Match 29
28th November 2023
Shrewsbury Town (h)
8th December 2023
U-18 Friendly
Arsenal (a)
Match Report:
Exeter City 0 Shrewsbury Town 0
A point for the Grecians
Exeter City reacted to Saturday's defeat at Bolton with a goalless draw against Shrewsbury Town at a chilly SJP.
City struggled to get a foothold on this game. Individual moments sparked excitement around St James Park, although they never looked likely to score from open play. City's best chance came from Reece Cole, who whipped a dangerous free kick just shy of the near post.
Following a heavy defeat away on Saturday – the pressure was on for City to take points from Tuesday’s home game to Shrewsbury. The Shrews sat 12th in the League One table, six points ahead of City who are facing one of their worst runs of form in recent history.
Looking to turn the tide, manager Gary Caldwell named three changes: Dion Rankine, Yanic Wildschut and Cole came into the starting XI. Cheick Diabate, who has played as centre forward in his last two fixtures, despite traditionally being a centre back, kept his spot in the forward line.
Having swapped sides, Exeter City kicked off towards the Big Bank, though they quickly lost possession and found themselves under pressure from a Shrewsbury attack. As the last man, Pierce Sweeney dove low to head away and intercept one attack before Zak Jules stopped another on the other side of the pitch.
City began to grow into the game and by the quarter-of-an-hour mark were seeing the better of the chances. Diabate got himself in a wonderful position to head the ball at goal but was deemed offside; Wildschut beat his man with pace on the left, as he did a few times in the opening twenty minutes; and there were a few close-calls in the Shrewsbury area that either resulted in goal kicks or unfruitful City corners. Jordan Shipley received a yellow for asking the referee to book Ilmari Niskanen and the Big Bank became fired up. This was a positive start for City who looked much brighter than in previous weeks and the most likely of the two teams to score.
Following a quiet five minutes, Wildschut inspired an exciting spell for City, charging through the centre of the park as City found themselves in strong shooting positions without pulling the trigger. City had their best opportunity of the half in added time, with City players again creating opportunities without shooting, dancing around the edge of the box before passing the ball off to their neighbouring teammate: eventually, Ryan Trevitt took his chance, testing Marko Marosi who parried into the path of a Shrewsbury defender to clear.
The first half ended even with City being the better of the two sides, although they never looked all that likely to score. Caldwell’s half-time talk would have to inspire his attackers to be more confident in-front of goal, before Shrewsbury could steal one for themselves and shut-up shop.
If Caldwell’s advice was to shoot more, the City players listened, testing the keeper from range on a couple occasions. City’s first real opportunity of the second half came as Shrewsbury gave away a free-kick for a handball on the edge of the box. Cole, who has recently signed a contract extension, came very close to showing just why: setting up on his right, He whipped the ball over the ball, past the keeper but just clipped the outside of the post. The Grecians continued to pressure the Shrewsbury end, this time a misplaced cross from Trevitt – though he may have claimed it if it had gone in – threatened to loop over Marosi in the Shrewsbury net. Marosi stumbled back and clawed the ball out of the air, very nearly stepping back into this own goal.
Caldwell made a double change twenty minutes into the second half: Diabate and Rankine were replaced by James Scott and Kyle Taylor. Again, after a quiet period, it was Wildschut who inspired the City attack, bursting down the left-hand side and winning a corner. Cole’s corner was cleared, and Shrewsbury set off on a counterattack leaving Niskanen alone to defend two Shrewsbury attackers. The Finn positioned himself wonderfully, forcing the second attacker to run wide and, by the time he received the ball, to too tight of an angle to have an effective shot on goal.
City nearly paid the price for not taking their opportunities as Udoh drove a low shot to Vil Sinisalo’s right. Sinisalo pulled off the heroics, diving low and tipping the ball wide of the post. This moment sparked a period of chaos at SJP: end-to-end football with both teams looking as though they could steal the three points. Vincent Harper and Harry Kite came on to bring some fresh legs to the City attack: Harper broke across the field from the left; running across the edge of the box, shooting with his right, across his body Harper’s shot was too soft, resulting in a comfortable save for Marosi.
