PIERCE SEEKS THE FINAL PIECE
AFTER three Wembley defeats in the last four seasons, Exeter City defender Pierce Sweeney is doing all he can to make sure he gets another shot at redemption this time around.
Play-off final defeats to Blackpool, Coventry and Northampton have seen the Grecians experience more than their fair share of heartache in recent years, repeatedly falling at the final hurdle of the League Two season.
The Devon side are back in the mix again this year as the race for the four-team lottery hots up.
And while Sweeney’s experiences during his five years at St James Park hold him in good stead heading into the run-in, he is itching to put a disappointing record right in another potential play-off campaign.
Fantastic
“For us to win a play-off final would be absolutely fantastic, because I’m a bit sick of them now, to be honest,” the former Republic of Ireland youth international said.
“Me, Jake Taylor and Matt Jay are the only three who were involved in the first play-off final four years ago and we’ve had our fair share of bad luck since.
“If we make the play-offs we know what to expect with it being live on TV and the build-up, and if we don’t make it we’ll be disappointed that we let it slip out of our hands.”
Exeter’s lack of consistency was recently summed up in the space of a few days, with a superb 4-1 win at title contenders Cambridge last Saturday followed by a 2-1 defeat at lowly Barrow in midweek.
As the division’s top scorers ahead of yesterday’s home clash against Southend,
Exeter’s firepower isn’t in doubt, but they haven’t been able to maintain momentum for long enough.
But with clashes against fellow play-off hopefuls Newport and Bolton in the final stretch, the destiny of Matt Taylor’s side is still in their own hands.
Sweeney said: “It’s all to play for. It seems like every team we’re playing over the next couple of weeks is fighting for something.
“To be fighting for a playoff spot is great but we’ve just got to find a little bit more consistency in our performances. When we’re not playing well, we’ve got to still try to win games and get results.
“We’ve just got to be confident and back ourselves. We’ve been a bit inconsistent with our results this year but on our day we can beat anyone.”
Go back ten months and Sweeney was part of the side that played the first EFL match after lockdown, as Exeter faced Colchester in the first leg of last season’s play-off campaign.
Shattered
A 1-0 defeat in Essex was followed by a 3-1 victory in Devon before a horror-show 4-0 defeat to Northampton at Wembley saw their promotion dreams shattered once again.
“Wembley is an absolutely unbelievable colosseum, but only when you win. When you lose it’s the worst place in the world,” he added.
“We’ll be looking to get into the play-offs and whoever we come up against we’ll be looking to beat them and get to Wembley. Whoever we’d play at Wembley, we’d want to beat them too. “Playing in those big matches on those big occasions is what football is all about, ultimately. They’re the days you’re going to remember when you’re long retired and finished in football.”