Thetownend.com

Go on then, I'll give it a go.

Nothing less than a drumless win.

Nervy 2-0 win. Last minute breakaway goal from Nouble to clinch it, Cuthbert header for the first.

i think we will batter them 5-0.

1-1 draw with us being all over them and us letting a late goal in, Douglas to break his duck. 7,566 crowd.

3-0 Billy 2 and Charlie

Really excited about being able to watch this tonight.  Saturday's result makes this a 'must win'.  Anything else and, mentally, I'll start preparing for the play offs.  Exeter are on a reasonable run of form thenmselves...so I expect a proper contest.

As an aside, I've just been over to commiserate with one of the Spurs fans I work with who was at Wembley yesterday.  Mentioned that our own result was not the best this weekend, making tonight's game all the more important.  'That must be a local game for you as well', came the reply.  Yep...about as local as Tottenham vs Notts Forest.

anyone without a season ticket going?
or does anyone have a season ticket who cant make it today? :-p theres a beer in it

Sorry Mr wilson but im not coming, im going to save myself £38 on my train ticket and make the loung journey to my sofa for once. Have also given my season ticket to someone else so there you go.

Wont get home til gone 6, so no way would i make it. Going to the pub to watch instead.

what he said

what pub fred? i'm gonna be down your way later at the parents, i do want to go but im thinking of my wallet

Probably the Wheatsheaf mate .................. all depends on when I get back from the shit hole that is Feltham

I hope we win

 I hate messing about with KO times for Sky...one of the reasons some of us have other commitments on a Monday is because football should be on a Tuesday..

im feeling really ill so a visit from sky is lovely! Game on the sofa tonight!

Exactly what I thought. The a number on this forum are keyboard warriors who use any excuse not to go to games.

Tisdale seems to be suggesting it's gonna be an easy 3 points for us. I hate it when opposing managers say that!

http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10436~2021549,00.html

Just driven past the ground and saw a double decker diner - is that for Sky staff?


Prediction: either crappy 1-1 draw or easy 4-0 win.

MIght miss this.

ThAi new yrea here and I am hal f cut already.

Sawadde Pee mai Krap, and up the redds/

I do this, generally once a day.

You can't afford a fiver to get in, but you can afford a couple of drinks in the pub?  ???

We'd never have guessed

ohh i forgot about that. you offering then si?

I can only get a concession ticket. I will speak to my brother though and let you know

cheers mate, i assume you will both be in the merlin

I'm getting to the Merlin for around 4 hopefully

Make sure he gets it before 5pm, when the offer finishes

i'm missing it tonight,as i'm back to work after a week off.
i'll sky+ our 2-1 victory to watch tomorrow when i get up.

no doubt

damn, didn't realise my dad is a season ticket holder.

"no doubt'

who do you think you are, stringer bell!

Nobody give a fuck about 40. Nobody remember 40, and y'all niggas is giving me way too many 40-degree days! What the fuck?

We don't have Sky and will get stabbed if we go to the local pub :(

Surely you'll be safe......Sussex on the other hand may need to watch his back.......

I was suppose to be heading round a mate's house to watch it, but he's blown me out, the cunt. Looks like its a local pub for me. Moral of the story - never trust a Gooner.

Going to be watching this in a pub full of City fans so should be interesting... the joys of living in Exeter. 

3-1. 

Are you in London?  (Gooner comment...just a chance.)  If you are, happy to PM details of pub for this evening.

No. Weston-super-Merde......

Me, my boys and 3 others on £5 tickets will be filling my people carrier and getting there early - chips from York Road on the way to the ground.

Oh - we will win 3-0 in front of 8,650 fans. I wonder if sky have canned football fan sounds like the canned laughter they use on sit-coms to hide the fact it will be like a morgue.

A bit nervous about tonight after the weekend. not worried about the performance, just hoping that the weird way in which Saturday panned out won't knock the confidence of the lads. If we can make a good start we'll win it by a couple of goals. If not, it might be a close game.

Its going to be carnage and i would not want to be in Exeter Citys boots.

7-0

Sing up for the TV cameras boys.

Im at work for this, gutted.

Should have got Rach to drive you down here mate ;)

Let's hope we don't embarass ourselves in front of the cameras tonight. Come on Town!

Sadly go to miss tonight, unwell, stinking cold, sinuses blocked and to top it all off have the shits!!  Have to resort to Sky for tonight I'm afraid.

Get back into second place by hook or by crook...put the pressure on the others tomorow,tight game ...2-1 with an edgy end...

Yes we do. Just not the sports bit. But now we do have the sports bit. Now chop chop with my fucking dinner bitch.

Swindon Town in high definition :D  :toocool:

You are walking a tightrope Paul!

On holiday near Lincoln. Just off to the nearest village to see if I can find a pub that'll put the match on. If not then back on internet to find it. A good feeling about today. I'm going for a big victory 5-1.     

Calderwood in the legends apparently. Someone tell him he's a cunt for fucking off to spurs!

simon cox is in the legends too.

They deserve to be in there -both of them!

Team is same as. Corr is starting for them. At least it means he'll get sent off at some point.

cheeky little wave to the camera from charlie there

what site are people watching this on? iraq goals is showing the speedway!

Evenin all. Nervous about this.

Ward hits post.

Bit nervous too. Hate not being there, makes me so nervous. About to lose my signal too so I will have no idea what is happening.

Is it wrong to be chanting red army on your own in the front room!

i got out of work late so watch on sky...i hate being an armchair fan - its shit!

Is world not working -as i'm not getting anything?

Same here! Is it off because the sky cunts have it?

Charlie's confidence in front of goal must have gone. According to PA he's had a shot from twenty yards and Lucas saved.

thanks

i fucking hate gary birtles

Sorry. Well it was post 666 from me.

