WEDNESDAY 14th AUGUST 1968.

ANOTHER ENCOURAGING PERFORMANCE FROM CITY.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE CUP First Round.

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 0,
Dunne; Burgess, Sullivan; Hore, Saxton, Neale; Davey, Piper, Lord, Burnside, Reynolds, EXETER CITY 0
Shearing; Smyth, Bálson; Kirkham, Harvey, Newman; Corr, Banks, Bullock, Mitten, 'Pleat,

Attendance: 8,662.

The match at Home Park was a hard tough affairFor the City it was another fine result and a pattern that can only encourage them, Exeter looked the better all round side and it would not have been an injustice had they beaten Argyle, They could have won the game. Twice in the first half they all but scored when Alan Banks had a shot kicked off the line by Hore and Dave Pleat hit the post with a fine shot, Plymouth hardly troubled Peter Shearing, although Lord should have scored when well placed but he hooked his shot over the bar. In the second half tempers began to flare and the referee lost control of the game for a while. Hore should have been booked for a particularly nasty foul as City went through a patch for a 20 minute period and Argyle pushed forward. City got over their poor spell and in the closing minutes Banks almost won the game for Exeter when his shot flashed across the goalmouthCity gave Argyle some nasty frights and it is hoped they can continue to keep up this much more encouraging start, It is certainly a better side than a year ago, a more aggressive one and one which has more ability and method.

Summary 
City continued their good start to the season by giving Third Division Argyle a hard time on their own ground. Argyle im proved in the second half but City nearly always had the edge on them and came very close to winning this tie; indeed, a win would have been well deserved for it was the City who went closest to scoring when Dave Pleat hit an upright and also when Alan Banks had a fine effort cleared off the line by Johnny Hore when goalkeeper Pat Dunne was beaten. On another occasion he saved brillantly from John Kirkham.

WEDNESDAY 21st AUGUST 1968.

CITY WERE SO NEAR TO CUP TRIUMPH. FOOTBALL LEAGUE CUP
Round One Replay.

EXETER CITY 0
Shearing; Smyth, Balson; Kirkham, Harvey, Newman; Blain, Banks, Bullock, Mitten, Pleat, PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 0.
Dunne; Reeves, Sullivan; Hore, Saxton, Neale; Davey, Piper, Bickle, Burnside, Lord (Reynolds).

Attendance: 13,338.

Jimmy Blain had the ball in the net after 33 minutes, up went the cheers, but they turned to disappointment as the referee disallowed it. So the game went on, it was 0-0 after 90 minutes, extra time was played and still no result. Now City and Argyle must battle it again in a second replay this time staged at Torquay United next week, In the end it was a fair result, Exeter took the first half, especially in the opening 20 minutes when they were well on top. In the second half Argyle played much better and came back into the game. As the match reached it's closing stages, extra time looked inevitable. But two minutes from the end Dave Pleat almost won the game for Exeter when he had a tremendous shot pushed over the top by Dunne, In extra time Piper shot inches wide, and Peter Shearing made a fine save from Davey, Then an almost disastrous back pass from Keith Harvey almost gave Plymouth victory. It was tense hard exciting cup football, Cecil Smyth had an outstanding game for City and the crowd was the highest at the Park for some years,

Summary 
The large crowd certainly had their money's worth of football entertainment this evening when they were treated to two hours of fast, cut and thrust football.
During the first half-hour the City played some of the finest attacking foot ball seen from the home side in a post war game at St. James Park, but for all their dash, determination and skill they could open-up very few real scoringchances. Jimmy Blain got the ball into the Argyle net after 32 minutes but at that moment Peter Bullock was quite rightly ruled offside, and although they were the more deserving team at that stage the City had to change ends without anything to show for their undoubted superiority. However, the longer the game went on the more Argyle improved and Peter Shearing was called upon to make a couple of saves after the interval although just before the end of full-time Pat Dunne made an equally fine save from David Pleat. There were more tense and exciting moments in extra time but by the end Argyle had recovered their poise and on the run of play a draw was a fair result.

MONDAY 26th AUGUST 1968.

CURTIS BIRTHDAY PASS CLINCHES LAST MINUTE VICTORY GOAL.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE CUP
First Round, Second Replay

(Played at Torquay United F,C,).

EXETER CITY 1,
Shearing; Smyth, Balson; Kirkham, Harvey, newman; Blain, Banks, Bullock (Curtis), Mitten, Pleat,

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 0.
Dunne; Sullivan, Reeves; Hore, Saxton, Neale; Davey, Piper, Bickle, Burnside," Reynolds, Scorer Exeter ; Kirkham,

Attendance: 10,884.

It's all over at last! Exeter City are through and what a night of memories for Dermot Curtis, For not only was it his birthday but he provided the pass that led to the goal with just one minute of extra time left, when a third replay looked very likely. John Kirkham pulled the Curtis pass down, shot, and the ball was in the net. The Exeter supporters erupted and before their cheers had died down the final whistle went, It was a good team effort in another hard fought encounter with the Argyle. City played some good fluent football particularly in the first half, Plymouth came more into the game after the interval but neither side could break the deadlock and it went into extra time yet again, tity might have settled the issue earlier but missed a couple of good chances, Curtis forced Dunne to make a brilliant save in extra time, then came that all important Kirkhan goal, It was enough and in the end City just about deserved to win, They now face First Division Sheffield Wednesday at St James' Park in the second round, which is certain to be an all ticket affair.

Summary 

When John Kirkham's goal brought City victory after nearly 5 hours foot ball it is no exaggeration to say that this was one of the happiest moments in the club's history. Maybe this is because it had been such a long tense struggle, or because we had beaten our Devon rivals, but there is no doubt that all the club's supporters were proud of the lads at the end of this game. What is more, I believe that City was the team that deserved victory. Maybe I am prejudiced but overall there is little doubt that City played the finer brand of attacking football. It is true that there wasn't a lot in it, but even when Argyle had the City going for a spell in the second half they always seened pre-occupied with maintaining numerical superiority in defence, The team was the same as for the previous game except that, fortunately for us, Dermot Curtis was brought on as substitute in extra time. He played his part well and provided John Kirkham with the chance to apply the winner.


TUESDAY 27th AUGUST 1968.

CITY WILL LIMIT CUP GATE TO 18,500.

Preparations for Exeter City's match of the season against First Division Sheffield Wednesday in eight days time were going ahead announced as soon as posin all ticket affair with the attendance fighted to 18,500. Details will be announced as soon as possible when the tickets have been printed, and how and when they will be available,