Exeter City 2 Carlisle 1

Second half strikes from Reece Cole and Sonny Cox made it three points and three unbeaten at home for City as they were 2-1 victors over Carlisle United at St James’ Park. The result moves the Grecians out of the relegation zone and three points clear of Reading.

Following an agonising 3-2 loss away to Reading, City were looking to bounce back at St James’ Park and climb out of the relegation zone. The Grecians started the day in 21^st place, just below last week’s opponents on goal difference. Carlisle started the game immediately below Exeter in 22^nd place knowing three points on the South Coast would take them above the Grecians.

Gary Caldwell made three changes to his starting XI from last week’s game, new signing Luke Harris made his first start since his loan move from Fulham, Pierce Sweeney came in to captain the side and Cox returned to lead the line. Among the absentees for City, Harry Kite who picked up a training ground knock and Will Aimson who continues to recover from an injury sustained against Portsmouth on December 29^th.

Among the starters for the visitors were two new signings in the form of Luke Armstrong who joined for an undisclosed fee from Harrogate Town and Harrison Neal who joined from Premier League side Sheffield United.

It was an electric start by the Grecians, Cox doing well to dance down the touchline before pulling the ball back to Harris who was denied brilliantly by a sliding Carlisle defender after only a minute. Shortly after the Grecians threatened The Blues’ goal once again, Cole finding Harris once again inside the 18-yard-box, but the debutant could only drag his shot wide of the left post.

The visitors had to wait until the 17^th minute of the match for their first shot of the match, Sean Maguire was found in space just outside the area but could only manage to blast his attempt high over Vil Sinisalo’s crossbar. Maguire was involved once again just minutes later when he squared up and cut past Cheick Diabate inside the box before drilling his cross low into Sinisalo. The City keeper palmed the attempt away but gathered on the second occasion after it deflected back off Sweeney and into the Finn’s grasp.

The Grecians responded well as Dion Rankine wriggled his way past Jack Robinson and made his way into the penalty area. However, the winger was unable to find a red and white shirt in the middle to tap the ball into an empty net and the ball was cleared from danger by Paul Simpson’s men.

The biggest chance of the first half came just before the break as Carlisle found themselves three against two with the City defence on the counter-attack. Jordan Gibson played the ball through to Josh Emmanuel who had a clear run on the Grecians’ goal but could only drive his shot straight at Sinisalo after a poor first touch.

As the half time whistle was blown, there was a case for cautious optimism from the City crowd. The home side enjoyed the lion share of possession in the first 45 minutes and despite troubling Gabe Breeze in the Carlisle goal, the hosts had put together various promising moves.

Minutes after the restart it looked as though City has taken the lead, first through Aitchison whose low strike was smartly saved by Breeze and then by Harris who missed the ball completely on his first attempt before driving wide of the goal at the second time of asking. It looked as though the Grecians had let a big chance go to waste, but it wasn’t long before amendments were made. Harris’ driven cross towards Cox was cleared by the Carlisle defence before rolling nicely to Cole on the edge of the penalty area. The midfielder let a fizzing shot fly which travelled past Breeze and into the bottom right-hand corner to give City a valuable lead.

Gibson gave Carlisle the chance to respond just moments later but his strike from outside the box was steered wide of the right post and out for a goal kick. The visitors were left to rue their missed chances to respond when City doubled their lead with just over ten minutes remaining. Aitchison’s strike from just outside the area struck the left post before falling nicely to Cox who tapped into an empty net from six yards out to give the Grecians a commanding lead.

It looked as though City were going to cruise to victory until the 85^th minute when the visitors grabbed a late lifeline. City did well to initially clear a dangerous corner kick, but substitute Dan Butterworth was on hand to steer his volley into the bottom left-hand corner from 18 yards out.

Carlisle continued to put pressure on the Grecians goal, but it was too little too late and City started off 2024 with a hard earnt win.

The result means the Grecians leapfrog Reading in the table, climbing out of the relegation zone and having a game in hand on a couple of the teams above. For their next instalment of league action, City travel to promotion-chasing Blackpool as they look to replicate their recent home form on their travels.

Exeter City: Sinisalo, Rankine (Scott 87'), Sweeney, Diabate, Hartridge, Jules (Niskanen 74'), Carroll (Taylor 78'), Cole, Aitchison, Harris, Cox (Wildschut 78'). 

Subs: Macdonald, Borges.

Carlisle United: Breeze, Lavelle, Gibson, Charters, Whelan, Robinson, Mellish, Maguire, Emmanuel, Neal, Armstrong.

Subs: Holy, Armer, Edmonson, McCalmont, Butterworth, Garner, McGeouch

Attendance: 6420 (294 away).

Referee: Carl Brook.

Under-18 Report:
Exeter City 5 Cheltenham Town 0

Derek Baker reports on a five star performance from the young Grecians.

A five-star performance from Exeter City’s Under-18s saw them secure a dominant victory over Cheltenham Town U18s in their first fixture of 2024 last Saturday.

Theo Cutler got the Grecians off to a superb start inside the opening few minutes, before captain Tom Dean curled in a shot from distance to double the advantage.

Callum Graham added a third goal just before half-time, and despite a more balanced second period, the Devonians added a fourth through Jake Richards after an hour.

City substitute, Kieran Wilson, made it 5-0 in the 71st minute, which sealed the three points that lifted Exeter’s youngsters into fifth position in the Youth Alliance South West league standings. 

The Grecians returned to competitive action for the first time since their Christmas break with the hope that they could kick on from their victory over Oxford United U18s in mid-December.