Once I get home and find a feed I'll add something more worthwhile.

gay

1-0 down.

Bummers

Booooooo

For me Darby has been poor and Charlie as well isn't having a good game. I'd stick Amankwaah on.

oooh close.

Take Sheehan off and bring Pericard on,  Sheehan has been shit in this game

You're not on your own. I'm in my front room doing the same.

Come on Town!

We're going to have to get over this fucking inability to win in games in which we fall behind quick.

Amankwa for Darby is a possibility, or Nouble on for Austin. Somehow or other we just have to be a bit more direct and start causing their defenders problems. They've had it far too easy so far.

We're good enough to do these cunts. Come on you reds!!!!

10 times the team they are but cant fucking score. Again.

greer's mistake led to the goal, although it looked offside to me.

i don't think anyone is having a poor game, exeter have just been very well organised and pack their box with men. austin had a chance but couldn't get it through a solid wall of black.

we've been a bit careless and wasteful in posession at times as well.

Absolute shite!! We have been way too wasteful with the ball i feel.

Looks like we can kiss goodbye to automatic promotion, Fact is we never win once we go behind and can't see that changing now.

nah, the fact is that we haven't won this season once we've gone behind... still time to change that ;)

should have been 2-0

fuck sake Exeter are all over us.

Amankwaah on

not gonna happen to nite!! dont look confident at all!!

fucks sake

WHAT!

We can't score

We've got to fucking score in a minute

Oh FFS! I nearly shit myself!

I'm relying on the BBC's time delayed fucking website.

Please don't do that again..

Exeter look like they're starting to open up a bit at the back.

STFCplayer is fucked!

Have they parked the cunting bus on the goal-line or what?

just not falling to us in the box. We are playing well.

It's been a very impressive defensive display. Bodies back and organised.

I'm so totally fucking sick of this commentary

Be thankful you ungrateful cunts.

http://supersp0rt.net/channel1.html swindon game live now!!

Not good enough end of story just can't win a game when we go behind.

A draw would be nice though now!

It doesn't fecking matter now.

It's the play-offs for us

Yep it's the play-offs and if we go behind in a play-off game we will be in the shit!!

What a difference a couple of days make.

There he fucking goes again, why does he have to screech like we've scored when we haven't

Get it!

YES!

og!!

final score 1-1

Ah well, need Carlisle and Yeovil to do us big favours tomorrow, but i think playoffs for us now

Would like to see Big Kev and JFL start in place for Sheehan and Darby on Saturday

Nice to see Pericard showing some worth, his headed flick to JPM and his shot where instrumental in the equalier. Credit to JPM for the cross as well.

Sorry but that wasn't good enough in my opinion, Yet again we let ourselves down on tv.

Auto is gone now, Play-offs it is and as i said earlier if we go behind in the play-offs we will be fucked because yet again we can't win a game once we go behind!

I think Sheehan was crap again, Austin didn't do a lot tonight either, Paynter played well but like Colchester we had lots of the ball and don't take our chances.

we deserved to win that.

Fuck me, I am utterly drained after that.

Milwall will have to drop points in the next two games to give us a shot at auto on the final day of the season.

No we didnt,  Exeter put a good defensive shift in and got a well earned point

They defended like we did against Saints and Leeds

Utter Bollocks. We did anything but let ourselves down. The boys did themselves proud. They can be proud of their efforts. Each and every one of them.

Couldn't disagree more, we've dicked them, their keeper and CB have had worldies and the ball didnt fall for us. theyve had one shot on target and scored, its cunting annoying but to suggest weve let ourselves down and it wasnt good enough is way wide of the mark.

That's the first time I've seen us play this season (joys of living abroad), and I must so that we are a very very good team.

It was like watching the first leg of Barca vs Arsenal.  We were fantastic, but for whatever reason just couldn't seem to put the ball in the back of the net.

How we didn't win by 3-4 goals is beyond me.  Their keeper played a blinder mind, I think that they've got him to thank for the point.

I have the distinct feeling that we're going to give someone a good spanking soon.  Probably a side who play the ball on the deck a bit / don't play 6-3-1 against us.

I was surprised with how good Exeter were. They defended brilliantly and we through everything at them. I agree with Sonic, we deserved to win, reminded me of the Bristol Rovers game where the ball would just be magnetised to one of their players instead of the ball falling nicely to one of our players in the box.

OST beat me to it!stupid comment to say we let ourselves down!

Fuck me you're a miserable cunt aren't you!

Presumably your user name is ironic is it.

Another day and we would have scored 5. Not sure you can really criticise the performance (and Exeter defended really well).

I'm a bit worried about Charlie's anonymity in the last couple of games. Hope he's not shagged out - now it looks like the play-offs, it may be worth giving him a rest.

60% posession, 9 attempts on target, 10 corners, hit the post, the bar and had a shot cleared off the line.

after a mad five minutes at the start of the second half, we took total control of the game.

No matter how well we played it's not good enough if we can't score and leave it to the last minute to get a goal.

No

We put it in the air too much, and Exeter are very good in the air.  What I missed was some real pace upfront.  Someone who could run at them with the ball and draw the inevitable fouls in.

I thought we were really good. Credit to Exeter too, lots of character and a bit of luck needed to keep the ball out like that.

We're in the Top 6 and it's not a fluke - this is a cracking campaign. The choice XI are getting tired so it's up to Wilson to keep them going.

We dominated no doubt but we should be beating teams like this in all honesty, Like saturday we had a lot of possesion, Lots of chances but lack of finishing.

Still have a feeling it will go to the last day, why on earth give up now on automatic!? Who thought Millwall would have drew with Brentford a few weeks ago???

