Saturday, February 20th.

F.A.CUP FIFTH ROUND: PRESTON v EXETER CITY

EXETER CITY LEAD 3-2 UNTIL 20 MINUTES FROM TIME

F.O'Donnell the Preston Hero of Eight Goals Tie

Although beaten at Deepdale, Preston, Exeter can be congratulated upon putting up a plucky display against First Division opponents. The City started off in brilliant style and in the opening twenty minutes their attacks were full of danger. They held the lead till twenty minutes from the end. Preston controlled the game towards the interval, but there was no real superiority by either of the sides in a gruelling second half until the last twenty minutes during which the North End got three goals. Angus was the dominating factor in the City defence, and Chesters also played brilliantly. Every man in the side pulled his weight, and there was cleverness and pace in the attack. Smith and Owen were thrustful and tricky wingmen. Bussey was the schemer of the line and Williams his usual hard-working and tireless self. Exeter went down with their colours nailed to the mast. Preston were surprised by the quality of their football.

Preston 5 Exeter City 3

GOALS TIMETABLE
3rd minute: OWEN, Exeter.
40th minute: F.O'DONNELL, Preston. 43rd minute: F.O'DONNELL, Preston.
47th minute: SMITH, Exeter.
60th minute: OWEN, Exeter.
70th minute: H.O'DONNELL,Preston. 78th minute: F.O'DONNELL, Preston.
90th minute: BERESFORD, Preston.

The attendance numbered 22,936 and the receipts were £1,671.

The City's chosen eleven, with Harry Johnson travelling as reserve, were accompanied by Mr M.J.McGahey (president), Capt.F.J.C.Hunter (chairman), and the following other directors:- Messrs J.Rigby, S.H.Thomas, J.G.R.Orchard, C.W.H.Hill, and C.Hoskins, on the long journey north.

This was the City's third post-war visit to Lancashire and the second time that the Grecians have reached the fifth round of the Cup. Stopping at the same hotel as the City players was the Arsenal team who were en route for Burnley, and Cliff Bastin wished his former club the "best of luck." There was quite a lot of Cup-tie excitement in Preston early in the morning when the excursion train containing nearly 700 Exeter supporters arrived. These hardy enthusiasts from Devon themselves heard, and there was considerable amusement among soon made the local population when a stuffed seagull attached to a long pole was paraded through Preston's principal streets. The weather was bitterly cold and the wind blew with gale force at times. The weather was far from pleasant and this, coupled with the other Cup attractions at nearby Burnley (v Arsenal) and Bolton (v Manchester City) had the effect of reducing the attendance.

PRESTON NORTH END
Burns
Lowe Beattie
Shankly Tremelling Milne
Beresford F.O'Donnell Fagan H.O'Donnell
Dougal
Referee:- Mr G. Dutton, of Warwick.

Owen Pope Williams Bussey F.Smith
Shadwell Angus Clarke
Boyle Brown
Chesters
EXETER CITY

Half an hour before the start there were not more than ten thousand people inside the ground. A short shower fell as the time for the kick-off approached, and it was expected that the pitch would cut up badly once play commenced. The crowd came in fast in the last quarter of an hour preceding the kick-off, and the "gate" on the spacious and well-appointed ground numbered about 25,000 when the players came out. Angus won the toss and set Preston to face the stiff breeze. Gallant Exeter City. For 90 minutes they had their First Division opponents extended and twice held the lead before they went under. Mistakes by Burns were greatly responsible for Exeter's chance to make a fight of it. He gave them a "present" of two goals. On the other hand Chesters was in irresistible form and saved his side on numerous occasions. Exeter provided a shock in the third minute when Owen pounced on the ball and fired in a shot as Beattie hesitated in his tackle, and Burns saw the ball balloon into the top corner of the net off Beattie's foot. Beresford restored confidence to Preston with a delightful move. His shot was only just wide of the mark, as were two headers by Bussey for the City, from corners.

LONG PASSES TO THE WING.

With the wind behind them Exeter City were playing strongly, and making up ground quickly with long passes out to the wings. Three North End forwards tried to "walk" the ball into the net, and Chesters saved Exeter by diving into the middle of them to secure possession. Later Fagan hit the upright and Chesters made a good save from Beresford. The equaliser was not scored until five minutes before half-time, Frank O'Donnell heading through from Fagan's centre. Three minutes later Preston took the lead, F.O'Donnell scoring a great goal from Dougal's pass, crashing the ball powerfully into the top of the net after the first shot had been scooped off the line by one of the Exeter backs. This made Exeter tighten up their defence, and every time Preston tried to advance each one of their forwards seemed to be marked.

HALF-TIME:
PRESTON NORTH END 2
EXETER CITY 1.

