Southend United 0
Exeter City 0.

Match Report by Paul Warburton 

Saturday 13 March 1999.

Exeter City couldn't believe they let three points slip after Southend had been reduced to nine men with over 10 minutes left of a fiery second half. First referee Mark Warren dismissed Rob Newman for a second bookable offence after he had upended Darran Rowbotham. Right back Mark Beard then also saw red after scything down Jimmy Gardner. Although home fans raged at the dismissals Exeter boss Peter Fox was less than pleased at dropping two points.
He said "The boys were definitely disappointed as the game was there to be won but, despite our good movement leading up to the penalty area, we couldn't quite break them down.' For all that the biggest culprit was the unmarked Rowbotham who scooped over from five yards in the dying moments after Paul Tosh provided him with a glorious chance. After City had weathered a first half storm in which Ashley Bayes was outstanding they grew in confidence in the second period. In the end, Lee Baddeley went closest on 62 minutes when he rose unmarked from six yards to head against the bar from Jason Rees' cross. After that top scorer Steve Flack had a cross shot which whistled across the face of the Southend goal and Graham Power nearly brought an Exeter win when his 20 yard shot was saved at the last by 'keeper Melvin Capleton in the dying seconds. Earlier on Exeter had reason to be grateful to Bayes who was in out- standing form after he was called into action after just 10 minutes. Southend winger Scott Houghton curled a cross around the City defence for former Argyle loanee Barry Conlon to be de- nied by a fine Bayes save. Five minutes later the Exeter 'keeper was down to his right in a flash to palm away a Neville Roach snap shot from 15 yards. Jon Gittens cleared up the loose ball but Bayes was again required to perform heroics to deny Newman. As Exeter got men behind the ball both Rowbotham and Chris Curran were booked for fouls as Noel Blake in the City dug out became increasingly animated. Bayes saved superbly again from Kevin Maher before Gardner wasted two chances in the space of four minutes. Rowbotham should have done better when he scuffed a 12-yard shot after once again Tosh had turned provider from the right. The best first half chance fell to on-loan Tosh in injury time but Martyn Booty was able to clear off the line after the Scot's shot beat Capleton. Fox was unhappy that his side was unable to claim maximum points but paid tribute to Southend's resilence in saying: "They're a team far better than their posi- tion suggests. The hard pitch was something of a problem and, although the lads know we should have won, I still think the play-offs are more than a good possibility.'

Exeter City
Bayes Tosh Power Baddeley Gale. Gittens Rowbotham Rees Flack Curran Gardner Substitutes: Breslan (for Gale, 84 mins), Quailey (for Rowbotham, 88 mins), Holloway (not used).

Southend Utd:
Capleton, Beard, Booty, Newman, Coleman, Maher, Unger, Conlon (Campbell 90), Roach (Burns 81), Houghton, Substitute (not used). Livett.

Bookings:
Southend - Newman 54 mins, Beard 56 mins, Conlon 90 mins;
Exeter City - Rowbotham, 13 mins, Curran 32 mins.
Sendings-Off:
Southend- Newman 66, Beard 79

Referee: Mark Warren (Walsall)

Attendance: 3,695