Hopefully neither them or Leeds win tomorrow, but i'm hopeful Huddersfield do us a favour on Friday.

Unless Leeds and Millwall both lose tomorrow then it's play off's for us.

It was dissapointing not to win but in the circumstances it was good to get a point. We could not break them down and to be fair to them, they defended well. We cant seen to put in a performance in front of the cameras and not being able to come from behind is concerning espescially for the play-offs, where it could be essential. As soon as Ferry had that one cleared off the line then you knew it was going to be one of those nights!

Despite that, if Leeds and Millwall both lose tomorrow, then we are still in stricking distance of 2nd place as we would be level with Leeds and 1 behind Millwall.

Dissapointing draw but tomorrow is now very important for us.

what a load of bollocks, we have had 17 attempts on goal with more than half on target.

Their keeper & defence played well & they have scored with their only shot on target (albeit a very good finish).

If you think that was a poor performance you need to go back to supporting Man Ure.

I never said it was a poor performance, We dominated but as i said it's no good if you don't take your chances.

Absolutely - they defended like their lives depended on it. Hope they stay up - at least they try to play football, which is more than you can say for the likes of Colchester.

Good post langers.

My brother was molesting the croydon massive tonight apparently

You said we'd let ourselves down.

Fair enough though. Poor result, good performance. Think most people would in agreement with that.

Tisdale got his tactics spot on to be fair, but luck more than played it's part.

I meant we let ourselves down by not taking our chances not the performance, No-one can say we didn't play well but that's little consolation when you don't take your chances, It has cost us, We will have to do much better to have any chance of winning the play-offs.

you said it was "shite" and "not good enough"

don't argue semantics, dammit

 :D

Well a draw isn't good enough!

Looking forward to some comments from those at the game.  Positives - we score in injury time just like Norwich which eases the pain of us conceding late.  Main lesson from this evening is to go to the rest of the games and not listen on the radio as Vic and Phil are too biased and give me heart attacks every time we get in the opponants box with their wild shouting.  I'm so chuffed we got a late goal, hopefully that will give the team a real boost

I hope he's alright! It can be a bit scary after dark!

Just got back...and this sums up what I was thinking.

Their manager Tisdale is highly thought of and I can see why. They made it difficult for us by playing a 3-5-2 formation, but they played some good football especially in the first half, but from the first to the last minute they put their bodies on the line every time we had a pop on goal.

Even though it's technically 2 points dropped, there are going to be points dropped  by the four sides going for second. We've probably overachieved so far this season. We should just now go to try and win the four remaining games. If we do, and it's not enough for automatic, so be it.

By the way, did notice that Colin Calderwood was at the CG tonight. I wonder who he was spying on!!

In the context of where we are in the league, and what we're seeking to achieve, no it isn't. But to say we let ourselves down on tv is just laughable. All the neutrals who just watched the game were pleasantly surprised at how good a team we looked, and you have to credit Exeter for a very good defensive performance. Whatever happens, we've had a season thats exceeded all expectations, so chill out old bean.....

It's really disappointing that we worked so hard to get to 2nd and promptly lost it again. Some sloppy defending, poor finishing, and a slight amount of misfortune has put paid to our auto dreams.

A note on some players, we need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck and take responsibility - too many times we didn't want to take the shot, or try the killer pass.

And I still hate how wasteful Sheehan is.

I've certainly got a lot more respect for Exeter than Colchester. I can't believe it's Exeter fighting relegation and Colchester going for the play offs.

I'm gutted we didn't win but that was great game and you can't fault the lads for effort.

Even so........Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhh!!!!!.....this game is so frustrating!!!

Sheehan was poor, Very very wasteful, Most players played well, Austin seemed off the boil tonight though.

I'm not giving up on auto just yet. Leeds have to go to Charlton, Millwall go to Udders on Friday and there are bound to be one or two unexpected results as well.

To be honest, Autos would be a bonus but i think we have a great chance in the playoffs.

We seem to play better against the so called bigger teams in the division.  I reckon we could turnover Charlton over 2 games and then beat Huddesfield/Leeds/Millwall at Wembley.

Anyway that's three games against Exeter this season that have finished 1-1, and all had a last minute equaliser in each !!

We must give Exeter every credit tonight, they set themselves up to frustrate us and they certainly did that.  What worries me is that is the way they have played since the turn of the year, it was fairly obvious we needed pace down the flanks to get behind them, not once did we get the ball to the line and cut it back.  Surely we have had them scouted and knew how they were going to play?  Perhaps we let ourselves down technically in that department, but how you can criticise anybody after the performance I just don't know.  

Was it only me, but I really enjoyed that game. Real heart in the mouth stuff. Yes it wasn't the most ideal result but we dominated the game, and hats off to Exeter they really defended like lions.

Whats with all the doom and gloom?! We're still there...

Bang on. We've played well in the last two games, but just seem to have lost a bit of spark in front of goal, which is a bit odd as we have "the most prolific partnership in the football league" (© Sky Sports)

Exactly. I dont know why we are giving up on auto yet. We were still beleiving that we could auto after Colcherster and since then we have gained a point and if Leeds and Millwall lose tomorrow then it is all still to play for. We shouldn't give up yet. Like i said earlier, tomorrow is very important now.

i thought sheehan did ok, put some good crosses into the box, ball didnt fall for us coupled with some heroic defending by exeter. tits.

That was a fantastic display of attacking football by Town-my neutral friends in the local were amazed at the quality of our play.Everyone of our players is comfortable on the ball and Ferry was fucking outstanding tonight in my opinion-if Wardy could finish he'd be in Bolton's side now.That was a freak result tonight.So much better than watching boring Premiershit football!

