City prospered in the spring sunshine as they completed an Easter double by outclassing Crawley in an emphatic 3-0 victory. Goals from Lee Elam, and a brace from Wayne Carlisle either side of half time were just reward for City's efforts on a day when a play off berth came to be in their own hands. A greater gloss could have been put on the scoreline late on as City looked dangerous right up until the final minutes.

Tisdale started with the same outfield eleven that had played against Tamworth two days earlier, so there were consecutive starts for Martin Rice, Danny Seaborne and Andy Taylor. The only change on the bench saw Paul Jones return after his one match ban with Dean Moxey making way. For Crawley, former City players Scott Hiley and Tony Scully started.

Exeter started brightly and were ahead within three minutes. A ball forward was flicked on by Logan and helped into the path of Elam who had come in off his wing. As Stansfield made a right to left run across the area Elam took the ball round his marker in the opposite direction and drilled a shot into the 'keeper's bottom right hand corner from 20 yards. It was a perfect start, and one that City looked quickly to build on. Within two minutes Tully had cut out a crossfield pass and immediately released Stansfield. As he bore down on goal he was just unable to shake off the attentions of the chasing defender and his weak shot was easily smothered by a grateful Hamer in the Crawley goal. Hamer was to have a busy afternoon and before Crawley could mount any attack of note he had made a further save from Logan. His sidefooted effort had been cleverly made after a move involving Billy Jones, Gill and a nice
Stansfield lay off.

Crawley's first real threat came courtesy of a far post header put wide under pressure but City soon countered and Elam, looking lively and dangerous against one of his former sides, curled a speculative effort over from 25 yards after another Tully clearance. Crawley's closest first half effort came at the midway point in the half, as Woozley thumped a header just over, as he rose to meet a corner 12 yards out. But this was merely an interlude as City continued to push forward. Much of the momentum they gained was being fuelled by Gill and Taylor in midfield who were mopping up most of the loose balls and never giving their counterparts room or time to settle. On the half hour Stansfield probably felt he should have done better as he headed straight at the keeper after Crawley had twice failed to suficiently clear a long throw from Gill and Carlisle was only pulled up by the linesman's flag as neat passing between Taylor, Gill and Jones combined to release him.

It was not all one way traffic though. Former Torquay forward, Marcus Richardson sent over a superb cross which Tully did brilliantly to flick away from an onrushing forward, then Richardson himself was put through after Todd was nutmegged but his cross-cum-shot lacked any power and Rice gathered comfortably. Within a minute of this promising opening though City had doubled their advantage. Elam found himself near the byline being fronted up by a central defender. He twisted onto his right, then his left and sent a beautiful cross over. The cross just eluded Taylor who had arrived late, but not Wayne Carlisle who met the ball and sent a header looping into the top of the net leaving Hamer with little chance. The 500 City faithful, in the 1562 crowd were in raptures and as they sang their way towards half time a Crawley free kick on the left edge of City's penalty area was well defended by Seaborne. The resulting corner came to nothing and City closed out the half and the extra minute of added time.

The start of the second half saw City make a change, Jamie Mackie replacing Stansfield who, despite linking well with Logan, had failed to have real impact and had been caught offside several times. The first attempt of the half came from Crawley but a daisycutter from 25 yards was easy for Rice. The second attempt came from City and it put the game beyond Crawley's reach. One defender was nearly caught dallying by Mackie. As he played the ball along the back line 10 yards inside his own half, a second defender was caught. Carlisle closed him down, stole the ball and found himself through one on one. He carried the ball to the edge of the area and, as Hamer advanced, confidently slid the ball beneath him into the centre of the net. 3-0, game over.

Crawley immediately made a change as they sought to gain some respect on the scoresheet but it was another Elam curler that produced the next chance. Again, Gill and Jones woked the ball between themselves. The ball was played into Mackie who laid it of to Elam coming in from the touchline. He carried the ball across the top of the area and just failed to get his foot around the ball enough to bring it inside the post. As City sat back a little Crawley had more possession but were unable to exert any real pressure or create much danger, bar a couple of corners. Lee Phillips replaced Logan on the hour and City continued to enjoy the better chances. A 25 yard Gill effort flicked off a defender's heel and a scrambling keeper couldn't prevent a corner. A couple of minutes later Elam, who was finding increasing amounts of space a Crawley pushed forward, outpaced Hiley who just managed to recover in time to prevent a cross. The resulting corner was cleared to Carlisle who's shot from 25 yards was well held.

As the half passed the midway point Crawley found their best spell of the match. A decent Scully cross was only cleared to the edge of the area but a weak shot was again no problem for Rice. Challinor soon replaced Gill, and Hiley was replaced for Crawley and the hosts almost scored from almost identical crosses. The first, whipped in about 10 yards out just failed to find a forward to apply a finishing touch, the second, from the opposite side was flicked a yard wide. That was Crawley's last real threat as City wrestled control back and fashioned numerous chances in the last 10 minutes. The first, and possibly best, fell to Mackie. Tully's ball over the defence into the area was chased down by Phillips. His momentum was taking him off the pitch so cleverly back heeled to Mackie who cut inside a defender and lashed a left foot shot towards the roof of the net from 12 yards. Hamer was just equal to it and tipped the ball over with great reflexes. The corner was cleared to Challinor who didn't quite catch his shot properly. Moments later Hamer saved another Mackie effort, this time turning in the area after Phillips had outmuscled 2 defenders and released Elam and Carlisle. A free kick from 20 yards was blasted over by Billy Jones and Phillips was unable to get a clean shot away as he was challenged 12 yards out after a defender had slipped. The final action saw a tame 20 yard shot from Challinor easily saved.

A well deserved three points moved City up to fourth and a draw for Stevenage coupled with a defeat for Burton mean that City are no longer relying on other's results to keep their position. It is points rather than performances that really matter at this stage of the season but it was encouraging nonetheless to see outstanding performances from a handful pf players. As already mentioned Gill and Taylor bossed the centre of the park. Elam was a constant threat, scoring one and making another. Carlisle goals put the game beyond Crawley and Todd and Seaborne were rarely on the back foot against a
side who had only lost once in the league at home since October.

So three games to go and next up a home game against Cambridge, who in recent weeks have had results veering from 5-0 defeats to 7-0 victories. They are only three points above the drop zone so will need everything they can get and be looking to avenge City's 3-1 victory at The Abbey earlier in the season. A bumper crowd at the Park beckons for another massive game in the season.

City: Rice, Tully, Seaborne, Todd, B. Jones, Carlisle, Gill (Challinor 70), Taylor, Elam, Stansfield (Mackie 46), Logan (Phillips 60)
Subs not used: P. Jones, Richardson