Taylor rues lack of killer instinct from Grecians
EXETER City manager Matt Taylor felt his side lacked the ‘killer instinct’ to take the halfchances they created in their goalless draw with Southend United on Saturday lunchtime.
Alex Hartridge volleyed straight at Mark Oxley from six yards out in the first half, while Jake Taylor had a header cleared off the line.
After the break, City were much improved and saw Ryan Bowman first head over from close range, before firing narrowly wide when cutting in from the left.
And in a frantic six minutes of stoppage time where City created a flurry of chances, Nigel Atangana forced a wonder save from Mark
Oxley to tip a drive onto the post, Rory McArdle headed wide from a corner and Josh Key blazed over when in space on the edge of the box.
The 0-0 draw saw City cut the gap to seventh-placed Newport County to just one point after the Exiles lost at home to Cambridge United, while the chasing gap again failed to capitalise on City’s slip-up, and Taylor felt his side, despite being low on energy, created more than enough to win the game.
“It was a war of attrition and both teams went at it helter-skelter for the first 50-60 minutes with no real quality and the ball never settled for our attackers at any stage,” he said.
“We were looking for set pieces, a bit of quality delivery for our attacking players but didn’t quite have that moment of quality in us and when we chased it at the end, we started to create, and we had enough chances to win the game.
“It was a great save from Nigel Atangana; Rory McArdle’s header, Rory Bowman when he cut inside, Josh Key at the end, but we have to keep hitting the target and Nigel was the only one who did that. But they are giving everything and they are out on their feet. Southend worked to make it a physical encounter and we matched them and we had enough chances to win it
“Set pierces were the best route to goal and we worked on them time and time again, and on another day, you’d back Rory and Alex from six yards out, but we just didn’t have it today. Our attacking players didn’t have a big enough impact and we will learn off the back of it as we created enough balls in and around to box to capitalise on.”
Taylor added: “I was pleased with the effort and endeavour but the game lacked quality, but it was not for the want of trying. You just want one of the chances to go in the back of the net, and the ones that fell to them in and around the box, we didn’t react with the killer instinct which you need to win games of football.
“We had enough moments but weren’t tidy and clean enough, but the players at a physical low and didn’t quite have the killer instincts.”
The point means it is just two wins in nine now for City, but other results once again went in their favour as they stay eighth and they are now just one point behind Newport, while Phil Brown’s Southend stay in the relegation zone, but cut the gap to Colchester United to just three points.
It was their second goalless draw in a run since Brown took charge, but having only netted 24 goals in 42 games, and other than a Recco Hackett-Fairchild effort that deflected onto the crossbar, and a free header from a corner for Nathan Ferguson which he headed wide, rarely looked like scoring.
After relegation last season from League One, the point leaves them staring down the barrel of a second relegation and dropping out of the football league for the first time since 1920, and Taylor added: “They have a serious squad for this level, so we knew what we would get today, but we were more than a match.”
City travel to Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday - whose 3-2 win over Scunthorpe saw them stretch their lead to four points to the Grecians - before facing Newport at St James Park next Saturday, and Taylor added: “The next two games is our season and they will define where we finish, and we will aim for maximum points.”