Pride, were you at the game tonight?   Seems a bit harsh to slag payers off if you weren't.  What Charlie has done this season is an absolute bloody miracle so a couple of games not scoring isnn't something to carp about.  Lets see how the front runners do tomorrow and then worry...

I watched it! Sheehan was our most wasteful player when he had the ball, Paynter played well but Austin must have been knackered because he seemed a bit off the pace tonight!

my Rangers supporting flatmate was amazed when one of our players (I forget who) brought the ball down out of the sky and said he hadn't seen a Rangers player do that in years.

Even though that was ball-achingly frustrating you have to feel good about the rest of the season however it pans out. Even if we do end up in the play offs you have to fancy our chances against anyone. I wouldn't mind Colchester in the semis. Those cunts need bringing down a peg or two.

I'd rather play them in the final, On a decent pitch we would beat them, Better than playing on that plough field.

But we're relying on both Millwall and Leeds to lose. Can't see it. I'm not sure I can take the play-offs again.

Two years ago we nearly went bust.

One year ago we were battling relegation.

This year I'm disappointed we 'only' seem to be heading to the playoffs.
 
Its not that bad (as long as we win at Wembley!)

I can see both Millwall & Leeds' winning tomorrow so the gap would be too big.

Let's just hope we can do the business in the play-offs.

Why not? They're only human, they feel pressure the same as anyone. And teams will be going up against them and playing out of their skins like Exeter did tonight. I mean come on, everyone playes like it's their Cup Final against mighty Leeds don't they?

Sheehan is fucking wank.

So did I.

Over stating it a tad there I think.

Or they could both lose or draw in frustrating fashion - what a great game football is

I didn't really enjoy it at the time because I was so desperate for us to score but looking back yes, it was a great game. There's no need for any doom and gloom whatsoever. We're playing far, far too well for any of that bollocks.

cant understand the sheehan slating at all?

Dont see why not. Football is a funny game, and even if thwy both win tomorrow, Millwall have to go to Huddersfield on friday which is very difficult. I'll admit that it is looking unlikley but still a definate possibility. If we drop any points out of our next 3 games, then i think have lost the chance.

So frustrating, just like Saturday almost. GET IN THE FUCKING NET!!!!

However, as already said, Exeter played out of their skins in defence and good for them, I bet their fans will be happy with a point tonight. I thought we played very well, but sometimes I think we need to up the tempo a few more notches, we give the opposition too much time.

Auto's? Hmmm. Not really in our hands any more.

Quote from an Exeter forum:

"Oh and Town were (and by a country mile) the best side I have seen City play against this season."

Thought the front 2 werea bit off colour today, and the full backs not up to scratch (Kev did alright when he came on), but overall it was one of those how did we not win it games.  Well done to Exeter, amazing defending and kept us busy when they needed to.

Play offs are much more fun anyway, scratch Brighton, it's been mostly fun bar that (and I include Palace where we played well above ourselves).

Yes, we needed to play like we played in the second half for the whole game.

Yea, you know I feel like that was a great point in the end and we shouldn't give up on auto even though it's a long shot.  We overplayed in the first half, but better in the second.   
Not sure whether I enjoyed it or not, too desperate for us to score. Totally totally drained now though.  

Manks made a big difference, would like to see him start against Walsall;   Billy and Charlie to come good around 3.01 Sat.

So. Amankwa to start on Saturday? I think so. Not knocking Darby but we need to get right in amongst Walsall right from the start. Big Kev will certainly help in that respect.

Darby is a very decent defender, but he offers nothing going forwards. Big Kev should start against Walsall.

I still think Sheehan is rubbish.

He said the same about your hat the other day.

J's hat is full of shit, Sheehan is a decent league 1 defender.

Amankwaah has to start on Saturday. Surprised Darby wasn't taken off at half time.

Darby got physically dominated when the ball was in the air, Corr and the gin-ger were quite big. Darby is however a very good player.

Sheehan I quite like as a defender, far better than Lecs at left  back. His final ball was poor too often tonight though.

What is it with left backs.

JFL plays left back, and gets slated, and when Sheehan plays he is slated.

FFS not everyone can play well all of the time.

Yeah. jayohaitchenn. stop slating JFL.

No. That's over stating it to a ridiculous degree.

We were the better side first half (although they played some good stuff as well first 20 mins or so) but overelaborated around the box, then got caught on the break and looked nervy after the goal and 1st 5 minutes of second half. But then we got ourselves back together and completely slaughtered them as they put everything into defending the lead. And credit where it's due, they defended like bloody Trojans, but on any other night we'd have put 3 past them. How we didn't win that is beyond me, as pretty much everyone else has said, great performance, disappointing result.

A decent performance tonight but we just aren't getting the break of the ball and the scoreline wasnt a fair reflection on the 90 minutes. Douglas and Ferry were excellent, Sheehan was absolute fucking wank. Lucas had nothing to do but pick the ball out of the net. We'll have to win all our remaining games to have a chance of 2nd now.

ok i will ask again what did fucking sheehan do wrong??????????????

Fuck me that was a nervy game so much that when we missed one of our chances and a forward motion with hands behind head ending up catapulting my glasses down a few rows of the DR stand,luckily some bloke saw them fly past him and passed them to my mrs,must learn to calm down and not get so worked up in future.

Once again the TV jinx strikes,thanks sky for putting us on live,was this ken bates knowing we play shit on sky and bribing them to show us live.

Play offs it is then and loads more nervy moments to come but i would have been delighted with a play off spot at the start of this season and even before xmas,shame about auto's but you never know millwall and leeds may fuck up yet.

