Exeter 0, Bristol City 1

Exeter recovered from a shaky start to make a real fight of this West Country "derby." Bristol City got their victory goal through Boxley after 30 minutes and deserved their lead at that stage, but Exeter fought back so well in the second half that the visitors were fortunate to go home with both points.
Exeter had a weak link at outside left and Parker missed their greatest chance of equalising. Roberts did well for Bristol and McClelland and Doyle were Exeter's stars.
Attendance: 10310

Newspaper: Birmingham Daily Gazette 10/9/1953 

2nd Report by Nomad 

CITY DEFENCE SOUND BUT ATTACK WEAK.

EXETER CITY 0
Kelly; Walton, Doyle; Booth, Goddard, Dodgin; McClelland, Samuels, Mitchell, Murphy, Parker,
BRISTOL CITY 1
Cook; Guy, Bailey; White, Roberts, Williams; Regan, Atyeo, Rodgers, Micklewright, Boxley

Three home defeats in a row, Exeter City's plight worsensThere must be changes made to the City forward line, for it possessed neither the essentials of combined accuracy nor the thrust near goalEach man was a willing toiler but determination was not enough, City commanded the second half for long periods and the ball was often worked to within reasonable scoring range, yet the Bristol City keeper only had two shots to deal withPoor positional play, slowness to anticipate and reluctance to shoot. These were the cardinal faults as was the disinclination to meet the ball, The only goal was scored in the 30th minute. It followed a Regan corner kick which was deflected by Rodgers in the goalmouth skirmish. In darted Boxley to head the ball past Kelly. Defensively there was little wrong with City, Kelly was equal to all the reasonable demands upon his goalkeeping skill. Fullbacks  Doyle and Walton were steady, Doyle in particular had a good game and the halfbacks were a sound combination. The more one analyses the game the more one is driven back to the conclusion that the forwards must take the blame.

Southern League Cup Qualifying Round 2nd Leg. 

BATH CITY 1,
EXETER CITY RESERVES 1
Singleton; Storey, Douglass; McLean, Ware, Davey; Setters, Knight, Dailey, Mackay, Priestley.

Scorer Exeter City Dailey