Following their friendly match with Burton Albion, the Grecian youngsters enjoyed two days break, before reporting back on Tuesday for a day trip out to Polzeath beach. Aimed at being a light recovery day for the players, courtesy of the crashing waves, things ended up being more strenuous than planned, however, with the session led by one of the City staff members, it proved to be a productive outing. ECFC U18s Lead Coach, Tom Donati, outlined the benefits of the trip to Cornwall. “It was good socially as it was nice for the boys to get together. The distance we travelled, and the time spent together meant it was a decent exercise.” Donati then continued to share what the rest of the week looked like for his squad.

We then trained Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Slowly but surely things are ramping up for the boys. We have a young group, but the players have been training at a good intensity. They have put in some good work this week, and we have managed to work on a few concepts which is also pleasing.” Originally, the Devonians were meant to face Bristol City on Saturday for another exhibition game, however, with the contest cancelled, Donati’s squad ended up playing an in-house match which allowed his players to continue with their preparations for the impending start to the Youth Alliance South West Division.

Donati explained how Saturday played out.“Despite the Bristol City game not taking place, it actually worked out quite nicely as we played an in-house game which meant we could work on some tactical concepts, probably a bit more than if we did play an opposition, so it was quite positive really.”

Donati then went on to explain how he thinks his players are getting on now that they are over a fortnight into their pre-season regime “It is always a slow process, and it is the first time, for many of the boys, that they have experienced a full-time training programme. We are starting to bed in the concepts we want. Quite a few of the group have been at the Academy for a number of years now, but they’re coming into an environment rather fresh, with new coaches, new systems and new ideas. “We’ll be training hard again this week before we play Crystal Palace away next Saturday. That should be a good day out. It is a long journey for us, against a Category 1 Academy, who possess a strong age group so it should be a really good test for us. It will be really interesting to see how the boys deal with what we end up facing. “Crystal Palace are known for their strong Academy, and they have produced some good talent in the past. I think they are on an upward trajectory once again with their excellent new facilities. It will be a lengthy trip to South East London, so we aren’t sure how long that will take us, but it will be good for the boys to be together, and we will try and do our best when we get there.”

Academy pre-season update 3.
30th July 2023. 

Derek Baker provides the latest news

Exeter City’s Under-18s stepped things up in their third week of pre-season for the 2023/2024 campaign courtesy of another period of intense training sessions, and another productive exhibition match to round the week off.

ECFC U18s Lead Coach, Tom Donati, admitted the work his players put in during the week was another step in the right direction.

“It was another good week’s work for the boys where they worked hard. We also had a couple of them feature in the first-team friendly which was great. “The boys have applied themselves in training really well recently, and although there are some tired legs and tired minds, that sums up pre-season, and it is a part of being an elite athlete.” The hours put in on the training pitch during the week led nicely into what was probably the toughest test for the young Grecians to date, as they travelled eastwards to face a talented Crystal Palace Academy side, however, City can count themselves as unfortunate as they ended up losing 2-1. “It was a long trip into the deepest depths of London, but the boys gave a really good account of themselves. They took on board what was asked of them, and went 1-0 up early on, but we conceded twice through individual errors and we ended up losing the game. “There were some really positive parts. Out of possession, we showed a real togetherness, and a willingness to do things as a team, and that gave us a real platform to build from. “The possession was relatively even, and I thought we were far more ruthless with the ball. There were moments in the match that we need to work on, particularly with some of our ball retention, and, of course, there were times we had spells out of possession, but the boys really took things on board which we asked of them, and they worked hard together as a team. “Our goal came inside the first two minutes, and it was a real sign of intelligence, so that was a good moment for us. We then grew from there into the game. They also had spells, but we created three or four more good opportunities to score, and we managed to get into some decent areas which was rather pleasing to see against such a good team.”

This week the U18s continue to work on their match sharpness on the training pitch, while their team bonding exercises continue to bring the group closer. They round off this week with an away trip to Swansea City, where Donati hopes they will continue to take a step closer to where they need to be for day one of the new campaign.

Exmouth Town 1 Exeter City 3
2nd August 2023 

Young City side win at Exmouth!

A young Grecian side ended their pre-season with a 3-1 win at Exmouth Town on Wednesday, but will be without Gabriel Billington for some time after the defender suffered a serious injury. Sonny Cox, Mitch Beardmore and Harrison King were all on target for the Grecians at Southern Road, but attentions are fully with Billington, who will require surgery on a dislocated and fractured ankle after a heavy tackle in the first half. Kyle Taylor started his first game in over 16 months on his comeback from injury, but it was a largely youthful side for this fixture, which started well for City. Cox was lively from the off and had a good early chance, before being denied soon after again by the hands of former City stopper Andrew Sowden in goal for the home side. A good start for City soon turned sour when Billington was injured in a 50/50 challenge on the edge of the Exmouth box, with play halted for almost 15 minutes while the medical teams worked to ensure Gabe was comfortable. When play resumed, Exmouth forced a save out of Harry Lee, but the Grecians quickly snapped out of the initial shock of Billington's injury to take control of the game once again. Sowden made a brilliant triple block to deny Cox, Beardmore, and Pedro Borges, but could do nothing soon later as Cox finally got the better of him, slotting past his right hand side to give City the lead. Given the nature of the first half, the referee called proceedings early, but from the restart it was the home side who would begin the brightest. Another former Grecian, Harvey Dorothy would have one of three chances for the hosts early in the second half.

Six minutes into the second period, Dorothy was gifted an equaliser as he mopped up a poor Harry Lee clearance for an easy finish. City reacted well though, Cox and substitute Aamir Stanford-Daniels both continuing to cause issues for the Exmouth defence. Beardmore would emphatically put City back in front just ten minutes after conceding with a thunderous volley from the edge of the box, almost ripping the back of the net. Harry Lee made amends for his earlier error with a brilliant stop to deny Dorothy once again, as the game ebbed and flowed between the two sides. Dorothy was the stand out performer for the hosts, sending Orlando Anker's brilliant searching ball over the bar. With the hosts in the ascendency, the Grecians would pounce to put the game to bed as King rose highest from a corner to make it 3-1 in stoppage time. 

Exeter City XI:
Lee, King, Edgecombe, Billington, James, O'Connor, Richards, Borges, Cox, Taylor, Beardmore.

Subs: Dean, Oakes, Stanford-Daniels.