Not our best performance especially first half but second half im still scratching my head wondering how we did't win,good support from the exeter fans and better side than i thought they were.

JPM did't seem his usual self and sheehan was poor at times,the midfield is a concern as douglas and ferry wont have a shot when there are times where they could just put their foot through it,we need goals from midfield and not rely on paynter and austin all the time.

King of Tonga...

What the fuck did he do right more like fella? That was a good team performance but both of our starting fullbacks were awful tonight. Manks and Lecsi for Saturday certainly.

Auto's are not out of the question until mathematically impossible. Stranger things have happened.

I'm not liking all this doom and gloom. How expectations have changed...

Whats with all the Sheehan bashing? Maybe you could see something on TV that we couldnt see from the TE, I thiought he was heavily involved in a lot of swindon pressure....my only criticism of Sheehan was not bringing WArd into the game more often...if you want to talk about wank, what about VP?! Thought Darby was poor tonight as well...
Not sure what the atmosphere sounded like on telly, but was good in the ground. Good turn out as well.

Bottom line is if at 2.59 on May 8th we're within 2 points of Millwall, it's there for us. Unlikely now, but as Batch said earlier it's one hell of a testament to how well we've done this season, that if we do miss out on auto, we'll be disappointed. However this season ends up, it's been a fantastic ride and well beyond what any of us expected. I'd rather be us than Leeds

wrong, he was solid, put some decent crosses into the box, was unlucky with his free kick and never once got beaten defensively, if anything ward was a let down.

pericard put himself around and it was he who helped the goal, its kind of good seeing whose views are mental on here for furture referencing.

My expectations havent changed. Pre-season I thought we could make the playoffs and I think we'll make the playoffs. We can't realistically expect to be top two having lost at home to Rovers and dropped points at home to Exeter - who admittedly defended like tigers.

The reason Sheehan was getting knocked tonight was his distribution was Ifil like and his touch was rapistesque. It's not rocket science.

I couldn't see one player out there tonight that had a 'bad' performance.

KOT... Exeter played a pretty resolute 3-5-2 didnt they? or was it 4-4-2 from where you sit? it was 3-5-2 to me...so our fullbacks were CLEARLY our out ball every time we had possession. Sheehan didnt get beaten because he had no one up against him. Ward was man for man against their wingback leaving Sheehan totally free all game. Darby was poor also but he's only had a handful of pro games to be fair to him.

I'll take 4th from here and Charlton or Huddersfield in the play offs.

I'm re-watching it already :)

Swindon Vs. Exeter - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBfaRKWlp1k

I do have to say it was nice seeing the midfielders and the wide men have chances today, still a couple oocasions were Ferry and Douglas could've had a crack, but other than then the majority of our chances fell to the midfielders :)

Frankly Sheehan was ok, Darby was weak and I was glad to see him go off.  Manky made an immediate impact with his speed and a more physical presence than darby has.

play offs it is then.

Whilst we were the better side in the 1st half we spent far too much time dicking around with the ball outside their penalty area, rather than getting the ball in to the box. Ward and especially Sheehan were the main culprits. Second half was a lot different with plenty of balls in to the box, especially once Pericard was on the pitch.

No real complaints though. It was a great game of football to watch and we battered them over 90 minutes, just one of those games where nothing went right. Plenty of times the ball dropped in the box and pretty much every time it landed at the feet of an Exeter player. On another night we'd have won easily.

One concern though is the way we play the same way all the time, even when we're getting nowhere and are behind. Its pretty much like watching a shit version of Arsenal play, good on the one hand but sometimes futile. Its seldom Wilson makes any major changes at half time or early in the second half and there has been plenty of games when it would have been a good move. Still, good to see us switching to a 3-4-3 to chase the game and it paid off.

Have they decided who got the goal? Looked like it should be Pericard's watching it again on Sky.

I would just like to make the point that clearly it was Exeters cup final playing a big team like us, just typical that they raise their game to play against such a massive club as us.

Thats my quote as the first member of a new forum - WANKKOE.

They came to stifle us, 3-5-2, basically a hell of lot of our threat comes from mcgovern and ward and they were both quiet, probably the 2 worst games both players have had, exeter did a job on them.

Can i just say i was very happy for a drum not being at the game today.

Can't believe the fucking slating Sheehan is getting. Every decent cross or pass he makes, no one says a word. As soon as he fucks one up though, there's a whole load of opinionated cunts ready and more than willing to slate him. Great. You all make yourselves feel better by slating him and ripping the guts out of any confidence he has left. He's bound to perform much better for us by treating him like a complete cunt. Well done.

Same goes for Ferry, Ward and Dougie for not shooting enough. They run their fucking hearts out all day long, making intelligent runs, holding off challenges and breaking up play etc, only to have the whole fucking ground screaming for them to 'SHHHOOOOOOT' whenever they are anywhere near the box. What cunts they are for collectively contributing more to our midfield than any other bunch of players since before or during our premier league days.

I thought we deserved the point tonight. Ditto Exeter. They came with a plan which frustrated us all night. We plugged away till the end and got the goal.

I thought Charlie looked jaded or was carrying a knock tonight. Dont blame Wilson for keeping him on though. Pericard looked like a right pain in the arse for Exeter when he came on. If he plays like that rather than the half-arsed attitude player we sometimes see, he is the answer to those who think we can be a bit one dimensional up front.

Only a few games to go, but such a lot can happen to swing things in our favour.
Need to lay off slating our players though. We have the best squad for fucking years. We need to remember where we've fucking come from, you cunts :wink:

wasn't it you Barry that suggested going up in the play offs would be more fun?  if so I agree.  I thought 2nd place was well beyond us weeks ago, we managed, and may still, to keep it alive.  I'm still rather looking forward to a May 29th footballing lesson being dished out to whoever we play if we get there.  I'd fancy Leeds over 2 legs, and anyone at Wembley.  Who knows, it could all end up being academic, but being above 10th is bonus this season

totally agree with deltaincline, good post.

