ECFC 1-0 Swansea Town
Scorer: Kirk
Attendance: 6000

Saturday, March 15th,
at St. James's Park, Exeter.
Attendance 6,000.

EXETER CITY:-
Bailey;
Pollard, Charlton;
Coleburne, Crompton, Gilchrist;
Matthews, Kirk, Shelton, Gallogley, Dockray.

SWANSEA TOWN:-
Brookes;
Morley, Langford; 
Roulson, Collins, Booth;
Holland, Deacon, Fowler, Thompson, Spottiswood.

Exeter City 1 (Kirk)

Swansea Town 0

Referee:- Mr. E. E. Small, of Bristol.

DESCRIPTION

Glorious weather favoured today's great match at St. James's Park, when Exeter City and Swansea Town met at one of the most dramatic moments in the history of either club. Success for the Grecians in this encounter would mean an appreciable easing of the strain in the club's struggle to get away from the relegation zone, and at the same time would virtually extinguish Swanse's hopes of promotion to the Second Division. A victory for the Swans, on the other hand, would place them in a strong position again, and cause the deepest concern in East Devon soccer circles.

Splendid as Swansea's record this season is, the club has not won a League match away from the Vetch Field since the start of the year, and so many team changes have been made in recent weeks, for one reason and another, that obvious symptoms of nervousness have developed. It is a subject of controversy in the South Wales town as to whether or not the Directors were wise in paying Plymouth Argyle more than £1,200 for the transfer of Fowler, and also as to whether or not the smarter centre-forward is not now playing for the Swansea Town Reserves, namely J.W.Smith, the ex-Queen's Park Ranger. In his four games for the all-whites Fowler has found the net but once, and the club have picked up only three points. Hole, the Welsh International outside-right, is on the injured list, and Davies, his successor with the Swans and with the Welsh eleven, is playing for his country today, so Holland filled the position on the right wing at Exeter today.

Langford has recently been purchased for £750 from Merthyr Town, and with Milne injured the newcomer was at left-back, partnered by the ginger-haired Morley.

A VERY VALUABLE GOAL.

Coleburne lost the toss, and Exeter kicked off facing strong sunshine, but soon had the Swansea backs in a tangle. Shelton led the line in fine style, the ball being moved about accurately and quickly, and it was evident that the City players realised that a victory today was of the utmost importance as far as the club is concerned.

Swansea let it be seen that they were also on the field in hot pursuit of both points, and they displayed some entertaining foot ball, with the halves and forwards in perfect unison. Fowler gave a pretty pass to Spottiswood, who beat Pollard and middled the ball perfectly, but Bailey ran out and cleared with a hefty punch.

At the other end Shelton headed wide with Brookes away from his charge, but after sixteen minutes Collins handled, and from the resultant free-kick which was lobbed in by Matthews to the penalty area, Kirk headed a beautiful goal. It was Kirk's first successful scoring shot since September 22nd, and there was some excuse for the display of exhuberance on the part of the scorer and the other City players. And as things turned out that this goal eventually won the game, it was also one of the most valuable scoring shots of the whole season.

Play continued at a keen pace with Dockray giving the Swansea defence plenty of trouble, and another goal looked likely. It did not materialise, however, for Shelton from Kirk's well timed pass missed the ball altogether. Matthews made a brilliant run through, but was stopped by Brookes, who came out and smothered the ball.

SECOND HALF.

At the start of this half Swansea made a very determined effort to draw level, and Exeter were lucky when Thompson was sandwiched between two City defenders, and the incident ignored by Mr Small. The pace continued to be fast and the game fiercely contested with both sides making every effort to gain the initiative. Shelton was again at fault with his shooting when presented with an opening by Dockray, and immediately afterwards, with the goalkeeper out of position he failed to reach the ball. Exeter were still much the livelier team, and well worthy of their lead, the whole of the machinery working smoothly and well. Three corners were won by the Grecians, and Brookes fisted out a big header by Shelton, which looked to be dropping into the net, and the Sheffielder was unlucky in another all-out assault when a shot from close cannoned off an opponent, while yet another drive was kicked out of the goalmouth by Morley.

SWANSEA RESERVES V CITY RESERVES.

This Southern League match was played at the Vetch Field in fine weather this afternoon and resulted in a draw of one goal apiece.

The teams were :

Swansea:- Denoon; Bennett, Lamb; Williams, Harwood, A.E.Davies; Corkindale, Lewis, Whitehead, Humphreys, and Crapper.

Exeter City:- Pavey; Crawshaw, Flynn; Murray, McIntosh, Potter; Lievesley, Batten, Wray, Lowson, and Lendon.

Swansea's first attack was cleared by Flynn, and McIntosh passed to Lendon, whose centre was intercepted by Bennett. Lendon dribbled through and passed to Batten, whose drive grazed the crossbar.
Clever play by Lievesley was responsible for Wray giving Exeter the lead with a smart shot, and at the interval the young Grecians led by one
goal to nil.

The Swansea forwards tried to take the Exeter fortress by storm when the game was resumed, and Pavey punched out from Harwood, and tipped over the bar one from Humphreys. McIntosh was the mainstay of an over-worked Exeter defence, and it was only justice done when Whitehead equalised from a rebound off Pavey's legs.