Morecambe 0 Exeter City 2

Globe Arena Saturday 11 August League 2, 3pm.Attendance 1,654 with 210 away fans.

Shrimps – Roche Mills Old Yarney Cranston Kenyon Fleming Ellison Mandeville Wildig Oliver subs used Aj Leitch Smith for Wildig 65, Oates for Ellison 77, Jagne for Kenyon 72.

Grecians – Pym Sweeney Martin Brown Moxey Taylor Law Boateng Holmes Stockley Forte subs used – Tillson for Law 38, Martin for Holmes 72, Abrahms fro Forte 83.

Ref Tom Bramhall, another new ref, let the game flow, kept seeing fouls on Grecian centre-backs when none were happening but did OK.

Goals – Sweeney pen 43, Stockley 66.

Weather – warm, overcast, no wind, pitch excellent.

The first home game of the season always has a different feel to it, and there was a positive vibe around the Globe despite last week’s disappointment.

Exeter brought a couple of hundred fans up from Devon and with a clutch of impressive summer signings were keen to carry on where they started last week.

However, for those familiar with Exeter under Tisdale, a dynasty of sorts, this was a very different beast. Gone is the passing football, in its place is a more direct and dynamic game.

The first twenty minutes were uneventful, as both sides went long with no rewards. The Shrimps showed 2 changes, Wildig for Oates and Yarney, a fresh loanee from the Toon, starting at centre back with Kenyon shuffling into midfield for the injured Tutte.

Gradually we realised that a ball into Oliver’s feet brought Mandeville and Wildig into the game and some ground was made in the final third. However, it was a cross-shot from Cranston which fell nicely in the six yard box for Oliver, any decent aggressive touch and it was in. However Vadaine managed to cushion it into the safe hands of the diving Pym. Best chance of the game so far, missed.

Kev was found with a glorious cross from the right but he slipped at the wrong moment and the chance went.

Exeter had been sat back as Fleming and Wildig probed, but on 42 minutes Lee Holmes seemed to hypnotise Cranston down the right and leave him for dead, Jordan attempted to make amends but Mr Bramhall decided that he touched Holmes and awarded a penalty!! Was it a foul? Possibly, we have seen them given. Was it in the box? Hard to tell.

Anyways, Sweeney shot high to Baz’s left to open the scoring from the spot.

In the second half, we did try to step up a gear, a couple of corners and a long range effort making Pym react. Kenyon met a corner and powered wide when the goal gaped.
Exeter were happy soaking up the pressure, but in their first sustained period of possession in the half they doubled their advantage.

Some neat interplay and a succession of dangerous crosses were half cleared but Taylor found the overlapping Sweeney whose right wing cross was crashed home into the roof of the goal by the head of Stockley.

Jim reacted and sent on AJ Leitch-Smith, and he immediately offered more threat with 2 up front. Oates replaced the subdued Ellison and he put some in great crosses, one of which AJ glanced only to see Pym go full length to claw it away. From another Cranston cross AJ glanced another header into Pym’s midriff. Oates shot over when creating space for himself twice, but the Grecians held on to take the spoils.

MOM was Wildig, but Mills wasn’t far behind him.

We need to worry about scoring as we look likely to concede, so can we put a team out who carry more of a threat?? Not scoring is causing us the problems, is Oswell not fit?

Freez