The only goal was scored by midfield schemer Steve Soley nineteen minutes from the end of a somewhat undistinguished encounter. The pitch had improved quite a bit from the previous home game with Darlington but it was still hard for either side to play flowing football in a frustrating opening half. United, welcoming back Brendan McGill, had much more possession but frequently failed to use it effectively. An early shot from distance by Stuart Green, that was powerfully struck but well off target, was all they had to show for their initial endeavours. Exeter looked sporadically dangerous, with Christian Roberts showing some nice touches and a couple of shots flashed across United's goal as the game warmed up. United carved out a half chance when Soley shot from distance along the ground but the ball bobbled wide of the far upright. The chance of the half fell to Carlisle around the half-hour mark. McGill and Foran worked the ball into the penalty area for Steve Halliday but he shot straight at Grecians keeper Stuart Fraser who made a solid block at point blank range. Just before half-time the visitors could have snatched the lead themselves. The impressive Roberts got in behind the defence, sprinted away down the left channel and curled his shot inches wide as Peter Keen came off his line. The game needed to improve as a spectacle in the second half but in truth it never really did. Both sides had few clear openings and United's attacks too often petered out as the 4,929 crowd got increasingly anxious and vented their frustrations at unpopular ref Mr Salisbury from Preston. Soley was playing out of position on the right and there was little real penetration through the middle. The visitors defended resolutely and for a long while it looked like ending in a dull 0-0 draw. Off the ball incidents livened things up and Halliday wa booked for a bit of a punch-up with Graeme Power. On 71 minutes the breakthrough finally arrived. A Peter Murphy free kick was played in from the left, Foran putting in a header and Soley's close range finish just crossed the line before a defender could get a foot to it. Exeter immediately showed more ambition than they had previously and there was some anxious moments as the clock ran down. Tall Steve Flack got his head to a corner that could have brought an equaliser but the ball flew wide. Richie Foran had time to get himself into the book of Mr Salisbury before the game mercifully ended with a valuable three points for United. Al's verdict: Relief all round. With Halifax in increasingly serious trouble, this win might be the one that gets us out of the relegation scrap once and for all. It was anything but our best form of the season, but a win is a win and we just about earned it against a rugged although not too attractive Grecians outfit. We still seem to miss Stevo at home, where Halliday sometimes dribbles into blind alleys and wastes possession whilst McGill was just short of full match fitness. It was annoying as we are full of good players on the ball but it was one of those days where good football never seemed to come off. |
