Exeter City 2 Bristol Rovers 2

by Ross Reid 

Saturday 5 December 1998.

Referee:

Att: 4352

FA Cup second round

EXETER City and Bristol Rovers will lock horns again at the Memorial Ground on Tuesday December 15, after a thrilling FA Cup tie at St James' Park, watched by a disappointingly-low 4,352 crowd. The match swayed to and fro with City looking as though they were on to a winner after twice taking the lead. The Grecians went ahead in the 36th minute as Rovers failed to clear the danger. City's Welsh midfielder Jason Rees floated in a superb ball from out on the right-hand touchline; skipper Jon Richardson got in front of his marker for an excellent flick-on and there was Steve Flack ready to pounce and fire home a right-footed volley which gave Rovers' 'keeper Lee Jones no chance. Flack proved a thorn in the Pirates' side all afternoon, giving his marker, Steve Foster, a torrid time. The Rovers defence did their best to cope with an aerial bombardment from City and Peter Fox's side had clearly done their homework. Rovers countered with a goal in the 43rd minute when striker Guy Ipoua held the ball up well inside the City box be- fore squaring it out wide down the left-flank to onrushing full-back Trevor Challis.

Challis sent across a first-time ball from the by-line which seemed to take a deflection off a home defender. Either way, City failed to clear their lines quickly enough and with someone as experienced as Gary Penrice around, who needs no second asking, the writing was on the wall. Penrice struck for his first goal of the season, hitting a powerful drive from close range. But although Rovers seemed to be in top gear as half-time approached, City had a trump card up their sleeves in the impressive Jimmy Gardner. Four minutes into the second-half Rovers gave away a disputed free-kick on the edge of the box. A radio presenter noted how unfor- tunate it was that City did not have a David Beckham to curl the ball in, but Gardner proved that they didn't need one. Rees rolled the ball right and Gard- ner let fly with a brilliant strike which flew into the top corner, again giving Jones no chance. That goal was worthy of winning any Cup tie anywhere, but Rovers' top scorer Jamie Cureton responded with a special strike of his own. With time running out, Rovers threw everything forward and Penrice picked up the ball on the right-hand side. He came under pressure from City's former Rovers' left-back Graeme Power before squaring the ball across field into Cureton's path. He took on the City defence and let fly with a scorcher from 25 yards which beat City 'keeper Ashley Bayes in the far corner. That set up a frantic last quarter-of- an-hour but both sides failed to take their opportunities. Chris Curran, who had proved a threat with his long throw-ins all af- ternoon, sent in another two, one from each side, in the 84th and 86th minutes which were both hastily cleared by the Rovers defence. Even so, City's strike force should have pounced sooner on the gilt-edged opportunities as the ball sat up in the penalty box. Rovers' best chance late on fell to Ipoua, but once again he was well marshalled by Jon Gittens, who forced his man wide and in the end, Ipoua's angled drive hit the side-netting. So now it's back to the Memorial Stadium a week on Tuesday. 

City team:
Ashley Bayes, Chris Fry (Geoff Breslan 83rd), Graeme Power, Billy Clark, Jon Richardson, Jon Gittens, Darran Rowbotham (Barry McConnell 83rd), Jason Rees, Steve Flack, Chris Curran, Jimmy Gardner.

Rovers team:
Jones, Leoni, Challis, Trees, Foster, Smith, Holloway, Meaker (Zabek 33rd), Penrice, Cureton, Ipoua

Scorers:
Exeter - Flack (36th), Gardner (49th). Rovers - Penrice (43rd), Cureton 76th).

Attendance: 4,352.

Referee:
Mark Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).

Bookings:
Exeter - Rees 76th.