27th February 2001
Devon (St Luke's) Bowl. 
Ilfracombe 2-11 Exeter City 

OUT-OF-FAVOUR midfielder Chris Holloway gave Exeter City boss Noel Blake a sharp reminder with four goals in the club's 11-2 demolition of Ilfracombe last night. The Grecians were anxious to avoid a repeat of their embarrassing 4-3 defeat to the North Devon side at the same stage of last year's Devon (St Luke's) Bowl. Despite driving rain, sleet and plummeting temperatures, City raced to a 4-0 interval lead. Front duo Rob Speakman and Graeme Tomlinson both completed their hat-tricks as Exeter ran riot in the second-half and Holloway and Geoff Breslan completed a handsome victory over a side struggling near the foot of the Screwfix Direct Western League. With Blake busy casting his eye over weekend guests Cheltenham, City were led by youth development officer Mike Radford. "The attitude of the players was spot-on and they played some very good football bearing in mind the conditions," said Radford. "We scored some excellent goals, although we had other opportunities and the scoreline could have been even greater in our favour. "If I was disappointed with anything, it was the two goals we conceded. But because of the manner in which we dominated possession, it was inevitable that someone or somebody was going to lose concentration. "This was a potential banana skin; the conditions were very, very wet and cold and it was their cup final. But overall I was delighted with the performance.'

EXETER CITY:
Fraser, Cronin, Gross, Ashton (Casey, 46), McConnell, Zabek, Holloway, Goff, Breslan, Tomlinson, Speakman.
Subs not used: Mudge, Price, Hallam.

Goalscorers 
Chris Holloway 4, Rob Speakman 3, Graeme Tomlinson 3, Geoff Breslan