Exeter City vs Mansfield Town Match Day Thread

[grecIAN Harris]

I've got to be honest, I didn't see the same game as Matt Taylor. He says we were in control from start to finish. It's not quite how I'd describe it. Mansfield were poor and carried no attacking threat but we really did little to disturb them in the first half.
The second half started well with Jay forcing a good save out if the keeper and you're thinking 'Well at least Matt has sent them out with a rocket up their arse' and then we go and concede from a silly free kick with Sweeney off the pitch injured whilst conceding said silly free kick. And then on comes Podge. He didn't have to be brilliant, he just did things with intelligence and forward thought like set up Dieng by chasing the ball down before it crossed the dead ball line, spinning and floating up a cross up that was just asking to be buried by Dieng. Had it been any other player than Podge you can be sure they would have rescued the ball but then almost certainly would have looked to lay it off to Daniel at full back. On that substitution, why Taylor came off instead of Edwards is anyone's guess. Taylor had done a decent job in an unfamiliar position whilst Edwards did little other than a good impression of a brick wall, everything that came to him bounced at least three yards off of him.
From then on it was just a case of when not if we would score and then how much time would be left to score more. Brown came on for the hapless Edwards and increased the attacking intensity along with Podges running opening up spaces. Eventually Collins found himself skipping down the right and setting up that man mountain Matt Jay to bury another header in from an angle that he no right of thinking of scoring from. From there on Nombe should have had a hattrick having waltzed around the keeper, after finally getting the sort of service he thrives off, only to make a mess if actually putting the ball in the net. Then he scuffed a chance you'd expect him to score from in the form he is in and finally cannoned one against the post from an acute angle.
We deserved to win but it wasn't the complete control that Matt Taylor suggested.

 

[citytillidie72]

Last half hour was decent. First hour was plopsies. Another sloppy goal to concede but luckily our bench is very strong and changed the game.

Imagine spending as much money as Mansfield to have a team like that.

Key was MOM by some distance.

Proof that just throwing money at something doesn't guarantee success. Anyway, well done city

 

[Hants_red]

Proof that just throwing money at something doesn't guarantee success. Anyway, well done city

I do wonder that it might be the owners that are the problem.

 

[iscalad]

I do wonder that it might be the owners that are the problem.

He lives in Portugal

 

[dontpassback]

Good to see Archie Collins back,he looked off the pace against Walsall,but he looked good today and there is no doubt about his quality,so well done Archie and keep it up

 

[Red Devon]

Not a great deal to write home about in the opening 45 minutes although I thought Kyle Taylor did pretty well down the right....once we equalised from the excellent Timothee Dieng there was only one team who were going to go on and win it with City really putting pressure on the Mansfield defence...Former summer transfer target Farrend Rawson kept Sam quiet for the most part. Left scratching my head a bit tonight as why Jevani Brown is playing League Two football he has so much clever passing and quality about him....Good to hear that MT will be having a word with Sweeney about calling for treatment for what looked by his reaction a very soft knock when we have to defend a free kick into our box...a very poor decision that Sweenz...Colin Daniel had a much better game today too.

 

[Exehausted]

I'm glad to see that people are rating Archie again. The guy a few seat from me was berating him all afternoon and was saying at half time that he should be taken off if we were to stand a chance of winning. I said I thought he was outstanding and he just shook his head and gave me such a look. Key was outstanding and his ability to make a mug of a defender time after time was outstanding. Once he just flicked his hips and it sent the defender onto his backside and he didn't even touch the ball and he just glided past him. He's a real class act, as is MJ and Hartridge. I can see big bids coming in for all three in January. Hopefully we can keep them all. As others have said, our strength is our bench. Real game changers. Mansfield battled hard although they were very limited, but our changes gave us the opportunity to take advantage of a tiring defence. Well done City!

 

[budegrecian]

We've gone behind in all three games this week, four times in all, yet still come back to pick up 7 points. Says a lot about the team's attitude & resilliance.

 

[STURTZ]

We've gone behind in all three games this week, four times in all, yet still come back to pick up 7 points. Says a lot about the team's attitude & resilliance.

Think our fitness and depth of a talented squad will enable us to do well this season, even if we do lose a couple in the Jan window.

 

[Stuck in Crawley]

I'm glad to see that people are rating Archie again. The guy a few seat from me was berating him all afternoon and was saying at half time that he should be taken off if we were to stand a chance of winning. I said I thought he was outstanding and he just shook his head and gave me such a look. Key was outstanding and his ability to make a mug of a defender time after time was outstanding. Once he just flicked his hips and it sent the defender onto his backside and he didn't even touch the ball and he just glided past him. He's a real class act, as is MJ and Hartridge. I can see big bids coming in for all three in January. Hopefully we can keep them all. As others have said, our strength is our bench. Real game changers. Mansfield battled hard although they were very limited, but our changes gave us the opportunity to take advantage of a tiring defence. Well done City!

Agree! There were several delightful interchanges in the first half right in front of me in The Stagecoach between Collins, Key and the useful Taylor, my MOM of the first half.