Gillingham v City

EXETER CITY'S VISIT TO THE HOP COUNTY

Players Hurt and Points Divided

Saturday, September 13,
at Priestfield Road, Gillingham.

GILLINGHAM O EXETER CITY 0.

It is not often that the Exeter City team have the pleasure of "hoppin' in Kent" as they did today, in the hopping season, when the "Garden of England" is looking at its best. The last time the Grecians undertook the trip it was under very different climatic conditions. There were two inches of snow on the Gillingham pitch and the air was foggy, and at one time it looked as if the match would have to be adjourned owing to the bad light.

As regards the Gillingham players, only Leslie and Lee appear to be still available of those who were representing the club regularly in the last playing season. R.H.Beale, the goalkeeper, hails from Manchester United, and D.Chalmers from Grimsby Town, whilst Wood and Savage are valuable recent acquisitions, from Fulham and Merthyr Town respectively.

"THE HOPPERS"

Beale
Hunter Leslie
Mahon Lee Hibben
Neill Read Wood Chalmers Savage

Referee:- Mr C.W.Gillett, of London.

Lincoln Lovett Goodwin Makin Connor Mitton Popplewell Rigby
Strettle Coleburne
Pym

"THE CITY"


Exeter were unlucky in having to take the field without the services of John Doc kray, their clever outside-left, owing to knee trouble, as it was hoped to keep intact for a much longer spell the eleven that had done so well in the Reading matches and against Southampton. As finally selected, the team included five of the men who played on the snow-covered Gillingham ground in January 1915, namely Pym, Strettle, Rigby, Goodwin, and Lovett. The team, accompanied by Messrs Chadwick (manager), and Pratt, (trainer), left Exeter yesterday afternoon at half-past three o' clock for Paddington, and on arrival proceeded to the Shaftesbury Hotel, where they stayed overnight. This morning they entrained again, and proceeded to Gillingham for the match, which was due to commence at 3.30 o'clock.

Gillingham was reached at a quarter to three, the weather at that time being dull and pleasantly cool. The crowd numbered fully six thousand before the start, and the proceedings were graced by the presence of the Mayor and Mayoress, who have always taken a keen interest in the club. Gillingham, in black and white stripes, were the first out, and won the toss, but there was no advantage to be gained either way. Stubborn Defences.

Strettle brought relief when Gillingham attacked at the start, and from Mitton's pass Lincoln transferred play right across the field, Hunter having to kick to touch. Goodwin fed Connor with a nice pass, but he delayed his centre, and when the ball did come over the forwards were offside. Exeter maintained their pressure, and Hunter stopped Lincoln at the expense of a corner. Exciting moments followed in the vicinity of the home goalmouth, and when the leather came out to Popplewell the City centre-half put in a fine shot along the ground, but Lee diverted the flight of the ball and Beale cleared without difficulty.

With Hunter and Leslie (Gillingham), and Coleburne and Strettle (Exeter) forming stubborn defences, few chances were available to the forwards, although Lincoln failed at the critical moment by driving his shot straight at Beale after receiving the ball via Strettle and Goodwin. Hunter deemed discretion the better part of valour, kicking the ball meekly behind when Makin was manoeuvring for a shot inside the penalty area. Connor, who is possessed of remarkable accuracy at pin-pointing centres, put the ball right into the net from the flag kick, but as no other player touched the ball the goal of course did not count.

Players Injured.

Gillingham were frequently halted by Strettle and Coleburne before they could become really dangerous, but play continued to be fast and exciting and mainly in Exeter's territory. Mitton was struck in the face in a collision with Lee, and Makin was kicked in the thigh by Leslie, and had to retire. Mitton then left the field, and Exeter were down to nine men, and it was as well for them that Pym was in his most brilliant form. He saved a first-timer from Wood and a centre from Neill, and on one occasion ran out and sent the ball flying into the adjoining street with a huge kick. Exeter's nine men continued to stave off successfully Gillingham's determined attacks, and Pym again won loud cheers for a thrilling save from Read.
Half-time: no score.

Stock-taking during the interval revealed that Mitton's left eye had been closed through a severe blow. Makin's thigh was very badly strained, and he was unable to resume, and Lovett was also suffering from injury to his right leg. Obviously things were not going to be easy in the second half, but the team was in good heart, and determined to go all out in a big effort to keep their end up, which as it transpired, they did.

Connor's Beautiful Centre.

On the restart Exeter advanced by means of the clever work of Mitton on the left. He beat Leslie for speed, but his transfer to Lincoln was cut out by Hunter. The Grecians maintained the attack, however, and Goodwin was unlucky with a swerving drive that went just over the bar. The City then forced a corner, and for the second time in the match Connor's beautiful centre curled right into the net without the ball having been touched, a goal kick resulting.

