Match Report:
Exeter City 1 Rotherham United 0

Caleb Watts’ second-half strike sealed a 1-0 opening day win for City as they got off to the best possible start for the 2024/25 season.

An end-to-end game entertaining game had chances at both ends for either side, but a ball off Caleb Watts’ chest mid-way through the second half marked the difference between Exeter City and Rotherham United at St James Park.

Gary Caldwell handed out six debuts prior to kick-off, with Joe Whitworth starting in goal behind a defence featuring Tristan Crama and Johnly Yfeko. Jack McMillan continued in the middle of midfield, partnering Ed Francis, while Josh Magennis led the attack. Less than 20 seconds into the 2024/25 season, a free-kick from midway inside the Grecians’ half found Josh Magennis, and he controlled the ball on the half-turn and volleyed goalwards. The Millers’ keeper had to palm the ball over, but City’s striker was judged to have handled the ball. The match began at a frantic pace, with the ball quickly moving from one end of the pitch to the other. Rotherham had a penalty appeal waved away when Jordan Hugill fell to the ground, with Yfeko not too far away. City’s determination to play out from the back resulted in a few early tense moments, as the new defensive trio of Sweeney, Crama and Yfeko navigated the opposition’s high press without playing the ball long, in the face of pressure. It took 25 minutes for Whitworth to make his first save, when he plucked a curling effort from 25 yards out of the air without too much exertion. Jack Aitchison then had the Millers’ stopper concerned with an effort that curled millimeters wide of the post. Reece Cole played a delightful ball low across the box after being found by Ilmari Niskanen, but the ball evaded everyone. Aitchison picked it up with his back to goal on the far corner of the box, turned, and shot inches wide. City’s number 10 was probably kicking himself five minutes before the break. He ran across the top of Rotherham’s box but took one touch too many when a shooting chance presented itself, allowing defenders to stack themselves up in front of the ball. Aitchison laid it off to Cole, but his shot was deflected away. The Grecians grew into the half, with Vincent Harper the next to try his luck. After receiving the ball into into his feet inside the box, his fiercely-hit shot sailed wide. Some of the traveling fans from South Yorkshire celebrated prematurely when a perfect ball found the ever-dangerous Jonson Clarke-Harris at the back post. With the goal at his mercy, many thought he was certain to score, but his header instead drifted wide, for the final chance of the half.

Second Half

City began the second half strongly, with Reece Cole having two chances from nearly identical positions on the right-hand edge of Rotherham’s box. The first came after a good run from Niskanen, who squared the ball to him, but Cole’s low shot was held onto by Dillon Phillips in goal. Moments later, City’s number 12 found space again on the edge of the box and sent in a more powerful shot, which was parried with Magennis just a step away from the ball. Cole completed a hat-trick of chances with another effort from outside the box on 56 minutes. Striking the ball from the edge of the D, Phillips could only punch the ball away as Cole worked his way positionally closer to Magennis. After a slow start to the half, Rotherham reminded City of their threat with a spectacular 35-yard strike from Bramall, leaving many City fans holding their breath. Less than a minute later, the Millers came even closer. With the ball bouncing around inside the Grecians’ penalty area, a shot deflected off a defender and struck the corner of the post and crossbar. The game continued to thrill, as Cole found Aitchison in the middle. With the goal looming, Aitchison beat the keeper with his shot, but a defender on the goal line cleared it. Rotherham then took their turn to threaten City, with Sam Nombe, now in Rotherham’s yellow, bearing down on the Big Bank. He crossed to Odoffin in the center, who sent the ball just over the bar. With so many chances, a goal felt inevitable at either end, and it was City who broke the deadlock. Fresh off the bench, Millenic Alli found space down the left and crossed into the six-yard box. All it needed was a touch, and substitute Caleb Watts provided it, chesting the ball into the net to put City 1-0 up in front of the away end. Alli then looked to get on the scoresheet himself, finding space down the left side of the penalty area. With options in the middle, he chose to shoot, but his effort hit the side netting. The end-to-end nature of the game continued with another chance for the Millers, as a free-kick was knocked back to the edge of City’s box. Tiehi looked set for a perfect half-volley, but his shot ended up in the Big Bank. Three minutes from time, Alli should have passed when he held onto the ball too long inside the Millers’ penalty area. After cutting in from the left, the striker had plenty of options but decided to go it alone, with his eventual shot missing the target by a wide margin. City weathered Rotherham’s late pressure, including a last-second shot from Nombe saved by Whitworth, to seal an opening-day win against their former Championship opponents.

