ECFC v Northampton Town (W 2-0) Scorers: Kirk, Vowles

EXETER CITY v NORTHAMPTON TOWN.
Northampton, who were engaged at Home-Park on Saturday, stayed in Devon over the week-end, and played off their outstanding match against Exeter City before returning to the Midlands.

MONDAY, APRIL 3,
AT ST JAMES'S PARK.

EXETER CITY'S SPURT.

Now that the season is rapidly drawing to a close the Exeter City players seem imbued with the idea that the team shali not finish at the bottom of the League table. This was clearly emphasised the two previous Saturdays, when they succeeded in sharing the points with Reading and Bristol Rovers, but at St. James's Park, last evening, they went one better. The visitors were North- ampton, and the men from the boot town had been spending the week-end in the West. On Saturday they suffered defeat at the hands of Plymouth Argyle by two clear goals. and, curiously enough, the Citizens were yes terday successful by the same margin The game was played under wretched conditions. and the gate did not exceed a couple of thousand, but those enthusiasts who were brave enough to face the elements were treated to a good exposition of the code. Exeter relied on the same XI. as did duty against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, but Northampton played Weston for Tomkins at right-half. The Citizens had the advantage of a strong wind in the first half, but, despite this, Northampton were the first to attack. Chambers threatened danger on the left wing, but Rigby intercepted his final transfer and sent back to Fryer, who cleared in easy style. The breeze assisted the goalie's kick, and play was taken to midfield, where an exchange of long kicke between the backs took place. Nerthampton once again took up the running. hat Stewart and Pollard were in good form, and Fryer was never seriously troubled. During an attack' by the home forwarde Wat- son had to concede a corner, when Newman sent in a good centre, but this was easily cleared. Lockett was always in the picture for Northampton and was a source of worry to the home defence, although Mitton gave him very little room in which to operate. A corner to the men from Northampton followed, but this was cleared, and Exeter worked their way down. They were not, however, allowed to remain in Northampton's territory for any lengthy spell, although their vanguard was twice pulled up in quick succession for offside tactics. A dashing run by Crompton saw the visit ing custodian given a rare handful to deal with, but Smith made no mistake, and easily cleared his charge. At the other end Fryer was called upon to clear from Graham, and his kick saw Kirk burst away, only to shoot over the bar. A minnte later Vowles attempted inches. a shot, which missed the upright by Stewart pulled up Graham as the visiting inside-right was going through, but the remainder of the half was always in favour of the homesters, who could do anything but score. Frequently they would carry the game right into Northampton's quarters, only to be thwarted at the crucial moment, and Smith was so well covered by Jeffs and Watson that he was rarely given a difficult shot to negotiate. Bullock was badly fouled right in front of his opponents' goal, but the infringement escaped the notice of the referee, and then, following another assault, Kirk struck the angle of the crossbar with a hard drive. Nothing, however, was scored up to the interval.

The majority of those present were prepared to find Northampton outplaying the Citizens in the second half, seeing that they had the assistance of the wind, but, as in last Saturday's match, the homesters exerted themselves, and they proved themselves a far cleverer side than their opponents. An aggressive movement by their forwards re- sulted in the ball going to Newman, who was quickly in his stride. The right winger got the better of the opposing defence and centred nicely for Vowles to drive the ball past Smith for the opening goal. This was after nine minutes, and the spectators were on quite good terms with themselves. Their satisfaction was further increased three minutes later, when Dockray eluded the opposition and centred squarely. Kirk trapped the ball, and as Smith ran out to meet hin he flashed the hall into the net for goal No. 2. The delight of the spectators at this stage knew no bounds, and they clamoured for another goal.This however, was denied them, although the Northampton citadel underwent several narrow escapes Bullock missed by inches only, and following this Dockray gained a corner. This was cleared under difficulty. and then the Northampton forwards carried play to the other end, where Lockett and Graham were frequently conspicuous, the last-named heading a centre from Pease which just missed the upright. Hewison failed badly when presented with a golden chance, and in the last few minutes. Lockett appeared likely to reduce the homesters' lead after he had cleverly worked his way through. Fryer had to be reckoned with, however, and the City custodian brought off one of the finest saves of his life, a one-handed effort sending the ball round the upright. It was a shot which would have beaten nine goalkeepers out of ten, and one of the first to congratulate Fryer was Mitton. Exeter held the whiphand. but were unable to add to their score, and they thus won by a couple of goals.

OBSERVER.
Plymouth and Exeter Gazette.

CITY:-
Fryer; Pollard, and Stewart; Rigby, Mitton, and Crompton; Newman, Kirk, Bullock, Vowles, and Dockray.

COBBLERS:-
Smith; Watson, and Jeffs; Weston, Jobey, and Williams; Pease, Graham, Lockett, Hewison, and Chambers.

The attendance was 4,000.