SATURDAY 30th SEPTEMBER

ENDSLEIGH LEAGUE 3rd DIVISION

ROCHDALE 4 EXETER CITY 2

Exeter City's ten match unbeaten run came to an abrupt end as the Grecians conceded three goals in the opening twenty minutes to put Rochcale firmly in the driving stat The normally water-tight City defence were hit by a Rochdale opening blitz and forced the side to come out and attack in an attempt to salvage something from the game. In doing so. City were again caught out as they pushed forward and Rochdale went 4-0 in front after 72 minutes.

Martin Philips pulled a goal back for City two minutes later as they began to show their best form of the afternoon. Mike Cecere nodded home a second goal four minutes from time, but that opening half salvo from Rochdale was more than enough to eam the Spotland side all three points

Overall, it was not one of City's better performances of the season and despite the late fightback, theywere beaten on the day by a very good locking Rochdale outfit. First year professional Barry McConnell (photo) joined the impressive list of youngsters who have progressed through the City youth scheme as he made his debut as a second half substitute.

Teams

ROCHDALE:
Gray. Thackeray (Martin), Formby, Deary, Bayliss Butler, Thompson. Shaw, Stuart (Willams), Whitehall, Peake

EXETER CITY:
Peter Fox, Neil Parsley, Coln Anderson, Russell Coughlin. Noel Blake, Jon Richardson, Mark Chamberlain (Barry McConnel), Danny Bailey Mike Cecere, Martin Philips Matthew Hare (Robbie Turner).

Scorers:

Rochdale:
Stuart, Deary, Whitehall, Peake

Exeter:
Phillips, Cecere.

Attendance: 2,052

Referee: David Alison (Lancaster)