Taylor says there’s more to come from Grecians
MATT Taylor said there is much more still to come from his youthful Exeter City side after their dominant 2-0 win over early season league leaders Cambridge United.
After Lewis Ward was forced into action early on with two fine saves, the Grecians were on the front foot at St James Park, and the win could have been more convincing than the two goal scoreline suggested.
Matt Jay slotted home a penalty to give City the lead in the 16th minute after Randell Williams was tripped by Harrison Dunk, before Joel Randall’s mazy run into the box and low, left-footed shot into the net made it two just before the break.
City had chances to add to their lead, but despite late pressure from the U’s and Taylor feeling they were never quite comfortable to know they had the game won.
“It was a good win,” the manager said. “I still think there is more to come from us. We had to not weather a storm, but withstand some opportunism and Lewis made some good saves earlier on. We took our chances compared to denying them their chances.
“I felt we could have killed the game off earlier than we did. A 2-0 looks comfortable, but never quite felt comfortable on the touchline, and it would have been more comfortable if we killed it off earlier but cannot fault the effort.”
It was the Grecians’ first clean sheet in 23 matches, dated back to January, and Taylor said that the way the team played pleased him in providing a solid defensive platform to snuff out what had been a free-scoring Colin Calderwood team.
And he praised Ward for the way he dominated the box and dealt with the pressure that the U’s put on, saying: “I am as pleased with the saves early on from him as I am at the end him coming and out punching the ball and dominating the box.”
Taylor added: “That’s why he is playing as he has the extra size and pressure when we have a young team and being bombarded by crosses, and it is a collective clean sheet for the team. Can see why they have scored goals, but Lewis made himself big and helped us out and that’s his job, and after the first two saves, he not had much to do, and dominated the box.”
He added: “We were below par against Port Vale, but that’s three good performances out of four, and against good teams. I was pleased with the performance and if you play well, you get the reward.”
Cambridge have been regular opponents for City in recent years and this was the best U’s team to have visited Devon for some time.
They posed a threat throughout, which meant that Taylor never felt comfortable, even if his team’s game management in the second half was excellent.
“I thought it was a very open game with chances at both ends of the pitch,” Taylor added. “I was never