Devon Bowl victory for Exeter City
EXETER City started their Devon Bowl title defence with a convincing 2-0 win away at Plymouth Marjon.
The Grecians are the defending champions after coronavirus caused the cancellation of the last two Devon St Luke’s Bowl tournaments, and an U18 side overcame tough opponents to book their spot in round two.
Eli Collins gave City an early lead, cutting inside before drilling a fabulous strike into the bottom corner, before Sonny Cox sealed the win in stoppage time on the break, rolling the ball into an empty net.
Academy coach Chad Gribble was pleased with his young side’s display with the most important thing that they secured the win to qualify for the next round.
“Marjon made that difficult for us at times in the way they set up, and in the way they played,” he told the club’s website.
“But it’s really great to come through it with a clean sheet and two goals, and I thought it was deserved.
“There were certainly elements of the performance that we want the players to be better with, and if they are to get to the levels they aspire to get to they need to have those moments more often.
“The biggest thing we asked of the players at the start of the game was to do what it needs and get yourselves in the next round to earn another opportunity and they’ve done that so we’re pleased for that reason.”
Gribble’s main aim is that the young Grecians will have more opportunities to impress in the cup, adding: “The biggest thing for this competition is it presents the players with opportunities to play against senior opposition.
“That’s ultimately what they’re striving to do, and like with any cup competition, you go an extra round and you usually get a tougher opponent. Whoever that might be, we are looking forward to testing ourselves against senior opposition.”
He added: “This is a game we were really looking forward to tonight, and that the players really embraced. We saw that in our performance and the way we went about our game tonight, so we trust in our way.
“We trust in our process and the biggest thing that comes out of this competition when you win is another opportunity, and that is what we want for our players: another opportunity to test themselves against men; another opportunity to showcase to the first team staff what their attributes are and hopefully put themselves in a position where they can earn their next contract.”
While City are able to field any side they wish in the competition, it was an U18 side who made the trip to Plymouth, although Harry Lee, Alfie Pond and Michael Lilley have played for the senior team, while Cox would have made his debut had injury not disrupted the start of his season.
With 13 minutes played, Collins gave City the lead that their start deserved, before Charlie Hanson was denied a second by Gabe Smietanka.
Toby Neville headed agonisingly wide from a corner - one a trio of chances the defender could have taken, before Hanson and Cox missed good chances to extend the lead, before the 16-year-old took book City’s spot in round two with his stoppage time goal.
After beating Plymouth Parkway 2-1 in the final in May 2019, City are defending champions, and will be favourites to retain the trophy, particularly given Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United both gave walkovers to their first round opponents.
There are still first round ties outstanding, but the second round fixtures are to be played by November 11.