ARGYLE DO THE DOUBLE
TOO GOOD FOR EXETER

Matthews Gets a Goal at the Park

EXETER CITY 0 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 2

St James's Park;
Monday December 27th 1926.

Today's return Football League match between Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle at St James's Park aroused even more than the customary high enthusiasm, and by two o'clock, half an hour before the time of the kick-off, there were 12,000 people inside the ground and huge queues leading up to the ground and enclosure. The railway excursions had brought big crowds up from Plymouth, and in fact from all over Devon, the settled fine weather being all in favour of a record "gate."
Exeter were strengthened by the return of McDevitt, and Phoenix moved across to the inside left position to the exclusion of Dent. Compton still being unfit the outside left position was retained by Parkin. The Argyle were unchanged.

Exeter City.
Bailey; Pollard, Charlton; Pullan, Pool, Potter; Purcell, McDevitt, Blackmore, Phoenix, and Parkin.

Plymouth Argyle.
Craig; Cosgrove, Titmuss; Logan, Russell, Hardie; Matthews, Forbes, Cock, Leslie and Black.

Referee: Mr A.Richards, of Bristol.

The grandstand was packed long before play started. New seating was brought into use on the railway bank, while the new crush barriers erected at the big end bank ensured the safety of the many thousands of people located there. Charlton led out the City team at 2.26 p.m., the Argyle following closely. There were then big queues pressing forward to the turnstiles. The City skipper won the toss, and Exeter played towards the huge crowd at the far end to begin with. Cosgrove smartly cleared the Grecians' opening thrust, and the Argyle made ground speedily, Leslie shooting just over. Next a centre from Leslie brought Matthews into the picture, but the old Exeter winger's header travelled wide. Exeter now launched an attack remarkable for persistance rather more spectacular than effective, or even skilful, and it ended when Phoenix heading over the bar from a good centre by Pullan. Then Forbes relieved with a clever pass, and the Argyle came away from the centre in lively fashion, Black crossing squarely. Potter missed with yards of room in which to clear, and Matthews promptly netted the opening goal, in nine minutes. The play was very fast, and each team quickly settled down to attack in turn, first Craig and then Bailey being called upon, with Leslie's genius invariably' a source of danger to the Grecians when Plymouth were on the move. With the game a quarter of an hour old there were still many people trying to gain admission to the ground, which was occupied now by well over eighteen thousand spectators. Close upon a hundred people were enjoying a "birds' eye view" from the roof of the shelter on the popular bank. The talented play of Leslie and Black was causing a deal of trouble to the City defence. The Grecians fought their way clear, but the men in the green and black were soon at it again, and Leslie and Cock between them gave Forbes a wonderful chance, but the inside right put the ball over the bar at five yards' range. Now, with some of the crowd swarming up a ladder and one on the roof of the Foot ball Express box, the City had another turn at attacking, but they could not get the ball near enough to be really dangerous. An infringement by Pollard close to the penalty area looked bad for the Grecians, but the free kick was cleared. At the other end Parkin middled the ball nicely, and Purcell fired into the side netting. Pool's energy and skill were now serving Exeter well in the matter of breaking down the Argyle's forward work, but Bailey had to save a clever hook shot, from Leslie, close to the post, while Black, who was in superb form, narrowly missed with a beautiful cross-shot.

Failures by the Home Marksmen.
At last the Grecians got clear at the Argyle end, and Blackmore had the ball at his toes. The centre forward dribbled twenty yards, but finished weakly by firing the leather several yards wide. Next moment a centre from Pullan had the Argyle defence beaten, but another miss, this time by Phoenix, followed, when the inside left had the goal at his mercy. These failures by the home marksmen boded ill for the City's chance of winning. However, the City kept up the pressure, and from a smart run and centre by the nimble Purcell, Phoenix headed in close to the post, Craig making a remarkable left-handed save. Logan was getting through a tremendous amount of work at right for Plymouth, but Parkin now forced a corner, and Pool had hard luck in having a lovely header diverted by Titmuss for another corner, which was cleared.
Second Half.

The second half opened at a great pace, and the City swung the ball about in a very stylish manner. Purcell drove in a great shot, close to the post, for Craig to bring off a sensational save. Then in a swift Argyle attack Cock broke away, rounding Pool and Pollard, but Bailey parried the shot, and when Leslie returned the ball to goal with a quick shot Pollard saved on the line with Bailey out. Exeter retaliated, and a centre from Purcell was headed over by Blackmore, only a matter of inches too high. Another corner to Exeter brought them no advantage, and a spell of midfield play followed, in which the Argyle's clever combination showed up well. Then the Grecians re-asserted themselves, and a ding dong tussle evoked great enthusiasm. Craig fielded three long shots from Blackmore, and a header from Purcell, none of which were really dangerous. Craig, however, had to be on his mettle to cope with a sharp Exeter raid in which all the forwards took part. The Argyle defence was rock solid, and seldom appeared likely to be beaten. Less than a quarter of an hour remained when the Grecians set up another rousing attack, inspired mainly by Phoenix. Again, however, they failed to press home their advantage, and play swung back to the other end, where Bailey saved from Matthews. The defences on both sides were playing sterling football, but with only seven minutes to go Black, after combining cleverly with Cock, scored with a fierce shot which flew into the net off the goalpost.

Notes on the Game.

Plymouth Argyle have now done the "double" over the City, and today's victory was well deserved. They were the better side in every department, the form of the two wingers, Black and Matthews, being a feature, whilst the experience of Russell at centre half was of great value. The Exeter forwards were disappointing and their finishing left a lot of room for criticism. The defence was also at times erratic, with the sole exception of Bailey, who was in excellent form and could not be blamed for either goal. The City made desperate efforts in the closing stages to draw level, but the Argyle defence, in which Cosgrove played a prominent part, held out, and after all the pressure at the Plymouth end it was finally the Argyle who broke away and scored a second goal. Blackmore played well enough, apart from one glaring miss late in the opening half, but lacked support from McDevitt and Phoenix. Compton's dash, and goal getting instincts were missed, although Parkin did reasonably well, especially considering his limited first-team experience. Plymouth's superiority in attack was convincingly clear, and the Argyle have now amply revenged themselves for their treatment at Exeter's hands during the last two seasons.

Record Attendance.
The attendance numbered 19,221, beating all previous records for the St James's Park ground. The gates were closed at the request of the police.

Southern League
The Reserves.
Argyle Reserves v Exeter City Res. 

In the return Southern League match at Home Park, Plymouth, the City Reserves were defeated by one goal to nil.