Easter fixtures can often be a pivotal moment for a teams promotion aspirations or relegation escapes and City will be hoping that their 3-1 defeat away at lowly Weymouth will not come back to haunt them. On a bright, crisp and very breezy afternoon Exeter were at times naïve and calamitous in their defending and deservedly found themselves behind at half time. Finding it easier to play with the wind City mounted almost constant pressure for the first 20 minutes of the second period before equalising, but in the blink of an eye Weymouth restored their lead, City were reduced to 10 men and then went on to complete the scoring late on.
There was only one change from the squad that played Kidderminster two days earlier with Ben Watson replacing Cozic on the bench so City lined up: Marriott, Tully, Seaborne, Matt Taylor, Edwards, Carlisle, Gill, Andy Taylor, Moxey, Logan, Stansfield.
Tisdale was clearly confident in the side he put out as he emerged on the sidelines a couple of minutes before the teams appeared and in the early stages it looked well placed. In the very first minute a Gill long throw was flicked on and Weymouth's on loan keeper Henderson managed to leap backwards and flick the ball away from under his crossbar. This set the pattern for the first quarter of the game and despite the conditions making it difficult for either side to find any fluency it was City who looked dangerous. Stansfield had a shot cleared for a corner following a neat turn onto his left foot. Matt Taylor headed the resulting set piece wide. Stansfield then flicked on a long Marriott punt but it just ran away from a Logan. City's pacey front runner was buzzing round the Weymouth rearguard after his recent injury lay-off but for all his endeavour City couldn't furnish a clear opening.
As the half approached midway Logan was booked for a sliding block challenge. In the fashion the half had been played in Weymouth made a complete pigs ear of the free kick and City broke. They won a corner but did not threaten with it.
On 23 minutes though came a moment that many fans will look back on and say was emblematic of City's day. With comfortable possession on halfway Edwards, Taylor and Seaborne passed the ball between themselves. They were being nudged slightly back into their own half when suddenly a mis-control let Beadeau, on loan to Weymouth from Torquay, in on goal. He was forced slightly wide but with City outnumbered he had a clear shot at Marriott. Luckily, he skewed his shot across the goal and wide, but it served as a warning that City could not be sloppy or complacent. Chances were still few and far between and after a 25 yard shot was easily saved by Marriott Weymouth took the lead 10 minutes before the break. Having conceded a free kick 30 yards out City failed to deal with a low ball into the box. Both Malcolm, and Blackburn, who had played so well against City for Morecambe in last year's play off final, were free to help the ball on its way into Marriott's right hand corner. It was by no means a clean strike, but was enough to fox City's number one and bring groans of disappointment from the 1000+ Grecian fans behind the goal in Weymouth's biggest home gate of the season.
In truth, City had brought it upon themselves. Too many times the ball had been too easily squandered in possession and never had Weymouth been put under any concerted pressure. City's sometimes lackadaisical meanderings at the back had foretold what might happen, and it duly did.
As time ran out in the half Edwards was booked for a show of petulance to the linesman before City had two shots blocked in quick succession from Edwards and Logan. Referee Halliday played a good advantage for the home side who nearly caught City ball watching as the half entered added time but they couldn't fashion a shot on target. As the whistle went City's fans could only believe the side could not play as disjointedly for another 45 minutes.
The half time interval saw both Grecian the Lion and the Weymouth stewards distinguish themselves. The former with tremendous athleticism in the kids penalty shoot out, the latter with the firm handling of one said penalty taker who took to baiting the City fans a little to eagerly.
With both sides unchanged at the interval the second half started much as the first had. A couple of half chances from distance, or long throws cleared was as good as it got for either side initially. Ten minutes in Stansfield, who had received a kick on his leg just after half time, was replaced by debutant Ben Watson and for the next 10 minutes City pressed almost relentlessly.
Seemingly coming to terms with the wind Gill's long throws were proving difficult to clear. One led to a solid Edwards strike being blocked while another was scrambled away for a corner. As City kept the pressure on Moxey won a throw on the left and moments later he was crying out in vain for a handball as his shot was blocked at source..
On the hour City made their second change with Harley coming on for captain Andy Taylor in a positive move that showed City were seeing more of the ball and getting on top. Within 5 minutes Watson had a half chance snuffed out from a Logan flick and then Harley won a corner after some neat one-two passing between himself, Edwards and Moxey. The build up had been the best passage of play City had provided and they were rewarded when the corner was only half cleared and Matt Taylor crashed a shot high into the net from 18 yards. They had worked hard to get level and had their just rewards.
But calamity was only seconds away. Almost direct from the kick off Tully found himself the wrong side of an attacker. As they both chased into the area Tully clearly clipped Malcolm as he shaped to shoot and a red card was the only and inevitable result along with a penalty. Weatherstone stepped up and sent the ball to Marriott's right. The keeper guessed right but could not prevent his parry ending up at the feet of the taker for an easy tap in.
City could not pick up any rhythm as they adjusted their shape over the next few minutes, but neither could Weymouth who were content to get the ball forward quickly at any opportunity. Deano showed he was up for the fight squaring up to Weymouth's Doe after he'd been fouled and Harley and Watson set up Edwards who could only shoot tamely wide. Watson worked Henderson from 25 yards after a neat dummy from Logan, who found it to be his last contribution as Basham replaced him with 12 minutes to go. As City pushed numbers forward they were getting good possession in central areas, especially when Watson or Basham dropped a little deeper, but still couldn't work any clear openings, Carlisle's hook wide after Matt Taylor flicked on another Gill long throw their best chance.
But with the commitment forward came the flip side of being shorthanded at the back. As Taylor pushed forward City were effectively leaving only two back. A long ball found Malcolm 30 yards out and as he squared up then stepped inside Seaborne he curled a peach of a shot inside Marriott's left hand post from 20 yards to put the game beyond the visitors.
Added time saw City have lots of the ball, and put lots of them into the penalty area. Equally Weymouth continued to try and play on the break. City's poor defensive display was almost made complete when Marriott got caught with the ball at his feet but he forced the attacker wide enough so he couldn't get a clear shot at goal. The final moments saw Watson denied by a flying block from Henderson and Moxey booked for a spat with Weatherstone.
So, City left The Wessex with their tails firmly between their legs. It was frustrating that their best spell of pressure was ended with a sending off from which they never fully recovered but the looseness of much of the play and passing meant that they never really deserved to be anything more then level at any point in the game. There were too many under par performances, especially from the more experienced players, and with no sound defensive base to build on City were often trying to win the ball back instead of building possession.
But, it's only one game, and there haven't been many times this season that we've said that. What the team need to do now is make sure that it stays that way. With easy looking fixtures against Halifax and Droylesden up next at the Park City then embark on a trick couple of away fixtures at Stevenage and Salisbury. Home form really will be crucial from now on in and if the great turn out from last Saturday can be replicated until the end of the season then we can all have our part to play in pushing the Grecians towards a return to Wembley.
