Written by scants_itfc_88 on Monday, November 21, 2022 11:29 AM
A game that shows how quickly things can change in football.
Just seven days away from outright dominance against Cheltenham without three points, Town got the job done on the road at Exeter to be far from the best.
Again, it was a good, solid performance and you felt Town had another gear if he needed it.
Exeter are a team who have been very impressive in the attacking positions so far this season, but we have limited them to just two chances which was important for defensive confidence after some slippery performances from the blue backline.
We didn’t create the number of chances we normally do, but the main thing is that we took them. We still missed a few of course, but you can’t score them all and that was a more acceptable conversion rate.
The first chance came very early. Conor Chaplin swung the cross and Marcus Harness stretched, but his leg was just an inch too short to get the right amount of contact on it and he went straight for the Exeter goalkeeper.
Soon after, Harness was implicated again. It was his best game for a while now. Sam Morsy, who also had a great game, played the perfect ball down Exeter’s back line off Harness’ header. He was selfless and headed for the box rather than going for goal.
Freddie Ladapo, who still looks like a man who will score goals, but maybe not enough, ducked down and guided the header into the net.
As with Cheltenham, Town were ahead early and had something to hold on to. Much like Cheltenham, we largely controlled possession of the ball and limited their chances, although it was not a one-way street and Exeter looked like they could shake things up.
Just minutes after Town took the lead, their only defensive blemish came when three players in blue let the ball bounce and the Exeter defender turned a close-range shot on goal. Christian Walton, who was asked more questions than the previous week, took good care of it.
From there the game settled down and there wasn’t much in the way of goal-scoring action at either end.
The second half was similar, with Exeter controlling the early half of the half. The city huffed and puffed a bit before changes were made.
Cameron Humphreys is getting better with every game. He’s going to be a quality player and that level and probably a division above with a bit more experience. He opened up space on the edge of the box and hit a good effort towards the keeper who tipped over. It started a flurry of a few more chances for Town.
Scoring from corners is something we needed to improve on this year and again we were able to take a chance. Leif Davis
crossed into a crowd of bodies and Harness was able to free up space and guide his head into the net. I can’t remember the last time Town scored two headers in one game.
From there it was comfortable. Kyle Edwards had a good chance and probably should have made it 3-0 but there was no threat at the other end.
The only negative was seeing Davis substituted late with a tight hamstring, we can only hope it’s nothing serious and he’ll be ready for the next league game. It is imperative for our promotion challenge.
We have two cup matches next, so an opportunity to give him a rest with Kane Vincent-Young who will probably be the man to replace him. I imagine we will see Wes Burns and Janoi Doncien resting as well, both looked a little tired on Saturday. .
The three points were vital and come back in our favor with some tricky games to come against Fleetwood, Peterborough and Wycombe. Sheffield Wednesday are hot and our heels for those top two spots, so it was important we stayed ahead.
Plymouth have dropped points again and appear to be having a slightly tough time, but the easiest – if you can call it that – runs until Christmas.
Forward and upward, I say.
Town of Uppa
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| Talking Blues added 11:52 – Nov 21
It was a considerably better performance than we had seen for a few weeks and that IMO is largely down to Burgess he has improved tremendously over the last year and is an absolute rock giving any the team a greater level of confidence (and good aerial ability!!). Humphrey’s is classy, I love seeing the youngsters play as they are totally fearless and it allows them to express themselves fully where other older heads can think more of %’s. |
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