I thought Sheehan played well, had a little too much time now and again, and made the wrong pass, but sometimes that's harder than being under pressure. Good player, best LB we've had for donkeys years.

Well remembered Robert. :) Although the more i thought about it, the more i realised the pain could be too much. I only fear Huddersfield and Southampton (i'm not sure why; we've taken 10 points off them) so here's hoping neither get there.

12-0 on aggregate! 12-0 on aggregate!

After tonight we could be 4 points behind millwall, 3 points behind leeds and level with Charlton, with 4 games to go.

While I don't think we'll secure 2nd spot, to write us off is fucking ridiculous. All the teams around us have potential banana skins to navigate and all of them will drop points.

It's building up to be a exciting final day.

I'm really not understanding the Sheehan bashing. Scapegoat anyone?

Poor distribution?! At least he put the ball in the fucking box rather than some of the flicky fanny stuff our midfield were trying. And touch of a rapist?! I certainly don't remember him losing the ball at all. Sheehan was our out-ball and did a fucking good job of getting up and down the left flank I thought.

Sheehan's distribution was poor. He had lots of time and space because of their formation most of the game, but wasted a lot of possession with poor passing as I see it. And he should have at least worked the goalkeeper with that late freekick just outside box. We didnt get on his back, round where I sat, but it was obviously an off day for him, and we just muttered in frustration.
With Darby doing nothing going forward, our wings were ineffective and we bunched up in each others way in the centre approaching the box very often. Amankwah had a point to prove and made a big difference when he came on.

My problem with Sheehan is related to expectation. He's meant to be our best set-piece taker and has been known to be a good distributor of the ball, yet in recent games I've watched countless corners hit the first man, direct freekicks trouble no-one but the ball boys, and poor decisions in open play. Crosses either go in too early from far too deep (and therefore a hopeless angle for our front 2 to do anything with), or he delays too long and our players runs have all ended and they've been picked up. Last night he was playing balls straight down the middle in hope rather than invention.

Knowing that he is a capable player, yet witnessing that, is frustrating, and for some that is displayed by calling him 'shit', I guess...

I agree with the Pericard comments.

I thought Sheehan had a few good touches, and got involved more in the second half, but felt that he didn't combine with Ward at all well in the first half.

In fact, I think Ward has been the biggest disappointment in the last couple of games (by comparison to his earlier run of form). Lost count of the number of times he failed to get a cross in on Saturday, and of course has missed two good chances in those games. Maybe it's him that needs to be rested.

Ferry was the pick last night I thought ran himself into the ground, but really needs to be confident enough to shoot as an option, not a last resort.

The difference in impact between Darby and Amankwaah was significant and I'd play the latter from now on in unless we need a really good defensive performance in one of the playoff legs.

Can't believe we didn't win that.

Just my opinion but we should have 3 up top earlier and gone 4 up top for the last 10.

Was Pericards shot going in?

My problem with Sheehan is, he seems to be taking all the set pieces at the expense of JPM.

JPM should take most of the corners (not fucking short corners) and the free kicks. I'm fed up of Sheehan wasting all the free kicks.

Sheehan stats from the top of my head.

Corners: all short and wasted apart from one which hit the first man.
Shots: 3 from open play, all off target.
Direct free kick: over the bar.

Hardly passed to Ward even when he was in acres of space, and kept losing the ball. I've been saying he's shit since he came back from that injury.

Plus, he kept cutting inside onto right foot, why?

He wasn't as bad as people are making out, but what he and Darby did far too little of was overlap - one thing Kev does so well. We needed crosses in behind from the byline turning the 3 centre backs. Instead we had a barrage of balls in from deep which were, with one or two exceptions, simple for the back 3 to deal with.

Credit to exeter for the last-ditch defending, but any other day that performance was an easy win for us.

I also agree with the comments regarding big Kev; he and JP are such a good attacking force together that unless we're hoping to purely not concede, he should play every time.

Agree. I like Sheehan but last night he saw a lot of the ball and didnt achieve very much other than lump a few hopeful balls into the box. He's better than that.

Other than that how the fuck didnt we win? 

Credit to their centre backs, they were immense - especially their no 48.

I have nothing really to add to the comments already made about the match.  It wasn't our evening, was it?  Excellent build up play in the first half, but without the final delivery.  (We used to say that about Hoddle's sides!)  Second half a bit flat.  We all knew that 3 points were needed to maintain the automatic promotion push, so the late goal didn't really do us any favours.

And it was good to see so many faces at the Railway Tavern on Liverpool Street last night.  I think there were about 15 of us there.  Big thanks to PJ for organising.

The Positive Bit
Here's the silver lining.  Automatic promotion is now out of our hands and, in a strange way, I'm actually quite comfortable with the situation as it stands.  After 42 games, we know that - barring simultaneous slip ups by 2 or 3 of our rivals - we're heading for the play offs.  Danny can now start planning for this.  He can rest players, he can experiment.  He can start preparing the troops for what is, effectively, a cup competition.  There's also the added bonus that we can go in to the Millwall game knowing that it's likely to be much more important to Millwall than it will be for us.  If we are able to throw a spanner in the works and bump them in to 3rd place on that day, they will be seriously agitated at the prospect of possibly having to meet us in the play offs.

I would far rather go in to the play offs with this kind of build up - instead of having narrowly missed out on automatic promotion on the final day.  We could still be licking our wounds by the time the first semi final came around if that happened.  Glad we've avoided that eventuality.

