Exeter City moved out of the bottom four in League One after a deserved win against fellow strugglers Carlisle United at St James Park yesterday.

City dominated large parts of the game, and the result should have been more comfortable than it ended up being.

Both teams had bolstered their ranks in the week with new signings. City announcing the loan signing of Luke Harris from Fulham until the end of the season. City had tried to get this one over the line in the summer and thought they had a deal for the attacking midfielder sealed, before it collapsed in the final stages of the window. Caldwell was clearly very keen to bring Harris in, and he will delighted to have got his man, particularly with Ryan Trevitt looking increasingly unlikely to play for City again.

Carlisle made 3 signings prior to the contest, with the most notable being Luke Armstrong from Harrogate, likely for a significant fee. Harris & Armstrong were both thrust straight into both starting line-ups, which was to be expected, as goals is a commodity that both sides have found hard to come by this season.

City started brightly, and Harris had a chance in the early stages to open his account after good work from Reece Cole & Jack Aitchison around the edge of the box.

As expected, City had the majority of the possession. Aitchison & Harris were proving real menaces to Carlisle. The Cumbrians did come back into the game though, with City almost gifting the visitors the lead. Sinisalo passed the ball out to Tom Carroll, who was in space, but Carroll slipped, which led to Carlisle countering and almost taking advantage. Between Sinisalo and Hartridge, City managed to keep the ball out of the net.

Carlisle had another chance to score moments later, Hartridge lost out in the middle of the pitch, which led to Gibson playing the ball out wide into space and into the path of wing back Joshua Emmanuel, who was posing a threat. Thankfully for City, Zak Jules managed to get himself back in and made a superb block to prevent a possible goal for the visitors.

The half time whistle blew, with the stats showing that City had 68% possession. While City were generally dominating the play, Carlisle arguably had the better chances to score.

City came out with a renewed sense of purpose after the break, again dominating the early proceedings. City had a chance to take the lead in the 50th minute after some very good build up play by Harris & Carroll. The ball made it’s way to Aitchison, who had a decent attempt saved by keeper Breeze. Sonny Cox was alert to the rebound and the ricochet landed to Harris, was was adjudged to foul the Carlisle defender and the visitors were let off.

City took the lead in the 57th minute through Reece Cole, who had another exceptional game in the middle of the park. Some more impressive build up play led to Aitchison sliding a pass down the inside right for the lively Harris to run onto. Harris crossed the ball to the near post, which Cox was attacking. The Carlisle defender got his body in the way, but the ball would fall to Cole near the edge of the box, and City’s number 12 hit a firm, but controlled finish into the bottom corner. A lead that City fully deserved. The goal came from both Cox and Cole both attacking the “scoring zone”, which we hear Caldwell talk about a lot.

City went 2 ahead, 20 minutes later through the ever improving Cox. Cole, Carroll, Harris & Aitchison combined again to great effect. When Aitchison’s shot came back off the post, Cox was in the right place to steer the ball home and give City a 2 goal lead. City had now scored 2 goals in 2 consecutive league matches for the first time this season.

City almost made it 3, after more good work from Aitchison put Pierce Sweeney through on goal, but City’s captain couldn’t get the better of the Carlisle keeper Breeze.

To Carlisle’s credit, they didn’t give up, and did come back at City, as you would expect in such an important fixture. Armstrong missed a glorious chance to pull one back for the Cumbrians, but he hit the post from very close range. Armstrong was involved again when the returning Sweeney did enough to prevent a goal at the near post.

The visitors did score, in the 86th minute, through the lively second half sub Daniel Butterworth. A Carlisle corner was headed clear by Hartridge, but the ball fell to the unmarked Butterworth on the edge of the box, who hit his first time strike sweetly and with venom, the ball flying past Sinisalo, who could do nothing to prevent the goal.

The fourth official inexplicably added 9 minutes of stoppage time to the end of the game, which made for a nervy finish for the Grecians, who had to dig in and hang onto those valuable 3 points. A theme of recent performances is that City seem to be tiring in the final 10-15 minutes of matches. I can only put this down to lack of depth in the squad, with a lack of options to come from the bench, meaning some players are getting more minutes than the City boss might like.

After a truly wretched run, City have now taken 7 points out of 12, with wins coming against Wycombe & Carlisle, and a very creditable point against Portsmouth. The defeat at Reading also felt a harsh result, and City really should have taken a point from that game.

There were plenty of positives to take from the performance. Cole & Carroll again linked up well in the middle of the park. Jack Aitchison seemed to be reinvigorated with Harris alongside him. Sonny Cox produced another great display, showing good hold up play, making clever runs and being in the right place at the right time to put City 2 up. Luke Harris made a very promising debut, full of running and enthusiasm and clearly has quality on the ball. A word for Alex Hartridge too, who put his poor performance at Reading behind him with a good display. Chieck Diabate & Zak Jules were as reliable as ever and Pierce Sweeney performed well on his return to the side.

It remains to be seen whether any new more arrivals appear at the Cat & Fiddle this week, prior to Saturday’s game away at Blackpool. City can’t afford to rest on their laurels and 3-4 more signings are required if City want a realistic chance of pushing their way up the table and away from the relegation places.

Social media has also been full of rumours that both Harry Kite & Alex Hartridge want to leave the club this window. Whether they are correct remains to be seen, but unless good fees are offered, particularly for Hartridge, I would be inclined to keep hold of the players until the end of the season. In relation to Kite, while I am a big fan of his, I would not blame him for looking for an opportunity elsewhere. The academy graduate isn’t getting a lot of minutes, and when he does, he is often played out of position.

City are already short on numbers, so any departures at all would see the need for extra signings. City cannot leave themselves short going into the final few months of the season. Finishing January with as strong a squad as possible is imperative.

Credit must be given to the players, the Manager and the coaching staff for the recent performances. The trip to Blackpool is followed by a home game against Cambridge, in what looks like to be another huge game. The U’s are now only a point ahead of City. Wigan, Burton and Wycombe are now also within touching distance. If City can keep up this recent form, we could start to drag ourselves up the table.

On a personal note, I was delighted to be invited onto the club’s official Podcast, Park Life, by host Tom Picillo this past week, for the second time this season. We covered the recent results and performances, the resurgence of Chieck Diabate & Sonny Cox and looked ahead to the visit of Carlisle (I predicted a 1-0 win) and talked about the January transfer window and which areas of the squad we need to address. I never imagined when starting the blog that I would be invited onto a club podcast, and I am very thankful for the opportunity. My blog and articles have now had over 3000 views since I started in July, which I never thought imaginable. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read the blog, it’s very much appreciated.

Up The City!!

By Mark Dennis