Exeter City: Whitworth, Niskanen, Sweeney ©, Crama, Yfeko (Purrington), Harper (Watts), McMillan, Francis, Cole (Alli), Aitchison (Borges), Magennis

Substitutes: MacDonald, Purrington, Fitzwater, Alli, Watts, Diabate, Borges 

Rotherham United: Phillips, Rafferty, Brammall, Raggett, Clarke-Harris © (Nombe), Hugill, Hungbo, Odoffin, Humphreys, Tiehi, McCart (Powell)

Substitutes: Dawson, James, Powell, Nombe, MacDonald, Osong, Holmes

Attendance: 7458 (901 away)

Under-18 Report:
Gillingham 4 Exeter City 1

Two poor goals in both halves meant that Exeter City Under-18s came away from their first competitive fixture of the season with a 4-1 defeat to Gillingham.
 
Headers from a corner and a free-kick in the first half, the first of which an own-goal, and two lapses in concentration in the second meant that Theo Cutler’s goal ultimately counted for nothing in a tough afternoon for City’s youth team.
 
For the first fixture of the Under-18s Youth Alliance South season, Nicky Ajose named Jacca Cavendish in the starting lineup for the first time in almost 18 months following his recovery from an ACL injury.
 
The young Grecians had a shaky start in Kent, allowing their opponents to gain early dominance, which led to a series of early corners for the hosts.
 
While City managed to deal with the initial few, they failed to clear their lines enough further up the pitch. Four minutes in, a corner to the back post took an unfortunate deflection off a City player and ended up in the back of the net.
 
Despite the early setback, City responded positively by dominating possession, although they struggled to create clear-cut scoring opportunities. Callum Graham and George Birch combined well several times playing behind Theo Cutler upfront, but they couldn’t carve out a decisive chance before the Gills doubled their lead in the 22nd minute.
 
Disappointingly for the Grecians, Gillingham’s second came from another set-piece. Poor marking from a wide free-kick left a free man in blue at the back post, who headed home from close range.  
 
City continued to struggle in the final third for the remainder of the first-half, but held their opponents at bay to keep the score at 2-0.
 
The Grecians emerged with renewed energy in the second half, and managed to half the deficit through those two number 10s in the middle. Graham found a pocket of space outside the box and slid the ball through to Cutler on the right-hand side of the box, who calmly finished across the goalkeeper.
 
While that goal gave City momentum, another sloppy moment in possession gifted the home side the opportunity to restore their two-goal advantage 15 minutes after Cutler’s goal.
 
Jack Anthony played a poor back pass to Dan Layer in Exeter’s goal, a moment which allowed a Gills striker to nick the ball off City’s stopper and square to his teammate to tap into an open goal.
 
The game became increasingly stretched after that point, with plenty of space opening up in the midfield. However, it was Gillingham who made the most of those gaps, creating several chances. With five minutes remaining, one of those chances left City with no way back into the match.
 
Another cross into City’s box was brought down by a Gills striker, who quickly turned away from a defender before launching the ball into the roof of the net to seal a comprehensive win for the home side.
 
Meanwhile, the Under-16s also faced Gillingham simultaneously, winning 1-0 in their first competitive fixture of the season.
 
The young Grecians are next back in action on Saturday at the Cliff Hill, where they host AFC Wimbledon with a 1pm kick-off.

City line up: Dan Layer, Liam Oakes, Jack Anthony, Jacca Cavendish, Liam Cartwright, George Birch, Harry Crees, Santino Ohanaka, George Willams, Callum Graham, Theo Cutler

Subs: Dylan Shanahan, Luke Hodgetts, Tobias Alsop