DITCHBURN MISSED IN HOME DEFEAT

Two Early Goals by Bournemouth Substitute
Saturday, January 4th 1930.

EXETER CITY 1  (Houghton)
BOURNEMOUTH & BOSCOMBE 2 (Scott 2)
Half-time 0-2.

Exeter City: Alderson; Howson and Shanks; Sheffield, Mason, and Dennington; Purcell, Houghton, Guyan, Hemingway, and Doncaster.

Bournemouth: McSevich; Hayward and Brown; Halliwell, Forbes, and Bradford; Clifford, Scott, Eyre, McInally, and Bryce.

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

Ditchburn was unable to play this afternoon because of a cold, and watched the match from the grand-stand. Mason filled the vacancy and captained the team. Baugh, whose ankle is injured, was replaced by Howson. The visitors were without S.M.Beswick, who was unable to make the journey, and Scott was chosen as his deputy at inside right.

The weather was showery and a mild breeze blew from the St James's Road end, but the ground was still practically waterlogged. Bournemouth appeared first in black and white stripes, Mason leading out the Grecians seconds later. At the kick-off the attendance numbered about six thousand. Mason won the toss.

THE GAME.

From the start the Exeter defence was guessing instead of getting the ball, and in less than two minutes Eyre headed the ball sideways to Scott, who was deputising for S.M.Beswick. Scott promptly steered the leather into the net so close to the post that Alderson had no chance of saving. In another twenty minutes Bournemouth went further ahead by a second goal from Scott, who received the ball from Bryce. Exeter had their chances, but finished weakly when in a scoring position. In the second half Houghton dribbled almost to the goalmouth before slipping the ball to Guyan, inside the six-yards area, and a goal seemed certain, but one of the Bournemouth backs held Guyan, and a penalty was awarded. Houghton took the spot-kick and scored easily. Ten minutes before the finish McInally, the Scottish International was injured and carried off. The exchanges were exciting with Exeter piling on pressure in the hope of getting an equaliser, but the Bournemouth defence was too good, and "safety first" tactics were adopted whenever danger threatened. The City had no cause for complaint regarding the result, for victory unquestionably went to the better side. Exeter's forwards frittered their chances away by over-elaboration, which did not pay against the sound and solid Bournemouth defence, and on such a heavy ground. Ditchburn was much missed at centre-half, for Mason never struck his best form. Eyre generally came off best in his duels with the City's captain for the day. The second Bournemouth goal came about through the failure of Howson to check Bryce. When the ball was sent across Scott was completely unmarked.

EXETER DEFENCE WEAK.
Had it not been for Alderson and Shanks the City's home defeat would have been much heavier. The defence generally was weak, and never settled down to sort of play they are capable of, and Howson was a poor substitute for Baugh. Dennington was the best of a poor intermediate line, and Houghton the only forward with any constructive ideas. With Bournemouth a man short in the last ten minutes the closing play was more exciting than anything seen earlier, but the visitors packed their goal, and kicked to touch at the slightest sign of danger, and Bradford was cautioned by the referee for wasting time over taking throw-ins. It was a disappointing result for Exeter after the fine win at Luton last week.


Friendly 
TIVERTON 1
EXETER CITY RESERVES 4.

Being without a competition match Exeter City Reserves played a "friendly" at Tiverton, against the local side. Henderson scored twice for the Reserves in the first half and twice more after the interval. In the second half Haydon headed the ball into the City net from a centre on the left but was adjudged offside. In the very last minute G.Butler broke through the Exeter defence and passed to Hudson, who outpaced Noble and scored for Tiverton. The game was played in showery weather before an attendance of 700.

The Exeter team was: Holland: Noble, Bright; Keefe (Exminster), Gurkin, Hill; Armfield, Thomas, Henderson, McDevitt, and Death.

• "DARKIE" POTTER AT COLWYN BAY.  The many friends of "Darkie" Potter, the former Exeter City half-back, will be interested to hear that this week a capital sketch of him appeared the in North Wales newspaper, along with the following paragraph:
  "Potter, the Colwyn Bay left half, is the utility man of the side, and can play in any position in the defence. As a half-back he is a rare schemer. Not only is he difficult to beat but he is great as a breaker-up of attacks. His feeding of his own forwards is a feature of his game, his passes on the ground are always accurate and well timed, and he is one of the big successes of the Colwyn Bay eleven." Old-time associates of "Darkie" in local amateur Soccer remember him as a tip top sportsman and will be glad to hear of his continued success in the game.
  
  
  

Saturday, January 11th 1930.

EXETER CITY 4 BRISTOL AND DISTRICT LEAGUE 4.

Conditions were very bad for the friendly game at St James's Park between the City and the Bristol League to fill the gap in the Grecians' fixture against Clapton Orient, who were engaged in the F.A.Cup. Heavy rain had made the playing pitch very swampy, and the continued storms of rain and sleet were not helpful in regard to the "gate," which was about
1,200 at the start.

Exeter City:- Alderson; Shanks and Bright; Sheffield, Ditchburn, and Dennington; Purcell, Thomas, Guyan, Hemingway, and Doncaster.
Bristol League:  Honeyfield; Sampson and Jones; Forward, Allen, and Wedlock; Barran, Butt, Bradley, Miles, and Walker.
Referee:- Mr C.W.Goad, of Exeter.

There was an astonishing opening, Bristol taking the lead in three minutes through Butt, the Hanham Athletic inside-right, who received a centre from Walker and scored with a shot in the top corner. The League went further in front soon afterwards, Butt again scoring from a left wing centre. Hemingway eventually beat the Bristol defence, taking the ball through on his own and drawing the goalkeeper out before shooting into the empty goal.

Half-time: Exeter City 1 Bristol and District League 2.

Butt completed his "hat-trick" in the second half, netting with a strong cross shot, and Guyan quickly replied with a goal for Exeter. Receiving the ball from a long clearance kick Bradley ran through the middle and scored with a low shot, which somehow escaped the usually safe hands of Alderson. Hemingway scored what would have been a spectacular goal if the whistle had not sounded for offside against him. Doncaster at last made an opening for Guyan to score, and in the closing five minutes Hemingway equalised the scores from Purcell's centre.

Western League
BATH CITY v EXETER CITY RESERVES.
Postponed 

Exeter City Reserves challenged Bath City's unbeaten home record, meeting them in the Western League this afternoon. 

Bath City: - Slocombe; Hicks, Rotherham; Neesam, Waite, Cooper; Walter, Bird, Brittain, Jefferies, and Pattison.

City Reserves:- Holland; Howson, Noble; Clarke, Mason, Gurkin; Armfield, Henderson, Gumm, McDevitt, and McMullan.

Half an hour before the time for the kick-off the referee, Mr W.H. Burnell, of Bristol, arrived and walked on the field, and declared that it was unfit for play. There was a large pool in front of one goal and surface water along the whole playing pitch on the grand-stand side. The ground had been rolled for two days early in the week, but half an inch of rain fell during last night.