Some snowy day when Exeter rewarded fans with a five-star victory
WHEN Exeter City were last in English football’s third tier, they locked horns with some of the big names in English football. Leeds United, Norwich City, Southampton, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday also found themselves in League One at some stage between 2009 and 2012, the year the Grecians were relegated.
City actually fared pretty well in those ‘ big games’ but, along with their Ryan Harley-inspired 2-0 win against Leeds United, it was two wins against Sheffield Wednesday that are among the highlights of that time. And none more so than when the two teams met at St James Park on December 18, 2010.
On Saturday, the two teams meet again in the third round of the FA Cup, but just over ten years ago, the match had been in doubt due to the amount of snow that descended on the city – and across the UK - ahead of the game. The call went out from the club for help and an army of volunteers trudged through the white stuff armed with shovels, brushes and buckets to clear the snow.
Frost covers were laid to protect the pitch but heavy overnight snow left the task force with plenty to do as they arrived at 10am on matchday to get to work. Ultimately, the snow was cleared, the covers removed to reveal a perfectly playable surface, the surrounding areas were made safe and with referee Fred Graham happy, after his inspection, it was game on. In fact, it was the only game in Leagues One and Two that beat the weather that day.
Wednesday were managed by Alan Irvine at the time and celebrating the arrival of Milan Mandaric as their new owner. They were in good form, having thrashed Bristol Rovers 6-2 only seven days earlier, a win that lifted them up to second place in the League One table.
Exeter had just been beaten 1-0 by Charlton Athletic in what was Paul Tisdale’s 100th match in charge of the Grecians, but they sat 13th in the League One table, four points adrift of the play-offs and four clear of the relegation zone.
Only 5,524 made it to St James Park due to the treacherous weather conditions. But they were treated to one of the most memorable afternoons of the Tisdale era as the Grecians rewarded those hardy volunteers with an outstanding performance that lives long in the memory.
Jamie Cureton opened the scoring on the half hour mark, sweeping home from 15 yards from Richard Duffy’s lay-off, but the lead lasted just two minutes as Tommy Miller headed a corner goalwards. Harley appeared to clear it off the line with a header of his own, but the ball was deemed to have crossed the line by the officials.
What came after the break was something quite special. Liam Sercombe took a Darren Purse clearance down on his chest before returning the most sumptuous of volley’s from 25 yards that flew into the net before Scott Golbourne capitalised on some shoddy defending to volley home from close range and make it 3-1 with his first goal for the club just three minutes later.
“He hasn’t even scored in training for 18 months,” beamed Tisdale afterwards. With their tails up, City played with a swagger and created chance after chance. Cureton added his second of the game, finishing superbly after a brilliant team move, and substitute John O’Flynn capped things off two minutes from time with the fifth, firing into the bottom corner from 18 yards.
After the match, Tisdale dedicated the win to those tireless workers that ensured the game went ahead. “People have questioned why I have an affinity with this club, and in the last couple of days it has been proved why I do,” he said. “To get the game on when it would have been so easy to call it off on Friday just shows what this club is about, and I’m delighted for everyone here.
“Full credit to not only the volunteers but the club employees as well. With their care, we got the game on, and sometimes you deserve something. It was an early Christmas present for our supporters. It was a really good day for us.”
City went on to do the double over Wednesday that season, winning 2-1 at Hillsborough on the last day of the season with goals from Daniel Nardiello and Troy Archibald-Henville, in the 89th minute. Tisdale even gave a run out to himself for the final few minutes, which angered Owls boss Gary Megson, who had replaced Irvine as manager in February as the Yorkshire outfit faded badly after that hammering in Devon and finished the season 15th. City ended in a postwar high position of eighth.
The following campaign, Wednesday gained some revenge with a 3-0 win of their own before City won once more in February 2012 – the last time the two sides met. Billy Jones and David Noble both netted brilliant free kicks to see City overturn a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.
‘People have questioned why I have an affiinity with this club and in the last couple of days, it has been proved why I do’ EXETER BOSS PAUL TISDALE