SATURDAY 9th MARCH 1968.

Exeter City v Barnsley

BANKS DOUBLE SINKS BARNSLEY.

EXETER CITY 2,
Smout; Smyth, Balson; Newman, Harvey, Huxford; Crawford (Corr), Banks, Coughlin, Blain, Fudge.
BARNSLEY 0. Ironside; Parker, Murphy; Bettany, Winstanley, Howard; Earnshaw, Evans, Robson, Hewitt, Hamstead (Taylor),

Scorers: Exeter : Banks 2,

Attendance: 3,840,

Alan Banks recovered his goalscoring form when he hit both goals to give City victory over promotion chasing Barnsley. The opening exchanges were fairly even but in 30 minutes Jimmy Blain put over a cross and up went Banks to head past Ironside, John Smout was brought into action, pushing an Evans shot away for a corner, Barnsley pressed at the start of the second half. Both sides brought on their substitutes, City weathered the storm and their attacks began to look dangerous, After a goalmouth scramble Mike Balson hit the crossbar, and with 6 minutes to go City scored again, Balson pushed the ball across to Banks who drove into the net. John Corr should have got a third goal when with only Ironside to beat he shot tamely straight at him. In the last minute Taylor had a chance for Barnsley but as he delayed his shot, the City defence turned the ball away, new centre forward Dennis Coughlin on loan from Swansea Town showed several neat touches and made a satisfactory debut,

Match Report 

Banks ends 'famine'
by RAY COLLIER

Exeter 2 Barnsley 0

ALAN BANKS, Exeter's bustling inside-right, broke his two month goal famine by getting both goals against promotion hunting Barnsley. Exeter had centre forward Dennis Coughlin, on loan from Swansea until the end of the season, making his debut. He had a sound enough match, but it was the exuberant Banks who stole the limelight. Play had had been pretty even when Exeter went ahead. In the P 30th minute Timmy Brain, out on the right wing, slammed over a perfect cross for Banks to reach with a header that went in off an upright. Gradually they got more on top until in the 84th minute left back Mike Balson foraged through into the attack and laid on a great through-ball for Banks. Referee Davies turned down an appeal for handball as Banks found the back of the net with a well-taken shot.

Team: Smout; Smyth, Balson; New man, Harvey, Huxford; Crawford, Banks, Coughlin, Blain, Fudge.

Corr substituted for Crawford after 63 minutes.

Attendance: 3,840.

Notes on the Game 

EXETER'S Jimmy Blain is superstitious. That's why he wore the No. 10 shirt when playing at outside right in the 2-0 beating of BARNSLEY. While Blain was harbouring suspicions, Alan Banks scored twice to net his first goals for three months. Said Banks: "Now I hope my old confidence will return."


CITY TEMPTED.
How long can Exeter City resist temptation to spend money in the transfer makret and thereby put themselves more into debt at a time when they are trying hard to improve their financial position? As the season progresses and Exeter are still unable to pull away from the danger zone at the foot of the table, manager Frank Broome must be feeling more frustrated than ever, He admits that he could do with at least three new players to turn his team into a match winning combination, The club's reluctance to spend money at this time has made the local grumblers even more critical, And as chairman Les Kerslake said recently at the Supporters Club dinner, City have already more critics than supporters. Unfortunately for Kerslake and his colleagues the average fan does not know the full story of Exeter City's financial position and the chairman refuses to publicly criticise or condemn past administrations at St James' Park, The present adminsitration at Exeter City deserve all the support they can get during the next few months, not only because they are already beginning to get the club on a more even financial keel, but because they are having to combat local prejudice which has built up before they took over through more than 30 years of disappointments and comparatively poor results,

THURSDAY 14th MARCH 1968.

WILKINSON TALKS TERMS AT ROCHDALE.
Exeter City's 21 year old wing half Ernie Wilkinson visited Rochdale today to discuss a possible move to the Lancashire club on a loan transfer until the end of the season, Both clubs have agreed to the loan and now it is up to the player to come to a decision which he is expected to make after talks with Rochdale manager Bob Stokoe. Wilkinson joined City in the Summer of 1966 from Arsenal.