Match Report:
Exeter City 0 Bristol Rovers 1

By Freddie Cotton 

City’s four game unbeaten run at St James’ Park came to an end on Saturday afternoon after Brandon Aguilera’s first-half strike earnt Bristol Rovers all three points in Devon.

After falling behind early on, the Grecians had several opportunities to hit back in the second half but failed to convert any and endured their first home defeat since early December.

Following an impressive 2-1 victory away to a high-flying Barnsley side last weekend, City were looking to continue their rich vein of form and climb further up the table this time out against Bristol Rovers. Positive recent performances had catapulted The Grecians firmly into midtable as they sat six points above the relegation zone in 14^th place prior to kick-off.

The Pirates started the day in 11^th place and were seeking three valuable points on the South Coast to aid their push towards the play-off places. However, they would have to overcome a City side who claimed victory when the two sides met at the Memorial Stadium just eleven days ago.

Gary Caldwell named an unchanged starting XI from last week’s win at Barnsley, although there was a return to the matchday squad for youngster Luke Harris who missed the trip to South Yorkshire with a hamstring issue. There was also a place amongst the substitutes for new signing Mohamed Eisa who joined the club on loan from Milton Keynes Dons on Tuesday.

Brandon Aguilera started for the visitors after signing on loan from Nottingham Forest on deadline day, with fellow new signings Elkan Baggott and Harry Vaughan only finding a place on the bench. The visit of the Pirates also saw the return of Matt Taylor and Jevani Brown who both appeared at St James’ Park for the first time since their departures.

City started the brighter of the two teams and went close early on when Vincent Harper found space inside the box and struck low towards Jed Ward’s goal, however the Rovers goalkeeper got down well to smother the ball. The chance was the most notable from an early flurry for the home side, but City failed to take an early lead.

This proved costly for the Grecians when Chris Martin’s half-cleared cross fell to Aguilera just outside the penalty area. The visitors’ new signing jinked past a City player before firing the ball into the top left corner of Viljami Sinisalo’s goal. Despite protests from the Grecians after feeling that Reece Cole had been obstructed by the referee in the build-up, the goal stood, and the Pirates snatched an early lead.

City nearly hit back immediately, Harper again finding space inside the box before chopping past a defender and letting fly. His strike sailed past Ward but cannoned against the crossbar before being cleared from danger.

Taylor’s side had the chance to double their lead mid-way through the first half when Harvey Vale’s cross found the head of Anthony Evans. The midfielder did well to stoop low and head his effort towards goal, however Sinisalo produces a wonderful save down to his left to deny the visitors a second.

Rovers continued their period of pressure and went nearest to scoring the second goal of the game just before the break. Aguilera again involved as he was thread through in the box before unleashing a left foot strike at goal. The shot was a good height for Sinisalo though, who palmed away from danger to keep City in the game.

After such a promising start to the game, City struggled to create many chances to equalise following the visitors' opener and went into the break a goal down.

The Grecians started the second half well and went agonisingly close to drawing level only five minutes after the break. Tom Carroll’s pass found Jack Aitchison inside the box who swivelled before striking his effort narrowly wide of the left post and out for a goal kick.

City continued their second half push and went closest to drawing level through Sonny Cox. The 19-year-old found himself clean through on goal after an inch perfect Carroll pass but was thwarted by the outcoming Ward.

The Grecians continued to pile pressure on Ward’s goal and Reece Cole was the next City player to be denied by the Rovers goalkeeper. The midfielder spun past George Friend before firing his shot towards the roof of the net. However, he was denied by the outstretched arm of Ward who palmed over the bar to protect the Rovers advantage.

Cole went close to levelling the game once again when City were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out from goal. His attempt from the set piece took a nick off the Rovers wall and looked to be heading into the back of the net, but once again Ward did well to tip the ball onto the crossbar. Harris was first on hand to head the rebound back at goal, but his effort was also saved by the visitors’ goalkeeper to keep their 1-0 advantage.

City continued to push deep into additional time for an equaliser but came up short and failed to take anything away from the game.

The result means the Grecians fall three places to 17^thin the table after a few of the teams directly below were able to secure results elsewhere. For their next instalment of Sky Bet League One action, City host Peterborough United on Tuesday evening where they will be looking to quickly return to winning ways at St James’ Park

Exeter City: Sinisalo, Diabate, Jules, Sweeney, Niskanen, Cole, Carroll, Harper (Harris 72’), Aitchison, Rankine (Wildschut 79’), Cox (Eisa 72’).

Subs: MacDonald, Fitzwater, Hartridge, Kite.

Bristol Rovers: Ward, Wilson, Aguilera, Thomas, Martin, Vale, Evans, Conteh, Crama, Friend, Hunt.

Subs: Hall, Connolly, Gordon, Marquis, Brown, Baggott, Vaughan.

