Brentford v Exeter
GRECIANS START THE SEASON AT GRIFFIN PARK
Saturday, August 25th 1928.

BRENTFORD 4, Phillips 2 Drinnan Berry
EXETER CITY 2, Houghton Doncaster

Referee:- Mr F.J.Matthews, of Bristol.


Brentford:- Bailey; Herod and Winship; Davies, Beacham, and Dearn; McKinley, Lane, Phillips, Drinnan, and Berry.

Exeter City:- Campbell; Pollard and Miller; Phoenix, Mason, and Christie; Purcell, McDevitt, Cameron, Houghton, and Doncaster.

Fine weather favoured Exeter City's opening match, with Brentford, and the ground was in excellent condition with its freshly cut and rolled carpet of grass. Exeter, again captained by Billy McDevitt, included five new players in their team, namely Campbell, Christie, Cameron, Houghton, and Doncaster. Brentford, who were captained by Davies, had three newcomers, Davies himself, from Portsmouth, Herod and McKinley from Charlton Athletic. Harry Bailey, the ex-Grecian, kept goal.

DESCRIPTION 

McDevitt won the toss, and the City had the advantage of a slight breeze in the opening half. Winship sent well upfield and the City defence had their hands full in repelling the busy "Bees's" forwards. Pollard was penalised for charging Drinnan, and the free kick led to a lengthy home attack. Miller twice partially cleared with his head, but could not get the ball away properly, neither could his colleagues. From Drinnan's excellent pass came the first goal, Phillips scoring with a low cross-shot. The game was less than three minutes old. Not long afterwards the City were two down, Lane splitting the defence with a beautiful ground pass for Phillips to run on to and beat Campbell with a well directed shot to the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. Five minutes before half-time Brentford increased their lead to three goals, Drinnan scoring with a hard shot in the top corner. There was an ugly scene between several players after this, Mason and Phillips getting on fighting terms, and others joining in. The referee, after consulting a linesman, warned the players.

Half-time:
Brentford 3 Exeter City 0.

Brentford ere good value for their lead, and substantial though it was they impressed as being the more methodical and livelier team, and decidedly the stronger in attack. The City were poorly served on the extreme wings, and too many of the forwards' passes were backwards instead of ahead. Campbell was unlucky with the shots which had counted, for they were the only ones on the target, and he had not the slightest chance of stopping any of them. Houghton's field play in the second half was clever, and he and McDevitt were in capital form. Doncaster, however, could make very little impression in his duels with Herod, but eventually Cameron was injured and retired, and in his absence Doncaster led the attack with Houghton forming the left wing on his own.

Exeter made one or two praiseworthy attempts to score, and with ten minutes to go the ball was booted strongly up the middle for McDevitt to transfer neatly to Houghton at the correct moment. Houghton got the ball under control in an instant and beat Bailey with a cool shot. Brentford then applied a degree of pressure, and four minutes before the end Berry ran in from the wing at top speed and scored a sensational goal at close quarters. Mason in the final minute booted the ball past Winship to Doncaster, who let fly first-time and scored a grand goal at 25 yards' range. Brentford deserved their success, but two of their goals were scored early in the game before Exeter had properly settled down. The City were a very greatly improved side in the last half hour, and Doncaster's smartness in the centre forward berth was a real "eye-opener," and his goal was a beauty. Campbell, Houghton, and Christie all played very well, as did McDevitt.

EXETER CITY RESERVES 3
BRISTOL CITY RESERVES 4.

Brilliant summer weather prevailed for the official opening of the football season at St James's Park this afternoon.

Four local amateurs, B.Erridge, C.Bastin, L.Turl, and P.Noble, were included in the City team. Bristol won the toss and Exeter kicked-off towards the St James's Road end in the presence of two thousand spectators. The teams were:
Exeter:- Holland; Lowton, P.Noble; Taylor, Pool, Sheffield; L.Turl, Streets, Wade, C.Bastin, and B.Erridge.

Bristol:- Newlands; Hughes, Taylor; Geddes, Barber, Smith; Gilhespy, A.Jennings, D.Murray, C. Beak, and Rankin.

Beak gave Bristol the lead, scoring an easy goal with Holland too far out. At length Exeter got on terms, Wade shooting through after Newlands had parried a shot from Turl.

Half time:
City Reserves 1 Bristol City Reserves 1.

The crowd by the time the second half commenced had increased to about four thousand. Wade sent wide after beating Newlands in a race for the ball, and when play was transferred Jenkins scored for the "Babes." Bristol maintained the pressure and Murray scored their third goal. At this stage Bristol were having things all their own way, and Murray netted with a shot Holland ought to have saved with ease. Taylor (Bristol) aroused the criticism of the crowd by pulling the ball down with his hand to stop Bastin, but towards the close Exeter pressed with some vigour, and Wade distinguished himself by scoring two smart goals.