The Eclipse of Reading EXETER CITY'S BRILLIANT BANK HOLIDAY PLAY 
Halliday Was the City's Brighest Star

Monday, March 28th 1932.
EXETER CITY 4 READING 0.

Playing brilliant football in all departments, Exeter City beat Reading in the most convincing style at St James's Park on Easter Monday afternoon, obtaining four goals in less than half an hour and winning by that score, holding the upper hand throughout. Eleven thousand people watched the match, and if there were disappointed in the display of the visitors they were delighted at the way in which the Grecians at last made some amends for their moderate performances in the holiday matches at Reading and Swindon.

Exeter City:- Davies; Gray and Miller;
Clarke, Childs, and Barber; Whitlow, Purcell, Varco, Halliday, and Doncaster.

Reading: Mellors; Forster and Hodgkiss; Darnell, Allan, and Barley; Ritchie, Eaton, Palethorpe, Balmforth, and Davies.

The secret of Exeter City's splendid success was a marked improvement at centre half, and an even more pronounced smartening up of the attack, with Varco in the centre, Whitlow and Purcell forming the right wing, and Halliday at inside left to Doncaster. Any fears that the much altered forward line would find some difficulty in the matter of settling down to an effective game were dissipated instantly by the smoothness with which the initial attack, within one minute of the kick off, was carried through to a triumphant conclusion. Receiving Doncaster's shrewd through pass, Halliday unhesitatingly slipped the ball up the centre, keeping it low. Varco moved out swiftly to accept the pass, and staving off the challenge of Hodgkiss he sent the ball across in front of the Reading goal and tantalisingly out of the reach of Mellors, even though the goalkeeper threw himself full length in an attempt to save. Whitlow, with nice anticipation, was in position to close in and ram the ball hard into the net.

Exeter's Delightful Football.

Reading rallied somewhat after their opening shock, but apart from two or three moves in which their wingers were prominent, and which ended with Ritchie, with an open goal, shooting outside, the visitors were finely held by the determined Exeter halves and backs, who were in their usual, business-like mood. And all the real excitement was at the Reading end, because, under the inspiring influence of Purcell and Halliday, the City front line men were playing delightful football of a quality which has not been seen much of in recent weeks. Exeter's clean and quick combination was a joy to behold, the players all showing masterly control of the ball. Mellors turned around the post a long shot by Halliday, who at the second attempt was somehow beaten by the spinning ball which flew over the empty goal.

A Remarkable Second Goal.

Reading were handicapped temporarily by an injury to Davies, who went into the dressing room for treatment to his leg. During Davies's absence, and when twenty minutes of the game had elapsed, the Grecians obtained a remarkable second goal. From a throw-in by Barber almost precisely at the half-way line and in front of the grand-stand Halliday tapped the ball back to Barber, who promptly punted it up the middle. Hodgkiss thought he might clear the shot, but finding the ball was travelling over his head he left it to the goalkeeper. Mellors raised his hand to shade his eyes from the glaring sun, and before he realised the danger the ball dropped out of the glare of the sun, hit the turf three or four yards in front of him, bounced against his legs and glanced into the goal. When certain of his colleagues ran to congratulate Barber on scoring easily the most extraordinary goal of the season on this ground he hardly knew accept their handshakes or to refer them modestly to Mellors. whether to In five more minutes Exeter obtained goal number three. This time the opening was made by the left wing pair, and from Halliday's perfect final pass Varco shot a great goal, the ball flashing past Mellors at high speed.

Doncaster's Admirable Effort.

There was a short-lived Reading attack in which Eaton headed inches over the City cross-bar, and then, in the twenty-eighth minute Purcell swung a beautiful pass across to the outside-left position.

Forster made a frantic but fruitless attempt to intercept the ball, which was in an instant brought until control by Doncaster, who, seeing that the quickness of the move had left the goal open to him, ran on to beat Mellors with a low cross shot, deliberately placed just inside the far upright. Doncaster's effort was so admirable that half the team moved over to congratulate him. Purcell and Halliday positively revelled in their work, and the enthusiasm of the spectators was boundless as the City continued to outplay their rivals, launching attack after attack in rapid succession. Allan in trying to hold Varco, had his hands over-full, and the men on either side of him were so desperately busy that they had no time to think of the needs of their own forwards. Halliday was the star performer in the Exeter attack. He showed rare judgment in his distribution of the ball and gave Varco some delectable ground passes which any forward would have been glad to take in his stride. The second half by comparison was tame, Exeter ambling along, and Reading, now deciding that defeat was inevitable, making only half-hearted efforts to get by the City defence.

• Exeter City Reserves were defeated by five goals to one in the return match at Taunton against the "Town," for Southern League points.