Second half a bit flat? Not sure about that....frustrating yes, but flat no.

Not the best choice of words, maybe.  I didn't think we were as fluid as in the first half...that's all.  We seemed to be camped in their half during the first half; seemed more mixed to me after the break.

I was disappointed as i checked the Blackberry for the squad list just before kick off.  No Marshall????  i pointed out to Southmoors massive that this could be a mistake and like a twat i tempted fate.  Wilson realised he needed more width and shoved on Awankmar to give us some wide edge with his overlapping runs but Marshall coming on would of ripped them apart on the other win.
The draw felt like a win so late in the day but maybe this will stop all this automatic bollocks.
It concerns me that if Austin and Paynter dont score nobody else will.
JP was my MOM but perhaps even he needs to smash the ball at the keeper now and again.

Fair play to Exeter, they had a game plan and stuck to it. They defended like Lions and nabbed a goal on the break which was finished with aplomb. They also brought a fair few fans for telly game and made a fair bit of noise (without a drum)...respect to them.

Hopefully there will be a few more twists tonight!

See you on Saturday.

That draw didn't feel like a win to me.

Still felt like an annoying frustrating defeat.

I left before the goal was scored 8)

In all honesty that counts us out of autos in my humble opinion. Maybe if we win our next four games we may be in with a shout on the last day, but I've always thought if we were to go up it would have to be sealed before the millwall game. No chance of that now

Its probably for the best!

If we win our last 4, I'd expect to go up in 2nd....

Hush you

What last night showed is just how difficult it is to win matches when the pressure is on.

A few of our rivals will find the same tonight...

I agree. Realistically we threw away the 2nd spot against Col U, not last night. The way I look at it we now need to win 2 games (& draw one) to guarantee a play off place. However, we need to try & win all 4 as if we are are 2 points behind Millwall in 3 rd place we could still snatch it.........Very unlikely I know, but winning is still a habit we need to get back into.

Thought we played really well last night, although as has been said we did tend to over elaborate on the edge of their box. The times we did shoot the keeper did really well or they had someone in the right place....... they rode their luck, same as understand ColU did. Maybe our luck will return in the play offs ?!

Sheehan did ok, he never had a good game but never let us down, Austin had a very quiet game as did JPM, Darby looked ok defending but offered little going forwards but otherwise the work effort was there in everyone and we were unlucky to find their defence having a good game and their keeper having an excellent game...move on...next game.

Seems the full backs are getting a bit of a slating here, but no-one seems to have thought about why. From what I saw, particularly first half on our right, Exeter were really standing off Darby, and concentrating on blocking any ball down the line to JP. At times JP had 1 defender behind him and 1 in front while Darby had time until another defender got over to him. They knew that JP & Ward are our danger men as far as creating chances goes, and marked them out of the game. This meant that Darby & Sheehan had much more time on the ball than usual and when they didn't create chances, some of the crowd got on their backs. Amankwaah certainly made a difference although when we went to 3 at the back, it looked like he was a bit more nervous to get forward and leave us exposed.

Have to say I agree with some of the earlier posters that said it was a really good game - on another day it could have finished 3-1 and a comfortable win for us, but fair play to Exeter who came with a game plan and executed it well, playing some pretty good football in the process. They were nowhere near the worst team I've seen us play this year, and this will have done us no harm when it comes to Sky (or hopefully the BBC?) picking matches to show live next year (whether this is a good thing or not I'm not sure !)

Only other downside is that Ferry played so well a couple of other managers will have noticed him !

My two'pennoth on the full backs.

Darby is a lot better defensively than amankwaah. Amankwaah is a lot better going forward than Darby

Sheehan is the strongest left back we have. He's not bad, but i'd be upset if we paid money for him in the summer

Anyone know of a download or stream of the game last night online?  I didn't manage to wake up in time to watch it

Moving off on a tangent... Did I hear Corr getting some stick last night? I never understand why people who came here and did a decent job (albeit in between various bits of him shattering/refusing to function/falling off) get slagged off when they show up again.

It's a bit of a pet hate of mine.

As for the game, I think the frustration with Sheehan was you wanted to see some better decisions when he had time on the ball that was mentioned earlier.

I thought Sheehan did ok. Would have liked to have seen him attempt to get down the byline more often (using Ward) rather than cutting inside on his right foot. A lot of his balls in from 'deep' were easier to defend than had he got the ball in from the byline.

I have no idea what game you lot were watching but Sheehan was my man of the match :L

Yeah, I didn't get the Corr booing either. He did well here (when he was infrequently vertical) and the club moved him on.

By all means have a joke about his fragility, but stick? Odd.

Agree about Corr. Did nothing whilst here to warrant any abuse on his return. I'm sure he didnt mean to be permanantly injured. Thought he played fairly well &  I clapped him off.

From an Exeter forum:

I think Sheehan had more time on the ball than anyone.  He was steady, has a cultured left foot but nearly everything ended up with a diagonally forwards ball and when that was long into the area it was easy to defend.  More variety with Ward down the wing would have been better. Not MOM in my opinion though.  Douglas was standout for me and nearly scored with a header on half time!

I would also like to see JP working more with Manks, especially the ball inside the full back for Manks to run on to but as has been said when we did go 3 at the back that restricted Manks.

Bazza should never have been booed as he certainly played a role in getting us back to League 1 and scored one or two pearlers.

I agree thought it was very odd booing Corr he was unlucky while here and due to his injury probs was never going to get another deal which is not his fault, you could also argue he was the catalyst to securing promotion from L2 so I was one of the majority who clapped him off.

I gave him a little pantomime boo, but I applauded him at the same time. He didn't really get any stick during play, so I figured it was all a bit tongue in cheek...

