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Exeter City vs Newport County matchday thread
- Thread starter ExeterCityLad
- Start date
Mouth of the Exe
Member
Proverbial game of two halves.
First half, City were largely outplayed by a decent looking Newport team, for whom their #27 was pulling all the strings. City's midfield pair weren't at the races, Reid was isolated up front, MacAlinden ran around aimlessly in no-man's land, & our two wingers saw nothing of the ball at all. Too many times, long balls were lumped forward for the absent Wheeler... Newport's attacks largely came down our right flank, where time & again, Sweeney was exposed.
But with Holmes & Taylor swapping wings, City started to take control of the game towards the end of the first half, & then with the benefit of half-time, City came out & totally bossed the game for the next 25-30 minutes. Although under pressure for the last 15 minutes, the defence rarely looked troubled.
Other than Sweeney, who is at best work-in-progress at right back, the defence impressed - Pym in particular looks much more confident than last year (& stronger - he looks to have bulked out somewhat).
James flattered to deceive, on the basis of 3 or 4 highlight-reel passes - but he is too peripheral to be effective at the heart of the midfield. Despite the horrible miss, Tillson, in the second half in particular, did a great job defensively, breaking up many of Newport's moves.
A final mention for Reid - he looks fitter than I've ever seen him, & his willingness to run the channels, right up until the moment late in the game when he was substituted, allied to a series of excellent touches, was really impressive.
First half, City were largely outplayed by a decent looking Newport team, for whom their #27 was pulling all the strings. City's midfield pair weren't at the races, Reid was isolated up front, MacAlinden ran around aimlessly in no-man's land, & our two wingers saw nothing of the ball at all. Too many times, long balls were lumped forward for the absent Wheeler... Newport's attacks largely came down our right flank, where time & again, Sweeney was exposed.
But with Holmes & Taylor swapping wings, City started to take control of the game towards the end of the first half, & then with the benefit of half-time, City came out & totally bossed the game for the next 25-30 minutes. Although under pressure for the last 15 minutes, the defence rarely looked troubled.
Other than Sweeney, who is at best work-in-progress at right back, the defence impressed - Pym in particular looks much more confident than last year (& stronger - he looks to have bulked out somewhat).
James flattered to deceive, on the basis of 3 or 4 highlight-reel passes - but he is too peripheral to be effective at the heart of the midfield. Despite the horrible miss, Tillson, in the second half in particular, did a great job defensively, breaking up many of Newport's moves.
A final mention for Reid - he looks fitter than I've ever seen him, & his willingness to run the channels, right up until the moment late in the game when he was substituted, allied to a series of excellent touches, was really impressive.
Saint James
Active member
I will admit that our transfer deadline dealing brought me into this game somewhat over confident and I wondered if the players were the same given we hardly kept hold of the ball for the first 45 when outplayed by a decent looking Newport. As others have said Troy and JMT look as solid as solid can be with a dependable Woodman and an improving Sweeney alongside. James upped his game I felt with the pressure of Boateng on the bench Tillson for me still isn't what I would expect of a central midfielder in terms of passing ability. Rueben is fast recapturing the form that made him League Two's most prolific and will be knocking on the door of Kellows 30 goal haul if he keeps on playing the way he is. McAllinden whilst much improved and a very willing runner cant for the life of him keep hold of the ball up front which I think will see him moved to a wide berth soon to allow Stockley a run. The underrated Jake Taylor for me was MOM as he pops up everywhere defensively and offensively and the talent of Holmes was in the end the difference. My only gripe was the dead ball kicking of Pym who failed to find a City player on each kick he made. Anyone that saw him in the pre match warm up would have noticed 4 or 5 complete shanks which was more Devon and Exeter than Football League 
However, things are incredibly rosy in the SJP garden
However, things are incredibly rosy in the SJP garden
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Interesting that the last two posts differ in their assessment of who is the better of James and Tillson, or was yesterday. In all the league games I've seen this season on the stream (ie all of them except first half against Cheltenham) I would say Tillson is a good defensive player but seems a bit clueless going forward, while James has played well in all of them. I know it's not a popular opinion and that some people think I'm deliberately being provocative, but that's what I think.
Red Devon
Very well known Exeweb poster
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- 11,116
If I was given out marks I'd say both James and Tilson put in 8 out of 10 performances yesterday
denzel
Very well known Exeweb poster
Opposition manager in moaning at the ref shocker
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/football/newportcounty/15511377.Exiles_boss_frustrated_by__disgusting_decision__after_first_league_defeat/
Another classless prat
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/football/newportcounty/15511377.Exiles_boss_frustrated_by__disgusting_decision__after_first_league_defeat/
Another classless prat
Legohead
Banned
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- 6,762
Yeah, i think 'left to rue a host of missed chances by his team' tells it's own story.
Stop whining about the ref and whine about your players not being good enough to put the ball in the onion bag!
Antony Moxey
Very well known Exeweb poster
Classless and clueless. What disallowed goal: the one where the ref blew a number of seconds before the ball went in the net meaning our players who heard the whistle stopped playing? What a throbber.
STURTZ
Very well known Exeweb poster
I thought Reid had an alright first half against the odds but second half, especially when the substitutions were due, made extra efforts to show that he is our top forward. He moved out to the right, repeatedly called for the ball, made some great runs and put in some excellent defence splitting passes as well as having his own efforts on goal. Was it Stockley coming on that he was working to avoid? Not sure but it worked for him and the team and Stockley, who had been warming up for quite some time, was reduced to a cameo unproductive 10 minutes, whilst Reuban left the pitch to a standing ovation.