Match 23
16th January 1915
FA Cup
Aston Villa (a)
Aston Villa v Exeter City
ASSOCIATION CHALLENGE CUP
REPEAT OF LAST YEAR BUT AT BIRMINGHAM
Exeter City's Brave Struggle:
By a coincidence the City were again drawn to meet the Villa in the Cup, except that this year the tie took place away from Exeter, and was played on the spacious enclosure of the Aston Villa club at Birmingham.
ASTON VILLA
Hardy
Lyons Littlewood
Ducat Harrop Dobson
Wallace Stephenson Hampton BacheEdgley
Referee:- Mr J.Talke, of London.
EXETER CITY
Dockray Lovett W.Goodwin Evans Holt
Smith Lagan Rigby
Strettle Marshall
Pym
Dash is an invaluable characteristic in every grade of the game of football, but it is supposed to have a special value in matches when the Association Cup is being battled for. For a long time the onlookers at Villa Park were in doubt as to which way the combat would go. For forty-five minutes Aston Villa could claim little or no advantage; indeed the Exeter City side was infinitely the more dashing.
It was remarkable how, when a Villa man and an Exeter man went for the ball, the Exeter man invariably got there first. It was funny to see the way in which Bache was robbed of the ball just as he was about to do something abnormally clever. But Bache was not the only Villa player who found himself nonplussed by the enthusiasm and fervour which animated the younger footballers to whom they were opposed.
Aston Villa – 2 Exeter City 0
Exeter in the first half played right up to their League form. They were not content merely to neutralise the efforts of their opponents. There was genuine initiative manifested by the City in their attacking division. The Villa had passes intercepted, and shot after shot charged down, the result being that, at the interval, the score sheet was a blank.
THE VILLA ON THEIR METTLE.
Apparently the Villa had their previous failure in mind when they took the field after the interval, for within a minute of the restart Wallace placed a free kick well, and Bache headed into the net. Fifteen minutes later Edgley got a good swinging centre across, and Stephenson, with a clever hook shot, forced the ball past Pym.
The Villa were now playing finely, and their superiority for a time was most manifest. Later Exeter put in some excellent and plucky efforts, but although they pressed the Villa backs hard they could not beat Hardy, and so the Villa won by two goals to none.
EDGLEY'S FINE DISPLAY.
It was a keen and interesting game, but one could not fail to notice the superiority of Aston Villa's play after the interval. Yet it required little in the way of concentration to bring the superiority about. It was just that the First Leaguers turned the ball over to each other more sharply, took it more quickly, and generally showed extra alertness. Perhaps the incessant efforts Put forth by Exeter City during the first forty-five minutes of the game told upon them, but up to that point they worked like the proverbial "Trojans", and everyone on the ground was vastly impressed with them.
When the sides went off at half-time there was much speculation as to the possibility of Aston Villa having to travel to Exeter, and even as to whether the Villa would get the chance of making that journey. However, despite the City's praiseworthy efforts, class will tell, and the best form of Aston Villa, demonstrated in the opening period of the second half, is superior to the best form of Exeter City. But it only needed the Villa to go on playing the type of football they had exhibited up to the half-time interval, and the Grecians would probably have qualified for the next round.
As it was, the Villa pulled up in time, and there were periods during the second half when their play was wonderful accurate and skilful. Edgley ran away from an opposition he had rarely been able to beat earlier. The way Edgley doubled round Marshall was impressive, and showed the high skill of which the Villa man is capable.
Bache was quite a different being after the interval. There is no doubt that the Villa players had it "knocked into them" that if they meant to do something clever it behoved them to do it with the maximum of speed, and with correct timing. Hampton was not so successful as usual, being efficiently marked by lagan, but Wallace and Stephenson played very well, although as a coherent force the Villa were really only in evidence during the closing forty-five minutes.
DOUR DEFENDERS.
Ducat, Dobson, and Lyons did well in defence. For Exeter City, Dockray and Lovett made a clever wing, the form of Dockray being exceptionally resourceful and alert. Goodwin led the line well, and Holt and Evans had a good understanding. Holt once or twice bundled into opponents unceremoniously, but he and Littlewood happily cured each other of a tendency which called for other than commendation. Each gave the other one uncalled for and over vigorous jolt. The Exeter half backs were a persevering trio, and Marshall and Strettle kicked excellently, particularly during Aston Villa's period of ascendancy in the second half.
Pym, of course, is an expert between the posts. The City missed the thrust and bustle of Hunter from their front line. An injury kept him away, but Evans proved an acceptable substitute.
Last year the following players appeared in the second roundcup tie at St. James's Park, won by the Villa 2-1 after another hard struggle.
For Exeter City:- Pym; Fort, Strettle; Rigby, Lagan, Smith; Holt, Lovett, Whittaker, McCann, and Marshall.
For Aston Villa:- Hardy; Lyons, Weston; Barber, Harrop, Leach; Wallace, Stephenson, Hampton, Bache, and Edgley.
Match Report 2.
Classic Match
Aston Villa 1914
At the time Villa were the holders of the FA Cup, and were widely regarded as one of the best teams in the country, and favourites to retain their trophy.
Given the status and reputation of the visiting team, the match attracted levels of interest never seen before in Exeter, and reports revealed that ‘tramcars and every conceivable form of transport converged on the ground’, while the gates had to be closed early to avoid problems.
The official attendance for the game was given as 10,000, which surprised the supporters who thought that there were at least 13,000 packed in the ground, with even more hanging out of nearby windows to get a glimpse of the action.
In the earlier rounds, Villa had got past Sunderland and Everton with ease, but much to their surprise they found that the Grecians would be much more difficult to knock out than their previous opponent’s.
From the kick-off the ground was on the slippery side, and a drizzle was falling. City opened shakily, and after five minutes of bright play Hampton had put the visitor’s in front with a fine header.
However, this seemed to wake up the Grecian’s and with ten minutes graft of their own they earned a penalty, only to see Fort hit the upright with a powerful shot from the spot.
The second half opening was full of bright and fast football, but it was Villa who doubled their lead when Hampton latched onto a long ball from Lyons and tucked the ball past Pym in the Exeter Goal.
Again Exeter responded with tireless running and good use of the ball, and just after the hour mark McCann pulled one back for City. From here on the home side gave their illustrious opponent’s a game that no one expected of them, and at the final whistle all agreed that Villa were fortunate to be going through to the next round.
Despite our exit, this exhaustive and impressive performance from the players, along with the 4-0 thumping of Portsmouth in the previous round, was enough to catch the eye of the FA, which helped to earn us a little trip to South America in the summer.
Final Score: ECFC 1 Aston Villa 2
Exeter City: Pym; Fort, Strettle; Rigby, Logan, Smith; Holt, Lovett, Whittake, McCann, Marshall.
Aston Villa: Hardy; Lyons, Weston; Barber, Harop, Leach; Wallace, Stephenson, Hampton, Bache, Edgely.
Man of the match: Harry Hampton
Attendance: 10,000+
Written by: Will Barrett
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