Easter Football
EXETER CITY'S TWO MATCHES WITH MILLWALL 

Good Friday, April 6th 1928.
MILLWALL 2 EXETER CITY 0.

Exeter City Football Club and their following were very optimistic regarding the Grecians' Easter prospects in the away and home matches with Millwall and their Saturday home match with Gillingham, all for Football League points. Only two points have been lost by Millwall at New Cross to date, Swindon Town and Crystal Palace having managed to draw there. Yet there were enthusiasts in Exeter who fancied the Grecians' chances of winning this afternoon. The Exeter team is a very bright and happy combination with a clever attack and a strong rear guard. The side today was strengthened by the return to the pivotal position of Alec Pool, a determined and rugged player, while in an attempt to further improve the intermediate line Mason was played on the left in place of Clarke, who is a wonderfully fine prospect but inexperienced. Much depended on how the hefty young Scot fitted into the scheme of things in this unaccustomed position. If he settled down quickly the City would make the Lions gallop all the way. 

Millwall Sparing No Effort.

The New Cross club has spared no effort in the way of making success as sure as may be. Every week the Millwall players have visited Brighton for brine baths. For this afternoon's match they fielded the eleven which visited the city of Coventry last Saturday and won by three clear goals. Always an attraction in town, Exeter City's visit to Millwall resulted in the biggest "gate" the Grecians have ever yet helped to entertain, even bigger than the one at Blackburn just over two months ago. New Cross is capable of holding a huge attendance, and the ground is about the same size as Home Park, Plymouth, and with the exception of the Valley and Selhurst Park, easily the biggest in the Third Division. The teams lined up as follows:

Millwall:- Harford; Hill and Pipe; Amos, W.I.Bryant, and Graham; Chance, Landells, Cock, Phillips, and Black.

Exeter City:- Wainwright; Pollard and Charlton; Phoenix, Pool, and Mason; Purcell, McDevitt, Dont, Vaughan, and Compton.

Referee: Mr F.W.Reeve, of Devonport.

The conditions were ideal for the game at Millwall. A nice firm pitch with a light ball, the keenness of both sides was at once evident, and the crowd of over 40,000 was soon treated to a series of thrills. There was very little to choose between the sides in midfield play, for both swung the ball about crisply and accurately. Millwall, however, possessed a little more driving power than Exeter, and their forwards, who included Jack Cock, the former "Pilgrim," were more dangerous in front of goal. There can be no gainsaying that the Millwall halves were the masters of the City forwards, so powerful was their tackling, so little time did they give Exeter in which to work that the whole understanding of the line went to pieces. Up to a point the battle between the City halves and the Millwall forwards was equally fierce. Phoenix, Pool and Mason never slackened for an instant; their tackling was swift and sure. Phoenix, up against a virile left wing in Black and Phillips, was Herculean in his efforts. Many times the City trio were successful in stemming these clever attackers, who even before today's match had passed a century of goals for the season, but there were also many times when they were beaten, and it was as well that those two sterling defenders, Pollard and Charlton, were behind them.

Pool's Desperate but Unavailing Effort.

However severe the pressure Charlton and his partner covered Wainwright to the best effect possible, and the custodian himself brought off several masterly saves. At the end of twenty minutes, however, the persistent and forceful efforts of the Millwall forwards bore fruit. The movement began on the right, near the corner flag, where Amos threw the ball in and Landells swung it over to the extreme left. Black dashed in at full speed and drove a terrific cross shot towards the Exeter goal. Wainwright was beaten, and Pool made a desperate but unavailing effort to save, but only succeeded in heading the ball through his own goal.

The City tried as hard as they could to retrieve this loss, but they were not strong enough to cause the home defence any anxiety. Ten minutes after their first goal had been scored Phillips drove in a shot from about fifteen yards which Wainwright got his hands to, but the speed of the shot carried the ball into the net.

Second Half.

The City defence stood firm after the interval, but their attack could not do anything tangible, and it was only on rare occasions that Harford was brought into action. Compton had one fine chance in this half, but his shot was weak and lacking in direction. Exeter lost because the quick tackling of Millwall did not allow the forwards
to play their usual game. The play of the rearguard was up to standard.

Southern League
EXETER CITY RESERVES 4
TAUNTON TOWN O.

Taunton offered a stubborn resistance to Exeter City Reserves in the Southern
League match at St James's Park, but there could be no question of the City's superiority, and they won comfortably by four clear goals. A strong, experienced, and very capable Exeter defence threw the forward line of the visitors out of gear. Lowton, Miller, and Holland were all in splendid form, and by the means of very energetic and skilful play frustrated several commendable second half scoring attempts on the part of Taunton. Early in the second period there were a couple of exciting tussles in the City goalmouth, but so well did the defenders cover up that the shield in front of the Exeter goal was never pierced. The nearest thing to a Taunton score was a shot from Morgan which hit the Exeter crossbar. At the Taunton end the City forwards made many sparkling advances, the speed and accuracy of the passing giving the visiting defenders acute anxiety. Andrews opened the scoring early from a pass by Bastin, while shortly before the interval Bastin crowned good left wing play with a magnificent goal which drew prolonged applause from the 3,000 spectators. The young amateur brought the ball under control instantly, with the coolness and skill of a veteran, and shot without hesitating for a second, across the goal, Pavey having no chance of saving the stinging shot.

Second Half.

Midway through this half Andrews scored Exeter's third goal. They were then awarded a penalty for a foul and Lowton directed Holland to take the kick. Holland advanced from his goal to take it, his shot was saved by Pavey, but as the old City goalkeeper had come a couple of yards outside the goal to do it the referee ordered the kick to be re-taken. Again Pavey saved, and the incident was closed. Right on the long whistle McDade wound up the scoring with a rousing shot to the top corner of the net.
The teams were:

City Reserves:- Holland; Lowton and Miller; Ditchburn, Warren, and Chambers; Jenkins, McDade, Andrews, C. Bastin, and Kirk.

Taunton: Pavey; McLean and E. Curtis; A.Ford, W.Curtis, and Clemett; A.J.Smith, Wheeler, F.G.Clarke, Morgan, and Ingram.

• Championship Challenge No More.
  Exeter City's brave challenge for the championship of the Southern Section is now no more, for even if the Grecians were to win all their remaining games, and Millwall to lose all theirs, the difference in points between the clubs would not be made up.
  
  
• The Reserves, however, are still chasing Bristol City Reserves at the head of the Southern League table, hoping that the "Babes" may slip up in the final few matches still to be played.