Alan Tonge and Toby Redwood alongside Scott Hiley and Tom Kelly. This left Ronnie Jepson as the lone front man and the midfield never looked like giving him the support he needed. With Swansea also playing five across the middle the result was an early stale- mate marked only by tough challenges from former City Star Paul Wimbleton and ex-Argyle's Russell Coughlin on Peter Whiston. Hodge and Hiley both set up early chances for Jepson and Hiley forced Roger Freestone into one good near-post save after 21 minutes from a neat short corner move involving Collins and Kelly. But it was Swansea skip- per John Cornforth who stunned the home crowd. Full-back Des Little advanced past Andy Cook and pulled the ball back to Tony Callen. His shot rebounded off Whiston for Cornforth to hit a dazzling chip over Miller from 18 yards in the 27th minute. City's response was to finally wake up as Hodge twice went close. Five minutes before the interval Cook and Tonge released him the inside-left channel and he thumped a 25 yard drive against the angle of cross bar and upright. Thirty seconds later he drew a good save from Freestone with another low shot. Ball changed the formula 12 minutes into the second- half and threw on striker Steve Moran to partner Jep- son. Straight away Jepson responded to find Moran with a neat flick-on of Cook's cross but Reuben Agboola gave no time or space to shoot. And the City revival was extinguished by the second Swansea goal three minutes later when Steve Jenkins hit a right-foot shot high into the left hand corner of Miller's goal. This was the cue for a third striker - Eammon Dolan to be introduced with 25 minutes remaining and he scored with his first touch 10 minutes later. Hodge, back on the more familiar right wing, supplied the cross and Dolan walked the ball into the net after Moran and keeper Freestone had both failed to make contact. By then Swansea were content to defend with everyone in their own half as City continued to press particularly through Hodge and Cook who made strong runs on the flanks. But after the 11th hour blackout, Exeter will be more than happy to stay in the competition as it was Swansea who provided most of the class and cohesion in this confused encounter.

Exeter Miller. Hiley. Cook.Redwood.Bond
Whiston. Collins. Tonge. Jepson. Kelly. Hodge Subs: Moran (for Tonge, 57 min), Dolan (for Collins, 65 min).

Swansea: Freestone; Little, Jenkins, Agboola, Harris, Coughlin, Cullen, Wimbleton, West, Cornforth, Legg; subs., Ford, McFarlane.

Referee: Martin Bodenham (Looe)

Attendance: 3,889

15th December 1992
FA Cup 2nd Round 

Exeter City 2
Moran 43 Cook 76
Swansea 5 
West 10, Legg 42, Wimbleton 60 Cullen 61 Bowen 90
H-T 1-2 
Crowd: 2,914

Ed Hogg reports from St James's Park.


THE value of skipper Peter Whiston to Exeter City has never been as clearly illustrated as in the two maulings they have suffered in the past four days.mJust a week before last night's humiliating FA Cup demolition by visiting Swansea, the 24-year-old central defender had signed off for a three- match suspension as Torquay United were the whipping boys for a 5-0 Autoglass triumph. Whiston's stunningly-composed contribution cocked a snook at the Gulls whose swap deal brought the then out-of-favour Whiston to St James's Park in September 1991.nIt was City's fifth straight win - the biggest of manager Alan Ball's St James's Park reign - and meant that the Whiston-mar- shalled City had leaked just 10 goals in a dozen games. In the two outings since then they've conceded nine, scoring two, trekked home pointless from Hull and kissed goodbye to a potentially-lucrative Cup run that could have freed Ball's cheque-writing hand to enter the transfer market. Coincidence? I think not. The length of Exeter's injury list has forced Ball to allow Scott Daniels to reach match fitness in game situations. Daniels - understandably - is struggling to develop the necessary empa- thy with centre back partner Kevin Bond with the degree of haste required. But that sort of confusion is rife. After 27 games of the campaign, right back Scott Hiley is the only ever-present and Ball hasn't yet been able to stick with the same line-up for two outings on the trot. Rearguard cohesion and marking were absent as Colin West was gifted the chance to miskick the Swans ahead from 10 yards after nine minutes. But with Steve Williams back in the midfield architect's role and in the mood to put his recent troubles behind him, City always looked dangerous going forward. Steve Moran had already twice gone close when Williams' 20th minute corner was flicked on by Daniels and Gary Chapman's spectacular overhead kick was cleared off the line by Mark Harris. Roger Freestone then kept out a second acrobatic Chapman effort that came at the end of another Williams-initiated move, involving Hiley and John Hodge. Moran nodded a pinpoint Williams free-kick fractionally over on 35 minutes but then, wildly against the run of play City were 2-0 down. Harris swung in a long cross, Bond and Daniels were flat-footed and Andrew Legg's excellent first touch created the space for him to ram a left-footed drive into the roof of Kevin Miller's net. Immediately Exeter struck back, Alan Tonge, brought in to mind Williams, did his bit and when Williams had slammed a 25-yarder against Freestone's right-hand upright, Moran nipped in on the rebound to guide home a looping header. City's good post-interval spell produced nothing and after 59 minutes it was 3-1. Former Exeter midfielder Paul Wimbleton, whose only two appearances for the Swans have been at St James's Park, was given time aplenty to fire splendidly into the top corner from the edge of the home penalty area. Within 60 seconds there was no way back. Freestone's long punt caught the Exeter defence napping again and the portly Tony Cullen ambled through to lob the stranded Miller. Hiley's tricky run on 68 minutes ended in a 25-yard drive that was deflected just wide, but it was his full back compatriot Andy Cook who reduced the arrears with a milestone-reaching 76th minute strike. Cutting in, he spotted Freestone wandering off his line and curled an exquisite long range effort into the far corner for his first goal in an Exeter shirt and the 100th of Ball's City reign. In other circumstances it would have been cause for celebration, but Cook's head down trot back to his own half spoke volumes. And the depression was complete when, with City pushing forward, Swansea substitute John Ford galloped clear to set up Jason Bowen off the bench for Cullen, to complete the rout in stoppage-time.

Exeter City 

1 Kevin Miller 
2 Scott Hiley
3 Andy Cook
4 Steve Williams
5 Scott Daniels
6 Kevin Bond
7 Alan Tonge
8 Tom Kelly
9 Steve Moran
10 Gary Chapman
11 John Hodge
Subs: Eamonn Dolan, Eamonn Collins

Swansea City 

1 Roger Freestone
2 Des Lyttle
3 Steve Jenkins
4 Keith Walker
5 Mark Harris
6 Russell Coughlin
7 Tony Cullen
8 Paul Wimbleton
9 Colin West
10 John Cornforth
11 Andrew Legg
Subs: Jason Bowen (Cullen 76) John Ford (Wimbleton 74)

Referee: Martin Bodenham (Looe)
Linesman: B. Bishop
Linesman: J. Cox

Exeter 
Shots/headers on target: 12
Swansea
Shots/headers on target: 7

Exeter Corners: 8
Swansea Corners: 4

Bookings: Cornforth (Swansea)