SWINDON TOWN 4 EXETER CITY 2.

Monday, August 30th 1926,
at Swindon.

Exeter City were dogged by ill-luck throughout the match at the Wiltshire County Ground, Swindon, on Monday evening, and the adverse score of four goals to two does not do justice to the steadiness and skill of the Grecians in most aspects of the play. Charlton played for an hour and a quarter with a damaged right arm, Pool was off the field with a head injury for three quarters of an hour, while the first goal, to Swindon, in the fourteenth minute was a surprising decision by the referee. Charlton, from the goal-line, headed over the bar a ball only to see Mr Pennington point to the centre spot. from Thom. Add to these hardships the fact that the first of three goals by Morris was made possible through a clearance kick from Charlton cannoning against Morris's legs, that the second and third of Morris's goals should have been stopped by Bailey, that Blackmore shot over the bar from a penalty, and that Exeter City, called upon to play in white shirts, lost the toss and had to face a powerful sun in the opening half, and it will be grasped readily exactly that this was not Exeter's day. Redeeming features were that the Grecians, except in one or two important respects, played decidedly better football than their opponents, being quicker on the ball and more skilful, that Purcell, the ex-Swindon player, got Exeter's first goal against his old club, and that Pool, with four stitches in his lower lip, returned to the fray in time to score Exeter's second goal with the last kick of the game.
Swindon Town. Nash; Dickinson and Weston; Furniss, Bew, and S. Johnson; Denyer, Wall, Morris, Eddleston, and Thom.
Exeter City. Bailey; Pollard and Charlton; Ditchburn, Pool, and Garratt; Purcell, McDevitt, Blackmore, Walker, and Compton.
Referee:- Mr J.V. Pennington, of Reading.

The match was played in sweltering heat, spectators perspiring profusely as they sat in the grand-stand. Wall showed up in the early play as the foraging forward in the home attack, but Nash was called upon to save before Bailey, a strong shot from Ditchburn requiring safe treatment. Bailey, however, had a harder job a minute later, Eddleston testing him with a bumping header, and following up the ball in the hope of a slip. But Bailey cleared promptly. Swindon made a great point of plying Morris with the ball, pass after pass coming along up the middle of the playing pitch. It was good to witness the energetic measures taken by Pool towards meeting this danger, and the skill with which Pollard and Charlton covered the Town leader. Then, in ten minutes, came the injury to Charlton, which rendered useless his right arm. The skipper returned quickly, and Exeter were playing clever football, with the forwards all very quick on the ball. Just when the Grecians looked like presenting the Swindon following with an unhappy evening, the Town got a lucky lead. In an "all-in" movement, the Swindon forwards lobbed the ball across the Exeter goal without being able to get in a direct shot. The leather then went to Thom, and he headed it to the goal, where Charlton, who had taken up his position beside Bailey, headed the ball backwards over the bar. The spectators groaned their disappointment, but in an instant changed their tune, for referee held that the ball had entered the goal before Charlton had got his the head to it. And the referee pointed to the centre spot. Exeter protested, but in vain.

A Tremendous Race.

Stung by the set-back, the City played even better football, and for a time Swindon Town were penned in their own half. Once, from a pass by Blackmore to Compton, there was a tremendous race for the ball between Compton and Nash, the goalkeeper managing to boot it away in the barest fraction of a second before Compton arrived. McDevitt and Walker played constructive football, and Furniss was having a very bad time of it in face of the Exeter left wing liveliness. A feature was the skill with which the City inside forwards took up position to receive a pass. Nash made a brilliant low save from Blackmore when Compton had cleverly given the centre forward a shooting chance.

Bailey Fell Too Late.

Swindon revived, and Bailey dealt capably with a glorious long shot by Bew, following a corner. Then, after twenty-eight minutes, Swindon scored again. Charlton had greatly distinguished himself by the skill with which he had been holding Morris in check, but this time the sturdy Swindon leader got in the way of Charlton's clearance kick, and the rebound gave Morris a clear run through. He shot low and quickly to the far corner, Bailey falling too late to intercept the ball. Not a minute after this Exeter missed a splendid chance of reducing their deficit. The forwards moved down smartly, and with the home defence all at sea, Purcell dropped the ball almost into the goalmouth, where Walker was waiting. The inside left astonished everybody, himself included, by heading the ball in the wrong direction. Thirty-one minutes had elapsed when Pool, who was all eagerness and speed, threw himself around Morris to head away a waist-high ball which Morris was trying to gather. Pool succeeded, but at the same time received a kick in the mouth. He was carried off, unconscious, and bleeding freely from a split lower lip. There was no doctor on the ground, and nearly three quarters of an hour went by before the wound was stitched and Pool was able to resume. He returned to the field to play at outside-right during the last twenty minutes. McDevitt moved to the vacant pivotal position and Exeter played four men in attack. Even in these circumstances the City had as much of the game e as Swindon, and in a sustained onslaught forced two corners. From the second one Blackmore got his head to Purcell's centre, and the ball was entering the Swindon goal when Weston scooped it out with his hand. The Exeter players alleged that the ball had actually crossed the line, but the outcome was a penalty, and sad to relate, Blackmore shot over from the spot, the ball grazing the cross-bar. The City's enterprise, however, was not to go unrewarded. A minute before half time Compton shot fiercely from an acute angle. Nash dived to smother the ball, but did not quite succeed, and Purcell moved in quickly and kicked it into the net. At the interval Swindon led by two goals to one.

