Public Practices

FIRST OF THE SEASON: PARSONS GETS THE GOALS

Saturday, August 12, at St James's Park.

RED AND WHITE STRIPES, WHITE KNICKERS 2-0 WHITE SHIRTS, BLUE KNICKERS

Referee:- Mr W.F.Webb, East Devon Association.

Linesmen: Messrs 0.F.Passmore and A.W.Martin.

TEAMS

Red and white:- Fryer; Pollard, and Bell; Rigby, Mitton, and Crompton; Newman, Camble, Parsons, Vowles, and Dockray.

White:- Dart; Ackroyd and Flynn; Richards, Southway and Clarke; Matthews, Crockford, Devlin, Mathieson, and Shelton.

An attendance of two thousand five hundred spectators, at the first practice game on the second Saturday of August, and on pouring wet afternoon was very encouraging to the officials of the club, and to the players, old and new.

People thought the ground looked a bit patchy, and so it does. It had a gruelling time at the tail-end of last season, and has had hundreds of tons of sand and soil to assimilate since. The full benefit of this extensive top dressing will be seen not in the coming season, but in the following one.

THE NEW RAILINGS.

Also, of course, it was duly noted by the observant ones (and the faculty of observation is strongly developed among football crowds) that the new railings provided by the Supporters' Club for the fencing of the big bank at the score-board end of the ground are not yet in position, but are delivered and in readiness for fixing. One of the urgent needs of St James's Park, of course, is that of a covered in stand, where the spectators could gather, no matter what the weather, and watch the matches in comfort.

The weather for today's match could hardly have less like the month of August. Not a soul turned up in flannels and straw hat. Bowlers, and felts, and macintoshes, and serviceable boots, and a sprinkling of umbrellas on the terraces made it a typical soccer crowd. The Summer Day was fit for Winter Sports, and those only.

If this weather continues there will be no grousing about hard grounds, and the casualty lists will be lightened proportionately. The teams were a few minutes late in starting, but the brand new eleven in white uppers and blue unders soon cantered on to the field, followed closely by the "old 'uns" looking as smart as you please in new red and white striped shirts. And the rain streamed down relentlessly.

FOOTBALL FEVER.

Devlin started the game, and the first applause, apart from the cheers which greeted the players as they ran on to the ground, was won by a pretty bit of work by the White inside trio of forwards. Then Crompton was laid low through getting his head in the way of a strong centre from Matthews, and the spectators laughed, as they have a habit of doing on such occasions.

A sparkling sprint by Newman with the ball at his toes roused the crowd to enthusiasm, and when the little winger flashed by, winning a corner off Clarke the onlookers forgot all about bowls, cricket, tennis, seaside, countryside and home, and settled right down to The Game. Football fever once again had them in its grip.

TWO SCORING CHANCES

Owing to the rain the teams changed over and resumed play, the interval being dispensed with. The only goals came late in the game, when Parsons, the eager young centre-forward from Chagford, snapped up two scoring chances and twice shook the rigging with flashing shots. It was what the crowd had been wanting to and the goals went down well. see,

There were occasional skilful touches from the new "stars" in the White forward line, and Crockford's shooting was a feature, but the regularity with which he relied on his left foot reminded the crowd that whilst with Fulham he was an inside-left. Matthews was impressive because of his speed, and the conscientious way in which he finished his work. Southway played a very sound game, and of the "old acquaintances" Bob Pollard was an outstanding figure. Dockray excelled, and had too many tricks for Richards.

Char-a-Banc Trip to Sidmouth, Beer and Seaton

BRIGHT PRACTICE MATCH:

Despite the dull weather and a strong cold south-westerly wind which swept the frailer sorts of craft both off the sea and the promenades, Exeter City's outing on Wednesday to Sidmouth, Beer, and Seaton was a highly enjoyable affair. Visibility was poor, but enough was apparent of the scenic beauty of South-east Devonshire to convince the strangers that they have come to an exceedingly picturesque part of the country.

Setting out from St James's Park soon after ten o'clock in the cosy char-a-banc Wolf and the equally comfortable Rover, a quick run was made to Sidmouth. There was a stay here of several hours, and much talk of sea-bathing, but the foaming roaring waves were too uninviting. So the Grecians devoted themselves to the quiet cultivation of an appetite, then occupied themselves watching the cricket, the Punch and Judy show, the sad sea waves, and the town was also walked round.

PRACTICE MATCH AT SEATON.

