CITY OUTPLAYED AND ROUTED BY FAST SOUTHEND TEAM. FIRST LEAGUE VICTORY AT EXETER BY SHRIMPERS FOR 19 YEARS.

Saturday, April 12th 1947.

EXETER CITY 1  (Ebdon) ....
SOUTHEND UNITED. 5  (Thompson 2, Dudley 3)
Half-time City 0 Southend 1.

City: Hoyle; Thompson, Blood; Cutting, Hanford, Walker; Hutchings, Wardle, Owen, Wright, Ebdon.
Southend:- Hankey; Jackson, Walton;
Harris, Montgomery, Linton; Pritchard, Smirke, Dudley, Thompson, Lane.

Attendance 10,000.

Southend United gained their first League victory at Exeter for nearly nineteen years when they defeated the Grecians today, by five goals to one. The previous occasion was on September 5th 1928 when they won a much closer game by 2 to 1. They also beat Exeter at St. James's Park in a replayed first round cup-tie in 1932 when the home capt ain, Charlie Miller, was crippled early in the game, and thereafter hobbled on the left wing, a limping passenger. The margin of Southend's victory today, however, did not in any way over-emphasise the measure of their superiority. Except for a ten minute interlude immediately after the interval the visitors controlled the game against an Exeter City side which was much too slow and defective in all departments. Southend on the other hand were fast and virile in the attack, fast in their movements, and brimming with confidence, and they gave the hesitant Exeter defence many anxious moments in the opening half and overran and bewildered the home rearguard in the final stages. Thompson, Pritchard, and Dudley were all conspicuous at one time or another in the Southend forward line, and the centre of the field was invariably dominated by the giant Montgomery. Thompson opened the scoring for Southend shortly before the interval and early in the second half Ebdon equalised. Following Thompson's second goal the City team practically collapsed, and Dudley scored the visitors' third, fourth, and fifth goals against what must have been the weakest opposition that player had encountered throughout the season.