SATURDAY 16th SEPTEMBER

THIRD DIVISION

EXETER CITY 2 FULHAM 1

A bumper St James Park crowd were treated to a goal in a million as Martin Phillips grabbed a sensational late winner to send the Grecians into fourth place in the league table. It was not just about a piece of Phillips magic however, as the whole team once again showed how much they have improved in terms of commitment and confidence since the dark days of last season

Manager Peter Fox had appealed for the fans to support the club following their great start to the season and asked for at least 3.500 to come along to the game. The supporters turned out in force as 4,420 (which included a large contingent of Fulham fans) spectators were present.

Fulham will probably feel aggrieved that they did not take a point from the game as they equalised in the second hat and were on top for around 25 minutes as City tended to defend a little too

deep at times

Exeter opened the scoring in the 28th minute when the impressive Matthew Hare, making his home debut, dispossessed Gary Brazil out on the left and whipped in a low cross which Richard Pears missed at the near post only for Mark Cooper to make no mistake from close range. City were well worth their interval lead against a side which showed why they are one of the early pace setters.

Not for the first time this season, it was the visitors turn to dominate the second half as they set up attack after attack. City's defence were beaten just once when a superb shot from Simon Morgan rebounded off the crossbar and Peter Fox palmed the ball over for a corner. The equaliser was almost inevitable, as Kevin Moore headed in Brazil's corner on 63 minutes.

With the result looking set for a draw, Phillips (in photo) then produced a stunning run which started in his own half, and cut inside to fire home sweetly right footed shot which curled into the top corner of the net. The crowd were almost stunned into silence for a spit second, until they had realised they had seen the best individual goal scored at the Park for years. It was worthy of being the winning goal of any match.

Teams:

EXETER CITY:
Peter Fox, Neil Parsley, Jamie Morgan, Mark Cooper. Noel Blake, Jon Richardson, Mark Chamberlain (Robbie Turner 82nd), Danny Bailey, Richard Pears (Mike Cacere 61st). Martin Philips, Matthew Hare

Sub not used: Anthony Thirlby

FULHAM:
Lange, Jupp, Herrera, Mison, Angus Blake, Bolt (Moore 61st). Morgan, Brazil, Conroy, Cusack

Subs not used: Harrison, Finnigan.

Attendance: 4,420

Referee: Graham Barber (Guildford)