SATURDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 1968.

ONCE AGAIN CITY GO DOWN TO THAT SHAY BOGEY.

HALIFAX TOWN 2.
Smith; Hampton, Buxton; Pickering, Nichol, Meagan; Flower, Massie, Lawther, Shawcross, McCarthy,
EXETER CITY 1,
Shearing; Smyth, Blain; Crawford, Harvey, Newman; Corr, Pleat, Kirkham, Curtis, Whatling,

Scorers:
Halifax Shawcross, Massie,
Exeter Whatling.

Attendance: 3,186,

Exeter City have only played four games at The Shay, all have been in the Fourth Division and they have yet to beat Halifax on their own ground. This time the game was split into two sections, the first 75 minutes and the last 15 minutes, Part one and City were hardly in the game, yet they had scored after Just 30 seconds through Keith Whatiing having his first full match of the season, Halifax had most of the play but missed chances,

Part two. Enter Exeter City, they really began to get into the game for the first time, Dermot Curtis hit a post and John Kirkham went closeThe Halifax defence had some anxious moments in these closing stages as Exeter moved forward but City could not force the equaliser, Halifax were the superior side overall and could have had the game sewn up, as it was they almost dropped a point,

City may have scored after 30 seconds, but 90 seconds later Halifax equalised, Shawcross headed high into the Exeter net, with Peter Shearing appearing to be at fault. The Halifax winner came in the 55th minute through Massie following a free kick, Exeter went into the game with an unfamiliar forward line because of injuries, but Kirkham is obviously not the answer at centre forward.

Match Summary 

City came very close to snatching a point 10 minutes from the end when the hard-working Dermot Curtis snapped up an attempted pass-back by one of the home defenders and beat the goalkeeper only to see the ball stick in the mud inches from the line. However, it is only fair to say that a draw would have been more than we deserved and we could not expect such luck in successive games. We scored first when Keith Whatling had the satis faction of netting in the opening minute, but thereafter we seldom looked like adding to that score, and for most of the first half we were under heavy pressure. Halifax equalised through Shawcross within a minute of our opening goal, and our defence deserves a lot of praise for the fact that the home side were unable to take the lead until after the interval. The City attack, however, seldom looked dangerous, at least not until the last 10 minutes.

FORMER CITY PLAYERS ON THE MOVE.

Pat Cavanan the former Exeter City half back has signed for Heavitree United, the 23 year old player was brought over from Dublin in 1963, by the then City manager Ellis Stuttard, He has been training with Heavitree all season, but until now he has not played a competitive game,

Ex City apprentice professional Peter Arbury, a defender, has signed for Sidmouth Town, Arbury has been playing for Ottery St Mary for the last two seasons.