Saturday, September 24th 1910.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE.

ARGYLE v CITY
Devon Rivals Meet at Home Park

Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle renewed their Southern League rivalry at Home Park before a big crowd. Although the season is not yet a month old, the match created great interest, and no small amount of speculation throughout the entire County. This morning the City occupied a higher place in the table than Plymouth, being twelfth, while the Argyle were fifteenth.
The Grecians were represented by exactly the same eleven as beat the West Herts brigade last week, while the Argyle announced only one change from the side which was beaten at Hove by 2-1, namely in goal, where Sutcliffe was preferred to Horne. Butler was fit again, but his understudy, Black, had done so well as Atterbury's partner that he kept his place. Teams :

ARGYLE
Sutcliffe
Black Atterbury
Boden Wilcox Baker
Griffiths Burch Raymond Woods Holden
Referee: Mr A.Farrant, of Bristol.
Garside Bell James Watson Parnell Prideaux Pratt Bassett
Jones Coates
Whittaker
CITY

Several railway excursions were run from Exeter, and about five hundred people travelled on the various trains, but the total crowd was rather below anticipation, there being about 7,000 on the ground. The afternoon was beautifully fine and breezy, and the ground looked perfect for football, although at each goal approach there was a liberal covering of cinders. Exeter City, led by Watson, were the first appear, and they were accorded a reception which did the excursionists justice. Watson beat Wilcox with the toss, but the advantage was very slight. The Exeter skipper stopped the first rush, but Woods regained possession, and Holden ran right through, his first centre being stopped by James, but he middled the ball again and Griffiths headed into the side of the net. Once more Holden got on the move but he was stopped first by Coates and then by James. Offside stopped the Argyle's next move, and when they came again Coates cleverly robbed Woods of the ball. Exeter at last got down to the Plymouth end, and Parnell cut in to the centre and gave Sutcliffe his first shot, which he saved. James also tested the custodian.
EXETER IMPROVE
Exeter improved, and for a time were decidedly in the ascendancy, Bassett beating Baker in smart style. Following good work by Watson, Pratt fired over the bar. Coates stopped Holden, and the City were still holding their own in creditable fashion. Burch shot weakly when confronted by Whittaker, and James overran the ball, allowing Black ample time to clear. Parnell wormed his way through only for James to be caught offside, and play remained fairly even until the interval, which arrived with the score: Argyle 0-0 City.
SECOND HALF:
Pratt had a shot charged down early in the second half, but got the ball again and gave it to Garside, who was forced into touch by Black. Bassett fouled Holden, and from the free kick the winger centred near to the City goal, but Jones cleared. Prideaux was penalised for hand ball, but the free kick came to nothing, Burch shooting too high. Argyle were now much the more aggressive, with Holden the most dangerous of their forwards, but with twenty minutes to go there was still no score. Garside ran the ball into touch when in possession, and Holden sent behind when things looked dangerous for Exeter. A likely move by the City forwards was met by a stonewall defence, and in the subsequent moves Burch and Jones got at loggerheads, and both men were spoken to by the referee. With two minutes remaining Prideaux gave away a free kick but the ball was charged down, Jones eventually clearing his lines.
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 0-0 EXETER CITY

• Last season: Argyle 1, City 0.
• In 1908-09: Argyle 4, City 0.

The meeting of the Devon rivals produced a rousing, though not a brilliant game, in which the defences were generally well on top of their opposing forward lines. The result, a draw, was by no means an unfair one, although, if anything, it flattered Exeter City. Argyle did the bulk of the attacking, and had two good chances without being able to turn them to advantage. The Argyle forwards this year are exceptionally light, and when
opposed to a defence of such excellence as Exeter's they need to be unusually clever to score goals. There was not much to enthuse over in the forward play of either side, and throughout the match there were only two saves by the goalkeepers meriting mention. On the first occasion Whittaker earned cheers for a brilliant save at short range from Raymond, and later Sutcliffe distinguished himself by saving at full length from Bell. The City have greatly strengthened their middle line by the acqui sition of Pratt, while Prideaux has developed into an excellent half back since gaining his chance in professional football. Bassett was opposed to Argyle's best forward in Holden, but stuck doggedly to his more difficult task. Exeter have yet to score a goal in a Southern League match at Home Park.

PLYMOUTH AND DISTRICT LEAGUE. City Reserves v Argyle Reserves.
More than ordinary interest was centred in the match at St.James's Park, where the City Reserves played the Argyle's second string. The City eleven included seven professionals. Teams :
EXETER CITY:- Wells; Evans, White; Duffy, Griffiths, Letheren; Whittaker, Martin, Smith, Drew, and Cooke.
THE ARGYLE:- Horne; Rounseville, Crews; Coates, Rider, Hosking; Peard, Burgoyne, Green, Caddy, and Barton. Referee:- Mr. Davis, of Yeovil.
White lost the toss to Horne, the captain and goalkeeper of the Argyle team. In the first few minutes Wells had to save from Green and Burgoyne in quick succession, and the early stages were all in favour of Plymouth.
Five minutes after the start Burgoyne received from Barton, and with a sharp turn beat Drew; he went on to within ten yards of the City goal, and beat Wells with a low shot into the corner of the net. Exeter tried hard to recover their lost ground, and Horne had to come several yards out of his goal to save from Smith. Duffy, from Drew's pass, shot wide, as did Cooke, from Whittaker's centre. Although having most of the play after the interval Exeter were up against a stout defence, and all their scoring efforts failed.