Gillingham retaliated by a counter-attack, and Popplewell, by a deft tackle on Wood, averted danger, then Pym fisted out from Wood, the ball going into touch. Rigby was kicked by Hibben, who was cautioned by the referee. Gillingham's methods were far from gentlemanly at times. Wood fouled Popplewell on the centre line, and from the free kick Strettle drove finely for goal, the ball passing inches over the bar. Savage lived up to his name with an attempt to kick Coleburne, but missed, and a minute later a free kick was given against him for fouling Rigby. Two corners were forced on Exeter's. left, and from the first Lincoln repeated the feat of Connor by putting the ball directly into the net, whilst the second one was cleared by Beale. Exeter's ten men finished the game in great style, and were attacking all the time now, but failed to score.

Notes on the Game.

Gillingham disappointed their supporters when, on their own ground, they were held to a draw by Exeter City. Their excuse for this failure was that three changes had to be made in their team at the last minute. Buchanan, Cavanagh, and Frost, all of whom were injured in last Wednesday's match, had not recovered, and their places were taken by Hunter, Hibben, and Read. Exeter City were without Dockray, their star player, and his place was filled by Lincoln, a clever and speedy little winger, but inexperienced. The play seldom reached a high standard, and exciting incidents were few. A remarkable feature, however, was that once in the first half and twice in the second the City got the ball in the net from corner kicks, but as on each occasion it was not played by a second player no score resulted.

The Gillingham forwards, apart from Wood, were weak when it came to shooting, and most of the shots sent in presented little difficulty to a man of Pym's ability. He did, however, make one or two brilliant saves from the centre forward. Exeter's forwards were quicker and cleverer than Gillingham's without ever seeming likely to score, but they were handicapped for nearly two thirds of the game through Makin having to retire, injured. Mitton also suffered a painful injury, but remained on the field. Strettle, Popplewell, and Coleburne were sound and stubborn defenders.

CITY RESERVES v BABBACOMBE.

Exeter City Reserves met Babbacombe in a friendly match at St James's Park this afternoon. When reserve team football had terminated in the 1913-14 season the City had played two matches with Babbacombe, and on each occasion were the victors. Coates, a prewar Exeter player, who has recently signed on again, was at right back, and supported by Shreeve. Croft, who formerly played for Torpoint, was given a trial at inside right. Teams :

Reserves : Loram; Coates and Shreeve; Cox, Potter, and Thompson;
Bastin, Croft, Oldacre, Mingo, and Foley.

Babbacombe:- Davey; Brougham and Frayn; Martin, Bicknell, and Hall; Jackman, Townsend, Stuckey, Udranfski, and Biddick.

Loram lost the toss, and Oldacre kicked off against the sun. The first shot of the match was sent in by Jackman, but Thompson charged the ball down and got away on the wing, to be eventually stopped by Biddick. Play was then confined to midfield, and when the Reserves got going Davey saved from Foley.

Oldacre opened the scoring after 25 minutes' play, going past the backs on his own and planting the ball in the net well wide of Davey. Coates relieved pressure on the City goal with a fine clearance, and Potter was prominent with smart defensive work. Oldacre scored his second goal from Foley's centre, and Townsend replied for the Babbs from a free kick taken by Martin.

Play in the second half was slow for some time, until Croft got possession and passed to Oldacre, who evaded the backs and shot magnificently to complete his hat trick. Oldacre (two) and Croft found the net, the City winning by six goals to one.

Full time:-
City 6-1 Babbacombe.

POINTS OF INTEREST: OLDACRE'S FIVE GOALS

There was a good attendance at St James's Park on Saturday for the friendly match between the City Reserves and Babbacombe, and despite the big margin of goals against them the South Devon team put up quite a good display, the game being thoroughly full of interest all the time. The outstanding feature, of course, was the remarkable and praise worthy achievement of Percy Oldacre of scoring five successive goals, two in the first half and three in the second.

Oldacre, who is one of the youngest players on Exeter's books, made a very favourable impression, particularly for his keen and alert opportunism and his hard shooting. At least one of his successful drives flashed past the Babbacome goalkeeper at such a rate that he did not see it at all.

Assistance from Potter.

Much of Oldacre's success was undoubtedly due to the great assistance he received from Potter, centre-half. Potter, on two occasions, took the ball well forward, and in full view of both the opposition and the spectators, exchanged signals with Oldacre before despatching the leather to him, the centre forward then completing the manoeuvre in a manner which gave the Babbac ombe defence no chance whatsoever. A perfect understanding exists between these two players.

Goals That Did Not Count.

To get the ball into the net straight from corner kicks three times in the same match is such a rare occurrence that it has probably never been done before. Yet this is what Exeter City did at Gillingham on Saturday, twice by Connor and once by Lincoln. In the early rules of Association football no provision was made for goals being scored from any free kick unless the ball was touched by a second player. The penalty kick was introduced in 1891, and the rule for other free kicks altered in 1904 to allow straight goals to be scored, with corner kicks the exception.

Exeter City's New Director.

Mr Ernest Head, of Devonshire Place, Exeter, who is well known in business and athletic circles, has been co-opted a Director of the Exeter City Football Club. Mr Head, a native of Yorkshire, has resided in the city for the past ten years, and has family ties at Topsham. Mr George Middleweek has again taken his seat upon the Board, after having been demobilised from his commission in the Royal Flying Corps.