As the game entered the first of three added-minutes, City were looking like the favourites. Carroll floated the ball behind Trevitt who teased the crowd with an attempt of an overhead kick, though he was unable to get a decent connection on the ball. The game ended a goalless draw, meaning the teams shared the points on a night where City will be disappointed to not have taken more.
Steps were taken in the right direction as City’s defence remained solid throughout, keeping a clean sheet and never looking too threatened. On the other hand, City’s offensive struggles continued as their best opportunity of the game came from Cole’s free kick on the edge of the box.
With a free weekend due to the FA Cup, City return to action at SJP against Port Vale on Saturday 9 December.
Exeter City: Sinisalo, Jules, Aimson, Trevitt, Cole (Carroll 77’), Wildschut (Harper 86’), Niskanen (Kite 86’), Rankine (Taylor 67’), Sweeney, Aitchison, Diabate (Scott 67’).
Unused subs: MacDonald, Hartridge.
Shrewsbury Town: Marosie, Anderson, Winchester, Bowman, Udoh, Pierre, Bennett, Dunkley (C), Dunkley, Shipley, Mata, Kenneh
Subs: Burgoyne, Benning, Sobowale, Owusu, Godwin, Loughran, Whitney
Referee: Alan Young.
Attendance: 5,288 (169 away).
U18 Report:
Arsenal friendly
8 December 2023.
Exeter City’s Under-18s endured a productive trip to the capital as they put in a proud and courageous performance in a friendly match against Arsenal’s youth team at the weekend.
ECFC’s Head of Coaching and Player Development, Brad Miller, admitted it was a wonderful opportunity for the young Grecians, and their experiences at the training ground at London Colney has given the City coaches and players lots of encouragement going forward.
“It was a great fixture for our lads. We managed to stamp our way of playing onto things against a club with a fantastic academy. It was definitely a worthwhile experience, and one we can reflect on positively.”
With no competitive fixture on the calendar, the Devonians made a long trip eastwards to the Arsenal first team training centre to face off against a talented team, and work on some systems and processes to aid the continuation of improving individuals, as well as the collective group.
With the focus on development, trialling new methods, and maintaining the players’ match sharpness, the game was split into three 30-minute segments, with the visitors displaying a positive mentality as they started proceedings brightly and on the front foot.
The Grecians arguably deserved to open the scoring following some nice build-up play. Alfie Cunningham’s cross found the run of George Birch, and the forward tucked the ball home from close range for 1-0.
The Gunners grabbed an equaliser in that opening period, but City were more than holding their own, and were extremely competitive throughout.
In the second part, the defences were perhaps on top as the scoreline remained unchanged, meaning the teams stayed level after an hour.
In the final half an hour, unfortunately, in terms of the scoreline, the Premier League outfit were able to call upon a number of experienced players from their bench. In contrast, the Devon club introduced some of their younger individuals, providing them with the invaluable experience this opportunity provided. That resulted in the hosts netting a few more goals and therefore securing the victory, however, when the full-time whistle sounded, Miller came away a satisfied man.
“The lads were a credit to the club. Louie Cayless at 14 years old was outstanding, next to Sam Joce, who put in another solid performance. Jake Richards was strong in midfield, along with Alfie Cunningham and Tom Dean.”
“They were creative and adaptable, and those are really important traits to have for our players’ development. It was a bit of a high-stress game for them, and we were defending against some high-calibre players. I think the penny dropped for our group as well were able to sustain that, but in the end, they proved to be ruthless which resulted in a defeat on the scoreline. But, in truth, there were lots of positives, and a lot of learning opportunities from this.
“I’m very pleased we had the opportunity to do this. It was a long trip, but we were well looked after. This trip demonstrated to the lads the professional aspect with travelling, and it was a new experience for a lot of them. The pitch was outstanding despite the temperature, but seeing all the minute details was good for the boys.
“Arsenal had us pinned back for long periods, and utilised the width. They were rotating a lot into the spaces, but our boys handled that, and defended their shape and passed people on well. But we have got to be more ruthless. We had four, five or six chances to be, but we weren’t and yet Arsenal were, so there was a bit of a difference in both boxes.
“We did well for 60 or 70 minutes, but, we will want to continue improving specific requirements for the players, and become cleaner in some of the things that we do.”
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