EXETER CITY WIN THE REPLAY. 

BEST GATE AT ST JAMES'S PARK FOR TWENTY YEARS.

Wednesday, January 10th 1951.

Exeter City earned a home fourth round tie with Chelsea by reason of a magnificent victory over Grimsby Town before a crowd of over 18,000 spectators, the biggest gate at St James's Park since the Sunderland replay twenty years ago. Never in arrears Exeter made a sensational start to the game, and the visitors failed to recover from early setbacks.

EXETER CITY 4 (McClelland 2, Smith 2)
GRIMSBY TOWN 2 (Squires, Bloomer)

Half-time City 3 Grimsby 1.
Exeter City: Singleton; Warren, Clark; Harrower, Doyle, Davey; McClelland, Fallon, Smith, Lynn, Regan.
Grimsby:- Turnbull; Harnby, Taylor; Scotson, Duthie, Barratt; Lloyd, Squires, Bloomer, Mackenzie, Maddison.

Attendance 18,117, receipts £1,510.

Two goals were scored by Exeter in the first eleven minutes. The first was a corner kick by McClelland which Turnbull fumbled and helped into his own net. The second was headed in by Smith, from McClelland's centre, and was also due to misjudgment on the part of the Grimsby goalkeeper. The visitors then settled down to play football more in keeping with their Second Division status and after 19 minutes reduced their arrears through Squires, who beat Singleton with a clever shot from fifteen yards. Exeter now had to defend desperately on a playing surface which was beginning to resemble a ploughed field, but three minutes be fore half-time they scored again, a header from Smith going into the net like a rocket. The result was placed beyond doubt eight minutes after half time when McClelland scored Exeter's fourth goal, although Grimsby did manage to reduce the margin with a header by Bloomer.