Tobias Alsop and Jude Horn started as the Devon side’s full-backs, while Richards and Dean were selected in an experienced looking City midfield.

While both sets of players might have been forgiven for easing their way back into things, Exeter began the game with real intent, and they reaped the rewards for their positivity in just the second minute.

The hosts displayed a real precision in their early possession play, and their patient approach saw Horn slip a through ball into the path of Cutler. Despite the opposition goalkeeper rushing out to meet him, the Grecians striker showed total composure to tuck the ball into the back of the net, much to the delight of the home crowd.

That early breakthrough gave City the building blocks to put in a strong performance, and with the game played on the Cliff Hill artificial pitch, the recent wet weather had no adverse effect on their tactics, nor build-up play. Exeter came forward once again on 14 minutes courtesy of a promising attack down the right flank. One accurate inside pass found Dean’s feet, and the home skipper made room for himself to bend a shot from 25 yards into the bottom corner despite the goalie’s best efforts.

Grecians winger, Lloyd Asamoah, should have perhaps done better when he blazed a shot over shortly after, but, at the other end of the pitch, Dan Layer, needed to be at his best at the midway point of the half when he pushed away a Robins shot to maintain the Devon club’s two-goal lead.

Asamoah squandered another opportunity just before the half-hour mark, which prompted a reaction from Town. With the visitors keen to up the ante, Layer denied a Cheltenham attacker courtesy of a save with his feet. 

In what became their best spell of the match, the Robins wasted another chance in the 33rd minute, and the supporters looking on might have been forgiven for thinking the next goal was going to go Town’s way.

But six minutes before the break, that Cheltenham hope was extinguished when the Devon outfit won a corner following good work from Richards and Dean; the latter seeing an effort tipped around the post by a diving save. From the resulting set-piece, a cross located Graham in front of goal, and he exquisitely flicked the ball into the back of net to make it 3-0.

A string of saves from Layer kept the away team at bay in the dying minutes of the first period, however, when the referee blew for the interval moments after, it was certainly City who went in the happier.

The early exchanges in the second half were relatively competitive, with no real clear-cut opportunities created as both teams knew the next goal was crucial. The Robins created the first opportunity in the 50th minute, but the attempt was powered well wide.

The two teams traded blows, but as the clock ticked past the hour, Exeter hit the knockout punch in emphatic style. The hosts progressed down the right as Dean played in Cutler, before the forward fired in a low cross to test the Town ‘keeper. With the ball only parried into the danger zone, Dean reacted quickest, but the captain saw his rebound blocked. With a scramble ensuing, Richards picked up the loose ball and converted his shot from close range to extend the Grecian lead.

Town’s custodian continued to be the busier shot-stopper, and he made a nice double save five minutes later when he denied Richards’ long-range strike and Cutler’s follow-up in quick succession.

Despite the Devonians ringing the changes, their momentum was never jeopardised, and they managed to score their fifth goal of the day after 71 minutes courtesy of an instant impact from one of their replacements. 

Kieran Wilson displayed a lovely turn of foot to dribble around the challenge of one defender down the left-hand side of the penalty box. The forward then sorted his feet and arrowed a low shot past the goalie for 5-0.

Both Dean, and substitute, Giulio Marroni, squandered late chances as the clock ticked down, but, in truth, there was never any sign of City losing control of the contest. The referee called an end to proceedings after two minutes of stoppage time, meaning Exeter's youngsters secured a well-deserved victory, in one of their best performances of the season, which provided five different goalscorers as well as a clean sheet.

Exeter City’s Youth Development Phase Lead Coach, Chris McPhee: “I think it is important for the group to feel a sense of achievement from the scoreline. It was pleasing to see that they were rewarded for their performance with a win, and a clean sheet, which were all outcomes from the processes we had in place. We took our chances at the key moments, and pressed with real intent, which was important because that helped our young back four. Then, when Cheltenham were able to beat our press, the resilience and bravery the defence had to go toe-to-toe with a more experienced opponent was really good.

”We scored early and got off to a good start which really set the tone. The intensity of the performance, particularly out of possession was excellent. We scored our goals in different ways, which showed a real understanding from the players of how to hurt the opposition. It is great to come away from a 5–0 win where there is still room for improvement though. There are still areas where we can make better choices, and we did concede some good chances. However, the performance, on the whole, was encouraging, but there are still areas we need to focus on.

“The boys had only been back in for four days of training prior to the game, so it was great they came back with the right frame of mind and belief. There is a real collectiveness in this group, and they appreciate everyone’s role in the team. I must appreciate the effort and maturity the back four displayed, and praise the performance of Dan Layer in goal, who relieved the pressure, and swept up everything that came his way. He was very mature in his distribution, which is really encouraging as his scholarship began with setbacks due to injury.

“We are away to Plymouth Argyle U18s next, and over the years we have had lots of battles with them. We know what they’re like, and the intensity they bring, and they will look to press us into making mistakes. It will be a different ball game to this game here, which will provide some difficult moments. There will be that rivalry to the match, and psychological side to it, but it will be great to see if our boys can take the confidence from this performance into the derby game.”

Exeter City Under-18s: Dan Layer, Louie Cayless, Liam Cartwright, Tobias Alsop, Jude Horn, Harry Crees, Tom Dean, Jake Richards, Callum Graham, Lloyd Asamoah, Theo Cutler

Subs: Guilio Marroni, Aidan Bown, Santino Ohanaka, Kieran Wilson, George Birch