Long before the scoring of Preston's second goal it appeared that Exeter City's light had faded. It was not so, however, for on the restart they shocked the North End once more, and within a couple of minutes had drawn level again.
Bussey initiated the movement by means of a shrewd forward pass to Williams, who beating Tremelling for possession was able to race into the penalty area. There he tried to work the ball past Lowe, but was unsuccessful. The leather rebounded from Lowe's shin, but Smith, advancing a few yards, then drove in a low cross-shot. Burns dropped to the shot but fumbled in his attempt to save, and to the consternation of the Preston players and the crowd the ball rolled underneath his body. There is no doubt that it had crossed the line and was already in the net, but all argument was set at rest when another Exeter forward dashed up and made sure. The Grecians had both pluck and luck, for there were times when the talented Scots of the Preston forward line made rings round Clarke and Shadwell, and in the pure football sense Exeter were outplayed. Then with the game exactly an hour old came another shock. Brown cleared well upfield and Smith was away again. Challenged by Lowe he middled the ball squarely and along the carpet. Burns ought to have cleared, but he allowed the ball to pass him and Owen dashed in and with his left foot drove high into the unguarded net. Great was the jubilation of the City and their travelling supporters at this stage. The game continued to be packed with thrills, dramatic incidents in plenty being seen in both goal areas.

FREE KICK COSTS CITY A GOAL.

Brown was a fine and resolute defender for Exeter, and Angus, who with Clarke is the City's only survivor of the famous 1931 F.A.Cup campaign, was also in masterly form. But despite all the City's dogged defence Preston were the better footballers and justice was done when they got an equalising goal, although it came about in unexpected fashion. A free kick forty yards out was taken by Shankly, who drove hard across the field to Hugh O'Donnell. O'Donnell's header from close in flashed into the net just inside the near post. Twenty minutes of this stirring tie now remained, and both teams fought with renewed vigour now that the battle for supremacy had started all over again. Quarter was neither asked nor given, but the exchanges were not unnecessarily vigorous, and the contest was played out in the true sporting spirit. Fast work by the respective attacks kept the crowd on their toes, and the Preston supporters went literally wild with delight when F.O'Donnell scored again. The ball was centred from the left, and Chesters was knocked headlong in the melee as players of both sides jumped for the ball in the goalmouth. A shot by a Preston forward was blocked by Brown, and with Chesters on the ground O'Donnell put the ball hard into the empty net.

NOT BEATEN YET.

Even now Exeter were far from being a beaten side, and a strong rally with Bussey inspiring the move kept Preston at full stretch. Ten minutes before the finish the City suffered a stroke misfortune. A centre from Smith was kicked behind for a of real corner, and from the resultant flag-kick there was a hectic skirmish in front of Preston's goal. A strong header by Williams was too high for Burns to reach, the ball going over his head and then dropping behind him, but when Owen dashed in and kicked the ball into the net he was ruled offside. It was a sensational escape for Preston and the worst possible luck for Exeter, for with less minutes remaining this goal would most likely have brought Exeter a replay on their own ground. But it was not to be. than five

VICTORY AT LAST FOR PRESTON.
In the very last minute Preston broke away on the left, where Hugh O'Donnell centred cleverly on the run to give Beresford a golden opportunity. Beresford took the winger's pass, and controlling the ball cleverly and coolly, went on to beat Chesters with a ground shot from well inside the penalty area.

The game thus ended with the result, Preston North End 5 Exeter City 3.

QUOTATION FROM A PRESTON NEWSPAPER.

".......the draw for the fifth round gave North End another home game, this time against lowly Exeter City, who however proved to be a far tougher proposition than the form books predicted. The City's goalkeeper, Chesters, defied heavy Preston pressure, after Owen had stunned the Deepdale crowd by opening the scoring in 3 minutes. "When eventually the weight and power of the attacks had finally overcome the Devonians' resistance sufficiently to allow Frank O'Donnell to score two goals, it appeared that the game was then decided. Exeter had other ideas. Mick Burns deputising in goal for Holdcroft, had looked distinctly shaky and he allowed to shots to beat him, which he should have saved. "It looked as though there was to be a major upset, but then Hugh O'Donnell sneaked in from the wing to plunder an invaluable goal to equalise and Exeter were staggered. Frank O'Donnell and Dougal each scored to bring a belated victory to Preston, but it was very close, far closer than the score of 5 to 3 indicated."

Exeter and District League

Exeter City Reserves v Barnstaple 

Today they played Barnstaple at St James's Park, and scored twelve goals against one.

Team:- Tierney; H.Platts, Pollard; A. Coles, Bamsey, S. Barnes; V.Lawrence, P. Williams, Ebdon, Urmson, and F.Chudleigh.  

Exeter's goals in the first half were obtained by Ebdon with two, Lawrence, Williams and Urmson with one each. Ebdon 2, Williams 3, Urmson and Pollard (penalty) scored in the second half.

Final Score:- City 12-1 Barnstaple