October 7th 1933.

EXETER CITY 2 GILLINGHAM 0.

Reorganised and strengthened by the inclusion of Alex Hardie, who was transferred from Plymouth Argyle yesterday, at left half back, and the local amateur, Stanley Risdon, at inside right, the City gave a much more pleasing exhibition, and their play was more in keeping than it has been lately with that of a team with promotion hopes. They paid attention to the value of position play, and the introduction of Hardie supplied the steadying influence that was required. The limelight was not, however, completely reserved for the City's debutants, for in the Gillingham team were two popular ex-Grecians, Tom Holland in goal and George Purcell at inside-right. The weather was very dull and there was scarcely a breath of air.

Exeter City. Davies; Gray, Miller; Clarke, Angus, Hardie; Welsby, S.Risdon, Whitlow, Houghton, Hurst.
Gillingham. Holland; Jackson, Lester;
Forbes, Collins, Kidd; Mills, Purcell, Nicol, Raleigh, Liddle.

Referee:- Mr A.S.King, of Swindon.

"Jack was as good as his master" for long periods at St James's Park this afternoon, the visitors proving a lively combination who gave the City defence some anxiety in the opening stages. Gillingham were decidedly aggressive, and Davies was quickly in action, making one of his typical clearances from Mills after Nicol had lost a chance through hesitancy. Whitlow and Hardie both put in strong shots, and then Gillingham set up a fierce siege of the home citadel, which they might easily have captured had they shown greater steadiness within the goal area. The City took advantage of these lapses and they succeeded in drawing first blood, after Houghton had had a goal disallowed for offside. Hardie initiated the move with a pass to Risdon, who, surrounded by opponents, cleverly hooked the ball over his head to Whitlow. The centre-forward glided it on to Houghton, who shot hard into the net from close range.

GILLINGHAM'S WEAKNESS.

This reverse was the signal for further pressure by Gillingham, who from this point to the interval delivered a series of attacks which were only repelled with difficulty by the home rearguard. Shooting was Gillingham's weakness, Raleigh and Nicol both failing when well placed. Purcell shot better, but luck was against him, Davies being in position to field the flying ball. Whitlow gathered a pass from Welsby and went on to tap the ball into the net as Holland came out, but once again the goal was disallowed for offside. At the interval Exeter led by one goal to nil. Ten minutes after the restart the Grecians added to their lead, the ball being breasted through the goal by Houghton after Holland had failed to reach a high centre from Welsby. Little was seen of the Gillingham forwards as the game progressed, and in the end Exeter well deserved their victory, which puts them back on top of the Third Division.

• With 13 points from 10 matches the Grecians are one point ahead of Norwich City. 

BRISTOL ROVERS RES. 4
EXETER CITY RES. 3.

Heavy showers before the game at Bristol made the turf treacherous and the ball difficult to control. Tadman scored for the Rovers and Wrightson for Exeter in the first half. In the second half Exeter twice equalised after the Rovers had scored, but Taylor obtained the winning goal. Exeter's scorers were Poulter and Wrightson.

Wednesday, October 11th 1933.
Southern League Cup
EXETER'S BIG SCORE AGAINST MERTHYR TOWN

Exeter City Reserves 10 Merthyr Town 1.

All the players who represented Exeter City Reserves at St James's Park on Wednesday afternoon in the Southern League Cup match with Merthyr Town had had Third Division experience in the Football League. The team included five of the first eleven regulars, the men lining up as follows before 500 spectators.-
Chesters; Gray, Miller; Clarke, Childs, Webb; Scott, Wrightson, Poulter, Houghton, and Hurst.

Exeter's greater experience soon began to tell, and the home forward line dominated the exchanges. Childs and Wrightson went close, and after fifteen minutes Hurst, taking a pass from Clarke, beat Thomas in his stride and scored with a low cross shot which Brown was not able to reach. A diversion was caused when a dog ran on to the field and "tackled" Jenkins as the Merthyr winger was about to centre. The referee gave a bounce down. Merthyr made plucky attempts but were beaten back, and Poulter scored twice for Exeter in quick succession. The Merthyr side were quite outclassed, and Hurst added a fourth goal.
Half-time:
City Reserves 4 Merthyr 0.

Exeter continued to hold an easy mastery and Poulter scored from a centre by Hurst within a minute of the re-start. Scott, Poulter and Wrightson scored for Exeter. Collins got a goal for Merthyr, and Houghton and Poulter replied for the City, bringing their total up to double figures.