EXETER BEATEN BY THE LEAGUE LEADERS

Second-Half Goal by Bowen Decides the Issue

Saturday, September 20th 1930.

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 (Bowen) EXETER CITY 0
Half-time 0-0.

Northampton: Hammond; Inglis and Anthony; Odell, Maloney, and Davies; Maclachlan, Riches, Bowen, Dawes, and Wells.
Exeter City: Davies; Baugh and Miller; Clarke, Ditchburn, and Barber; Armfield, Purcell, Varco, Houghton, and Doncaster.
Referee:- Mr C.H.Wood, of Birmingham.

Heavy rain and boisterous winds were handicaps to the players in the game at the County Ground, Northampton, this afternoon, but 7,000 spectators saw the local side maintain their unbeaten record and win a strenuous battle by a solitary goal. Ditchburn won the toss and Exeter took advantage of the elements, but from the kick-off Northampton cut through quickly and attacked first, and it was left to Barber to clear the first dangerous raid, and Baugh the second with a good header away from Wells's centre.

The Winning Goal.

The goal which won the match, scored a quarter of an hour after the interval,
was the result of a brilliant left-footed shot by Bowen, which sent the ball to the top left hand corner of the Exeter net. The rain increased to a torrent, and the field quickly became churned up. As might be expected under such conditions there were many mistakes from both sides, and combined play was often upset by the elements rather than by the merits of the opposition.

At the same time, higher praise could be given to the rival defences than to the attacking forces, not because there was only one successful move, but by the higher standard reached. Northampton have yet to show their supporters football as good as they showed at Bristol, when they beat the Rovers by 4 to 1, and at Brentford, where they won by 4 to 0, in the opening games of the season. They owe their position as leaders of the Southern Section mainly to the strength of their defence. Hammond, who with Varco in his best shooting form, had far from a sinecure in today's game, is a goalkeeper of ability, and he is this season playing right at the top of his form. Inglis, the right back, not to be confused with the City club captain of the same name, may not have great pace, but as he showed the Exeter forwards, his anticipation and powers of recovery are good, and although Doncaster at times seemed to be having too much scope, he nearly always found the former Manchester United back in the way at the moment that mattered the most.

Notes on the Game.

Victory went to the better side, but Exeter made a brave fight, and with some more in the way of luck might have shared the points. It was a tribute to the Grecians' defence that Northampton got no more than the one goal, which, however, was sufficient to win the match. Davies kept goal magnificently, and Baugh and Miller supported him well. In the half back line Ditchburn's form was an improvement on that of Inglis, in his last two matches, while Clarke's strong tackling and speed on the ball, and the thoughtful distribution of Barber were also very useful. Doncaster and Houghton were a lively left wing pair.

Friendly
CITY RESERVES v TRURO CITY.

Truro City paid their first visit to Exeter this afternoon, the occasion being a friendly match with the Grecian Reserves at St James's Park. The weather was boisterous and showery, and there were 1,200 spectators.

City Reserves: Bouchier; Gray and Bright; Keefe, Angus, and Hill; Gumm, McCosh, Parsons, Allison, and Courtney.
Truro City: Atkinson; Buzza and Wilson; Cundy, Walker, and Champion;
May, Richards, Clench, Penna, and Shewbrooke.
Referee:- Mr F.Lovell.

Play opened sensationally, Courtney scoring for Exeter in the first minute. Two minutes later McCosh scored from Courtney's corner kick. After a brief attack by the Cornish team Parsons, receiving from Gumm, dribbled through and drew Atkinson out of goal. He then passed to Courtney, who simply had to run the ball into an empty net. More narrow escapes for Truro followed, McCosh eventually scoring the fourth goal for the Grecians. Two more goals were added by Allison, the City leading at the interval by 6 to nil. Some simple scoring chances were missed by the home forwards when the play was resumed. Rain fell heavily, but the ground afforded good foothold. Parsons broke through down the centre, and tapping the ball past Atkinson shot it into the empty goal. Two minutes later Allison scored from Courtney's neat centre. Richards relieved the monotony by scoring for Truro, but in the last ten minutes Courtney and Allison increased Exeter's score to ten.
The result was:-
Exeter City Reserves 10
Truro City 1.


Thursday, September 25th 1930.
Southern League 
BATH CITY v CITY RESERVES

City Reserves Unlucky to Lose

GOAL IN THE SECOND HALF DECIDES THE ISSUE

BATH CITY 1
EXETER CITY RESERVES 0.

Exeter City Reserves lost at Bath on Thursday evening by one goal to nothing, playing in the Southern League, and in the result they were certainly unlucky. A draw would have been a much more fitting score. The all-important goal was obtained by Brittain after 20 minutes of the second half had expired, when in fact neither side looked like scoring. Once they had the lead, Bath clung for all they were worth to it, staving off some hot attacks by Exeter.

Bath City: Prout; Howson and Hicks;
Walker, Waite, and Phoenix; Budd, Davidge, Brittain, Jefferies, and Compton.
City Reserves: Jones; Gray and Shanks; Inglis, Angus, and Dennington; Allison, McCosh, Parsons, Halliday, and Lister.
Referee:- Mr G.F.A.Cross, of Swindon.

Prout had much more to do than Jones, but he did it very well, his coolness steadying Bath under pressure. But on the whole it was not a forwards' game. The shooting never reached a high standard, and some of it was positively poor. Chances went begging both ends, and good approach work was spoiled by either wild markmanship or else drives directed over the bar.

Exeter Superior.
In some respects Exeter were superior. They were faster on the ball, and more skilful in their passing. Allison was very conspicuous with his fleet - footed dashes along the wing and his accurate centres, but it was finish in the inside positions that was missing. The Grecian halves were better than the Bath trio. They distributed the ball with cleverness, Angus in particular giving a fine display in the centre. Of the backs, Gray kicked with admirable judgment, and Shanks was very rarely at fault. The nearest Exeter came to scoring was when Halliday and Lister between them got the ball past Prout, but Hicks dropped back in the goalmouth and kicked clear. The Bath City side contained no less than 4 ex-Grecians, Howson, Walker, Phoenix, and Compton.