Taylor’s in awe of defensive resilience

EXETER City boss Matt Taylor praised his side’s defending around the box after their triumph at Mansfield.

The Stags had started strongly, with Alex MacDonald and Otis Khan forcing Christy Pym into saves inside the first 10 minutes.

Pym then did well well to beat away Walker’s powerful shot as Mansfield stepped up the pressure.

But they faded after a good start and fell behind thanks to Moxey’s beautifully curling effort from the edge of the box just past the half-hour.

The lead was doubled when Law headed home from close range after 57 minutes when Pierce Sweeney’s cross carved Mansfield open.

Walker bagged his sixth goal of the campaign five minutes later with a toe-poke to give Mansfield some late hope.

Taylor said: “It was a good performance in a difficult game. Mansfield put us under a lot of pressure, they were excellent and passed the ball well.

“They broke our lines at times, but we defended our box really well and we kept them to half chances.

“We threatened them more than they threatened us and our chances were more clear-cut. We hit the post twice.

“Our keeper stepped up when we needed him to do as well, I thought he was unlucky with the goal to an extent.

“Some of the refereeing decisions were questionable, I have got be careful what I say and I rarely comment on referees, but I was not happy.

“If you come away from home and play like that you have got to be pleased with that. This is a big win and a big three points. Our defensive display was excellent.”

Disappointed Mansfield boss David Flitcroft felt his side had let themselves down with a lack of quality.

“Our quality and our drive was not there and we did not hurt Exeter like we have hurt other teams,” he said.

“We did not have the composure that we needed for 10 minutes after they scored their goal.

“We have lost our unbeaten run and now we need to start again and make sure our work is right and we concentrate 100 per cent.

“I am disappointed with a lot of aspects, our quality was not there like it has been and we let ourselves down.”