Second Half.

There were many thrills in the second half. Wall hit the foot of the Exeter post with a great shot two minutes after the re-start, and four minutes later Denyer and Wall caused further trouble to Exeter, a centre from Denyer being turned into the goal by Morris from only three yards out. Bailey got his hands to the ball but failed to hold it. The crowd gave Pool a sympathetic cheer when he returned to the field as a flying partner to Purcell, and Exeter proceeded to work coolly and craftily to try to get a goal, with McDevitt, Walker, and Compton as the prime movers. Attack after attack was launched and carried through admirably, and Swindon were over-played. Nash saved at full length a dangerous lot shot by Blackmore. Alas for the City's aspirations. Morris got away on one of his characterist ic bustling excursions, and Bailey ran out and missed the ball entirely, the centre-forward having nothing more to do than to tap the leather into the vacant goal for Swindon's fourth point. Exeter continued to show fight, and indeed were attacking almost constantly in the closing minutes, the Town defence being tired out. Dickinson narrowly missed turning into his own goal a ball from Purcell, and shots were put in by Pool, Compton, and McDevitt. Right on time Exeter scored. Walker initiated an attack which was carried on by Garratt and Compton. The centre was slightly diverted by Blackmore with his head, and the ball went to Pool, who promptly netted.

Notes on the Game.

Swindon owed their success to the dashing work and opportunism of Morris, coupled with weak goalkeeping by Bailey. Morris always welcomed a hard tackle when he had the ball, and he gave the City backs a lot of anxiety. Pool was just settling down finely when he met with his accident. Garratt was very effective all the way through, but Ditchburn was hardly fast enough, and not so happy in his passing as on Saturday. Pollard could hardly have been in better form. He was the strongest defender on the field, and his heading of the ball was a great feature. McDevitt was the pick of the forwards.

Southern League
EXETER CITY RESERVES 3
SWINDON TOWN RESERVES 1.
Wednesday, September 1st 1926,
at St James's Park.

City Reserves:- Bailey; Lowton, and Miller; Ditchburn, Good, Newman, Phoenix, Thompson, Dent, and Parkin. and Potter;

Swindon Reserves:- Bourne; O'Neill and Brooke; Cooper, Waite, and S.Johnson; Ing, Petrie, Daniels, J. Johnson, and Davies.

Exeter's goals were scored by Thompson (2) and Dent (1). The City achieved a highly meritable victory in this Southern League match, played at St James's Park on Wednesday evening before 2,000 spectators, at the expense of a strong Swindon Town reserve side, because in the first few minutes Good damaged the muscles of his leg, and for the remainder of the match was a cripple on the right wing. Re-arranging the side, with Ditchburn at centre-half and Phoenix at right half, the Grecians played with such spirit and skill that the balance of the game was always in their favour.

The Opening Goal.

Bourne cleared sensationally from Parkin in the early play, while at the other end a fierce shot from Davies was cleared by Potter in the goal-mouth, after Bailey had punched the ball out. Clever play on the Exeter left led to the opening goal, midway through the first half, Dent feeding Thompson, who eluded O'Neill and scored with a very strong shot. Bourne distinguished himself in the Swindon goal, but there was no further scoring before the interval.

Second Half.

Five minutes after the restart Exeter increased their lead through Dent, who with a businesslike side tap drove the ball past Bourne, following determined play by Thompson and Newman. Thompson scored Exeter's third goal, the best of the game, a quarter of an hour later, bringing the ball under control as it came across from Newman, and beating Bourne with a lightning drive from twenty yards. Swindon's goal was scored by Petrie with a header from a pass by Cooper via the goalpost. Rain fell heavily throughout the match, and the customary interval was not taken.

• Lievesley's Return.
  Wilfred Lievesley, who broke his arm in a motoring accident during August, is expected to report at St James's Park on Saturday for training.