Luncheon was served in the Winter Gardens at Trump's Cafe, and the party then made a short stop at Beer before proceeding on to Seaton, where the practice match was held, much to the delight of the local population and holiday-makers from other parts.

The match was held on the Seaton Town ground. There was a band in attendance, and many spectators. Mr A.W.Martin was the referee, and Mr Arthur Chadwick took a linesman's flag, but seemed to find the going rather heavy.

The teams were as on Saturday last, with the exception that Douglas, of Seaton Town and formerly of Dulwich College, kept goal for the Whites in place of Dart. The players made the best of the uneven ground, and a very skilful exhibition game was seen, though combination is as yet only in its early stages.

HARRY FRYER'S NEW MASCOT.

Individually there was some highly attractive football. Nearly all the forwards distinguished themselves in turn, Mathieson, in particular, giving many demonstrations of his football "tricks." The half-back play was refreshingly good and the defences sound. Camble opened the scoring with a very pretty goal, Southway at once equalising with a screw shot from 20 yards out. In the second period Parsons put the Red and White eleven ahead again with a beautiful swerving shot, and for a long spell the Whites strove eagerly to get on terms. Devlin had hard luck with some likely efforts, and eventually Mathieson beat Fryer with a ground shot. The Red and Whites scored another goal, through Newman, and out winners by 3-2. ran

All the same Fryer had a busy ten minutes before the end, and it was perhaps as well that his new monkey mascot, the little animal being the gift of a Seaton admirer, was holding a watching brief in the netting behind the goal-post.

EXETER CITY SPORTS and Football Practice

Saturday, August 19th, at St James's Park.

Five thousand attended Exeter City Supporters' Club sports at St James's Park on the above date. The weather was brilliant and hot, and there was some magnificent racing, and the running was better than anything seen in Exeter for several years. Following the sports there was a very enjoyable hour of football,the teams engaging in a practice match of half an hour each way.

Red and White:-
Fryer; Pollard and Ackroyd; Richards, Southway and Clarke; Matthews, Camble, Parsons, Vowles and Shelton.

White:-
Dart; Bell and Flynn; Rigby, Mitton and Crompton; Newman, Crockford, Devlin, Mathieson and Dockray.

The ball was netted once only, and that by Vowles, but the goal was disallowed as Parsons was offside in the goal-mouth. Devlin came the nearest to scoring with a legitimate goal when he beat Fryer with a clever hook-shot. But the ball hit the post and re bounded across the goalmouth and into play.

Features of the game were the clever play of the White forward line. Crockford, Devlin, and Mathieson were all quick in getting the ball under control and showed great adroitness in creating openings. There is every promise here of a scoring forward line directly the players get themselves into perfect condition, and establish a thorough understanding. Parsons showed plenty of dash and enterprise in the Red and White team, and used his head well in the matter of distributing the ball. Matthews and Shelton were both in good form.

The 1921-22 half-back line showed up well again, if only for their excellent understanding. Southway, the new centre-half, was also responsible for a particularly fine display, and had a great deal to do with the maintenance of an equable rate of exchange between the two sides. He was the "pivot" of the Red and Whites in the true sense of the term. The play seemed to be controlled by him to a very large extent, and he was a source of inspiration to every department of his side. In Southway the City certainly appear to have made a genuine capture.

Wednesday August 23rd.

EXETER CITY v. HEAVITREE UNITED

Nearly two and a half thousand people supported the Charity Match at St James's Park, when Exeter City, by way of a final preliminary shake-up, opposed Heavitree United, last season's winners of the Exeter and District Gold Medals Competition, and the East Devon League Senior Division. Heavitree had the support of a large following last season and were popular everywhere they went.

Exeter City:- Dart; Ackroyd, Bell; Rigby, Mitton, Crompton; Newman, Crockford, Vowles, Mathieson, and Dockray.

Heavitree:- Shute; Lowton, Harrold; Symon, Arscott, Hutchings; Anning, Stevens, Baker, Farringdon, and Lendon. Referee:- Mr G.F.Passmore.

Heavitree United have never held a higher place in the public esteem than now. Sheer dogged persistency brought them through Wednesday evening's encounter with flying colours.

Dashing football, coupled with an excellent understanding fore and aft showed the eleven in a very favourable light. They had a large share of the attacking movements and were very stubborn in defence. The spectators enjoyed the game immensely, and when a goal by Stevens late in the match balanced an earlier successful shot by Vowles a big wave of enthusiasm swept along the ranks of the "Heavies" following.

The result was l-l.