Jay knows Grecians must find their touch
HAVING drawn a blank for the third successive game, the goals have dried up for Exeter City at just the wrong time.
Not since September 2018 have the Grecians gone three games without scoring - and not since March 2013 in the league - but Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Newport County was the third scoreless draw in succession.
It is now five out of the last seven where they have failed to hit the target and the Grecians know that anything other than victory would end their rapidly diminisng play-off hopes when they play host to Grimsby Town at St James Park tonight.
But top goalscorer Matt Jay said that the players need to find the confidence and the belief to reverse that trend and get back to the free-scoring form in the first half of the campaign.
Saturday’s 0-0 draw saw City drop to ninth in the table, still three points behind seventh-placed Newport County, but with only three games left of the season, and with Salford City leapfrogging the Grecians after their win, their fate is no longer in their own hands.
“We definitely gave it all we had but we just lacked a bit of quality in the final third,” said Jay, who has hit the target 19 times this season.
“We worked really hard and the manager said he cannot fault us, but we are looking to get better. We have hit a drought but there are still three games left and we are looking forward to it, and there is still fight, and while we can’t be happy with a goalless draw, at least we haven’t lost
“We are all disappointed with heads down in our hands as we want to win that game and everyone knows we need to win, but we still have a chance and fingers crossed we can make it happen. We all need to look at ourselves and see what we can do to be better - I need to get back to the form I was in - and we all need to chip in for sure.
“It is definitely in us but we need the confidence and the belief, and we have been good on the whole this season so there is something there.”
City failed to have a shot on target against the Exiles, with Jake Taylor poking wide in the first half, while Ryan Bowman and Josh Key should have done better with opportunities after the break.
But City needed goalkeeper Jokull Andresson to pull off two fingertip saves from Lewis Collins and Josh Sheehan to keep them level, before Alex Hartridge cleared off the line from Nicky Maynard with the last kick of the game.
It was the third clean sheet in a row for City - a first occurrence since January 2020 - and Jay added: “Jokull kept us in it but he has been good and that was a real plus and we can take that into the next game.”
Tonight’s opponents arrive in Devon knowing they must won to preserve their Football League status though, which could help City in their quest for the three points.
Grimsby cannot sit back and play for a draw as that is not enough for them, but while they may not mathematically go down tonight, their considerably inferior goal difference (-29 to Barrow’s -7) is effectively worth another point.
“We’ve said it ourselves – it’s the hope that kills you!” Mariners boss Paul Hurst said. “But I’d much rather be getting on that coach to go to Exeter still with something to play for.
You’ve always got something to play for – you’ve got your pride, and you’re representing the football club. But we’ve still got something, and we’re still in the fight.
“I can only promise that I’m sure the lads will go into it with the right attitude. Even against Morecambe, the result and scoreline wasn’t anywhere close to what we wanted, but I thought in the second half they had a go.
“I can’t really fault the group we’ve ended up with, and the players we’ve relied on heavily. Hopefully they can give it another good effort on Tuesday night.”