Suprised none of you noticed it was Marcus Stewart getting the boos when he come on and not Barry Corr

I had assumed that Barry had got a good reception as I saw him clapping the three stands that were open. I can't remember if it was when he was subbed or at the end of the game..whatever

A boo is a boo FFS..the player's hardly going to be able to tell the difference is he ::)

I heard very few boos for Barry Corr, and that was only during the game.

He got clapped when he came over to the DRS before kick off, got booed during the game and clapped off afterwards.

I liked Corr and he got us over the L2 line a few years back. For that I am enterally grateful. Glad he was poor and didnt score last night.

On a slightly related note, there best not be any Boo's aimed towards Walsalls ex-striker of ours.

Would also like to say was a pleasant change to have a fairly decent referee this season.

Shit.  I haven't moaned abut the ref.  I always moan about the ref.

God he must have been good.

Oh piss off. It was barely audible.

Corr is an ex-player. Ex players get stick sometimes. So fucking what. He was a good player. He barely played for us and so isn't immune from the banter. And rightly so even if it isn't his fault he was always injured..

Parkin is the closest we have come to producing a legend in the last decade. He earned the respect and I'd be amazed if he gets anything less than polite applause.

For me Barry Corr should have got a better reception last night. I think hes got a lot of affection for Swindon, and he achieved something at the club. Tipped the balances in our favour.

Exeter were decent last night. The game down at their place was the one we should have won 3 or 4 nil. If we dont get Ferry does anyone else think their central midfielders might be worth a look? I thought both Dunne and Sercombe were very good last night and gave Douglas/Ferry a much tougher time than usual. Also thought their Ryan Taylor led the line very well, although I dont know how clinical he might be. That Barry Corr might be worth a look too.  ;)

Sheehan had a lot of the ball last night. Id say he did cut inside a few times to often. But Exeter absolutely packed their box out with players, playing balls into the box was like threading a needle last night. Amankwaah offers us so much more going forward and we need him back in. Well done to Pericard for getting stuck in.

Good to see the County Ground crowd living and breathing their football a bit more last night. So often this season you get good tackles, good passes and no reaction whatsoever from the crowd,which has led me to wonder how knowledgable our crowd is at the CG. Last night they made a difference and it was good to see.

Still think its a fit up by the police that we got Exeter home and away on tuesday night games. Fingers crossed for 2 saturday games if we stay down next season.

I feel more dissapointed with saturdays result than last night. Colchester are very average. Last night made me apprieciate how glad I am we didnt get a long ball merchant manager like Boothroyd. Both Swindon and Exeter were footballing sides.

And isn't it nice for the second time in 3 home games for us to score a last minute goal.

You never know how vital those points could be...

How do I know? I wasn't there ::)

it was on the telly?

I meant that I could not identify b3nny's personal barely audible 'tongue in cheek' boo.  Please keep up.

Highlights now up on the Beeb for anyone who doesn't have Sky+.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8617643.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8617643.stm)

i haven't read through all of this thread but sheehan was dire. he barely gave a ball to anyone they could do something with. it's all very well spotting someone is in space but giving a shit ball hard behind someone isn't really going to help. also with regard to his long range shooting (his freekick excluded) he dragged them woefully when he had space to go into and then lay it off

he really irritates me

his cross led to the goal fucknut

his long hoof from the halfway line led to pericard flicking it on to mcgovern who crossed, if that's what you mean?

Pericard wacked it from JPs cross - it was going in anyway

Oh yes he is!

The highlights wont work for me............says im out of area........Calne???

Wrong timezone - have to be 17th century onwards :)

That's what I thought.

In which case...isn't it his goal, according to the letter of the law? I thought if a shot is hit on target, and deflects in off an opponent, it gets given to the shooter, no matter how big the deflection.

I thought it hit two defenders, or do I need to go specsavers.

Yep I thought the first defender got his foot to it ahead of Vince and then the fella on the line chested it in for good measure.

Fair enough, maybe it's me who needs testing!

Everything has been said, played well and Exeter kept us out!

As for the slating, Sheehan was the only player that made himself available from the back in the second half and most of our attacking play came from him.  He might not have always put the best ball in but at least he put himself up to make a difference which not everyone did on Monday. 

I thought Ward was poor, Darby was poor and Austin was poor, but the rest did their best but ended up being faced with a dogged determined Exeter side that were throwing themselves in front of everything because their lives depend on it.

IMO Douglas and especially Ferry were different class in the centre mid and were equally deserving of MOTM.

I agree 100% with this post.

I agree with 25% of this post and that 80% is bollocks !

The nail that sticks its head up is the one that gets hit.

I don't agree that Sheehan was the only defender available to get the ball.

They were all available in the second half. Exeter were playing 6-4-0

Amankwaah, Greer and Sheehan had half the pitch to themselves.

I don't agree that Sheehan was the only defender available to get the ball.

They were all available in the second half. Exeter were playing 6-4-0

Amankwaah, Greer and Sheehan had half the pitch to themselves.

I disagree

I disagree

Do you disagree with your previous disagreement ?

No...i disagree with Daves two posts..

I can see now why you felt it necessary...obviously Cuthbert should have been included.

But apart from a run that Manky made just after he came on, no other defender looked to pick up the ball and attack, whether that was by running forward or trying to deliver a decent ball.  Most of the passing between the other defenders was sideways.  Especially in the last 20 minutes.

And that is nowhere near 80% bollocks, and it doesn't matter how many times you reply!  :nerner:

The only reason Manks got naff all joy after that was because they seemed to stack up their left side, hence Sheehan having soooooo much space. They dropped even deeper, clearly aware of the damage JP and Manks are capable of.