CREDITON UNITED 2 - UNIVERSITY OF EXETER 1

CREDITON welcomed Exeter Uni to Lords Meadow on Tuesday, September 12 looking to avenge their cup semi-final defeat from last season which ultimately derailed their season. It was a moist evening which produced a slick pitch, perfect for two teams who liked to get the ball down.

Trenaman was again forced into changes due to the unavailability of Waring, Khoo and Townsend. Durrant was out injured from the previous game and Pike withdrew from the squad through illness.

This meant numbers were light but there was still enough quality on the pitch to get a positive result. Law and Yao were given their full debuts, in goal and on the right-hand side of midfield respectively, with Carpenter and McCann slotting in as full-backs. Bilcock also returned to partner Lee in midfield in a 4-4-2 set up.

The game started at a frantic pace, with neither side able to settle on the ball, as both teams looked to press from the front.

The Uni side looked unusually uncomfortable on the ball, especially along the back line, which gave Crediton encouragement in the early exchanges.

Crediton should have opened the scoring in the 10th minute and will still be wondering how they didn’t. Bilcock whipped a free kick over from the right-hand side of the box, with the ball finding Goss just four yards from goal, however he couldn’t react quick enough, with the ball hitting his standing leg and dribbling wide of the post with the goal gaping.

Uni nearly opened the scoring themselves on 20 minutes, Bartley firing over after cutting inside Goss. Sedgwick then missed a great chance after good work from Bratt down the left.

Crediton were getting a lot of joy down the left, with Uni playing a back three, meaning Morish had a lot of space to exploit.

Morish had the beating of West and crossed to the head of Ord, who could not hit the target when well placed.

Chances were beginning to arrive and Bartley missed a similarly glaring chance to that of Goss’ at the other end, Penton put one on a plate, but the Uni skipper could only head wide of an open goal from six yards.

Crediton then managed to take the lead from a seemingly harmless position, Carpenter picked the ball up deep inside his own half and played a speculative ball into the right-hand channel.

Uni defender Trueman looked favourite to get to the ball first but Yao showed great determination, sprinting 30 yards to nip the ball away from him and burst in towards goal from the right.

From a tight angle he lifted the ball past Home to give Kirton the breakthrough and bag a goal on his full debut.

Uni were unlucky not to go in level at the break as Sedgwick again found himself in a good position, but could not finish past Law, who was having a solid debut.

Crediton changed shape at half-time, reverting to a 4-3-3 in order to try and stop the supply from the deep lying midfielder, this seemed to work for the most part, although Crediton did not see a lot of the ball, Uni failed to create any clear cut chances.

The game burst into life in the 60th minute, with Morish putting Ord through on goal. However, his first time effort on his weaker left side, flew wide of the post. Ord again found himself in a great position 10 minutes later, checking back inside, past Davis, but his final shot was wasteful and failed to trouble Home.

The referee was determined to get his cards out, showing no less than six Crediton players a yellow, for very soft fouls.

It was fairly end-to-end stuff at this point as Uni were pressing for the equaliser and Crediton, looking to double their advantage on the counter. However, Crediton were very wasteful on the ball and failed to make the most of some dangerous opportunities.

Sedgwick again missed a glorious chance after a cut back from Penton, blazing over with the goal unguarded. On another day you felt he could have had a hat-trick if he brought his shooting boots.

The second goal did finally arrive with 15 minutes to go and it was Kirton who snatched it. Ord, who was working tirelessly up front, bustled his way past two Uni defenders taking him through on goal, but very wide, unselfishly he pulled the ball back to Bilcock who slammed home from 12 yards to give Crediton some breathing space.

Uni were still not dead and buried yet however, with five minutes to go they set up a grandstand finish, after a foul from Lee 30 yards from goal.

Crediton switched off and Uni took the free kick quickly, slotting the ball through to Bartley who made no mistake with just Law to beat.

This made it a nervy few minutes for the hosts, who were made to dig deep, there were a host of bodies put on the line, with players throwing themselves at the ball from all angles.

Crediton held on to gain the three points, despite a fairly poor performance, in which they lacked quality on the ball, giving the opposition far too much encouragement by relinquishing possession far too easily.

Trenaman will take positives as his side showed they can win when they are not at their best, with the defence and goalkeeper again looking solid.

Yao and Law also showed that they can step up and play a big part this season, as both made an impact on their debuts.

Next up for Crediton is a league cup match, with a trip to Sidmouth Town tomorrow, Saturday, September 16 with an earlier than usual kick off of 1pm.

Dave Lee