Attendance: 8085 (1137 away).

Referee: Will Finnie.

Football League Youth Alliance

Exeter 3-3 Forest Green Rovers 

Report by Derek Baker 

Exeter City’s Under-18s secured a dramatic 3-3 draw with Forest Green Rovers U18s on Saturday in their penultimate fixture of the Youth Alliance South West division.

FGR held a goal advantage in the first period due to their front-foot attacking display, however, two quick-fire goals in the second half from City’s Tom Dean and George Birch saw the game turn on its head.

Rovers though fought back, and after striking twice in almost as many minutes, they looked destined to celebrate a glorious win. But an injury-time equaliser courtesy of an own-goal meant the points were shared, leaving the Grecians in fifth place in the league standings on 20 points.

Exeter’s youngsters hoped they could extend their winning run to four matches in a row as they welcomed Forest Green to Devon.

Nicky Ajose selected Dan Layer in goal for hosts, while Dean, Jake Richards and Max Edgecombe added experience to the team chosen to put an end to FGR’s unbeaten streak.

It was the visitors who began the contest on top as City produced a rather sluggish performance in the opening exchanges.

With the Grecians unable to demonstrate the high-quality ball work that they had shown in their recent victories, their opponents were able to gain the upper hand, as they looked to force the Exeter backline into mistakes.

The Devonians were slow at moving the ball out from the back, which handed Rovers a sense of belief. That encouragement saw them make the breakthrough when one Forest Green attacker slotted the ball beyond Layer to open the scoring and stun Ajose’s men.

The home side rarely looked like scoring in the opening period, and when the half-time whistle blew, the Grecian coaches called for more heart and endeavour in their team’s performance.

That demand delivered a response from the City players, and after the restart, a few individuals stepped up to help drive the team on. Exeter began to look more comfortable on the ball, as they were able to advance up the pitch and find themselves in more threatening areas, causing issues to the opposition defence.

The Devon outfit deservedly levelled with a moment of real quality as Dean curled a sumptuous free-kick past the goalkeeper from 20 yards to raise everyone’s spirits.

Shortly after, the scoreline changed again as it became 2-1 to Ajose’s side courtesy of substitute Birch, who had injected a real intensity to proceedings following his introduction.

The hosts were unlucky not to go further ahead a little later as Richards came agonisingly close to scoring from a wonderful opportunity in what became a match-defining moment.

With that miss, the next goal of the day came at the other end, following an error from the Grecians. With both centre-backs failing to deal with a bouncing ball 30 yards from goal, the away side took full advantage and grabbed an equaliser, making it a four-goal game.

That helped shift the match’s momentum as Forest Green netted another goal shortly after to make it 3-2 with the clock running down.

However, City regrouped once again, and flooded forward in the hope they might be able to salvage a draw. As the clock ticked into the red, the Exeter players dug deep one last time, and were able to conjure a move that advanced them into another dangerous position. The ball was diverted off one unlucky away defender into his own net to make it 3-3, rewarding the Devon youngsters for their determination by rescuing a point that has kept them fifth in the standings, however, the sides around do have a number of games in hand.

Exeter City’s Under-18s Assistant Coach, Chris McPhee: “Sometimes the game doesn’t always give you what you deserve, but this was an occasion it did. We thought the game might have got away from us, but while we didn’t deserve to lose, we didn’t deserve the win either. The draw here unfortunately severely hampers our chance to finish in the league’s top five.

“Our performance was not at our usual standard. We were quite flat in the first half, and in the technical moments, we weren’t quite as reliable as we would’ve liked. At half-time we set the team some challenges, asking questions to the players whether they were willing to run harder, and to put in extra effort and desire. Overall, we weren’t fully committed to our principles in defending, and, when we got in front, we should have been able to push on.

“We had two or three chances that came from some real positive play, and those are moments we should be scoring from. Had we scored the golden chance to make it 3-1, it might’ve been different as we could have gained confidence and might’ve seen the game out. That was a key moment and we didn’t punish them. But the team will learn from these experiences, and there has been, overall, some tough lessons for the group.

“We play Newport County away next in our final game of this part of the season. We know what they bring, so there will be no shocks, and as much as we will prepare for them and their strengths and weaknesses, what we have seen since we have taken this group over, is that every week we have had the lions’ share of possession, so if we stick to our principles, and the players make good decisions, we should cause plenty of problems for them.”

Exeter City Under-18s:
Dan Layer, Louie Cayless, Liam Cartwright, Max Edgecombe, Liam Oakes, Tom Dean, Giulio Marroni, Jake Richards, Callum Graham, Brooklyn Kazunga, Theo Cutler

Subs: Dylan Shanahan, Tobias Alsop, Alfie Cunningham, George Birch, Santino Ohanaka