Tis delighted with grit shown by Exeter City players
Exeter City players were praised for their willpower and grit as they came away from Morecambe with a 3-0 win on Saturday.
The Grecians were in the ascendancy at half-time thanks to goals from David Wheeler, Joel Grant and Lee Holmes but were nursing a few injuries at the break.
Wheeler had been clattered by Morecambe’s Alex Whitmore in the lead up to the third goal, while Jake Taylor had also been on the end of a hefty challenge and goalkeeper Christy Pym had gone off injured following a tackle from Kevin Ellison.
So, City had to show a lot of perseverance in the second half to keep Jim Bentley’s side out and pick up their fourth clean sheet of the season.
“I am delighted with the way we played and how tough the players were,” said City manager Paul Tisdale. “It was like the scene of a war movie at half-time. There were players everywhere getting bandaged up and treated. There was a fair portion of good football from us as well to create the chances.
“On the whole we were pretty incisive with our attacking play and once we got those three goals it was kind of a case of being very focused and disciplined and proper in the second half.”
City welcomed three players – Lloyd James, Rueben Reid and Jake Taylor – back to the starting line-up for the match at the Globe Arena and Tis admitted they made a big difference.
“Reuben brings something to the team,” he said. “The ball stays in and around him and we worked off him pretty well.
“He would have liked to have scored, but he contributed a lot. He was a little bit rusty having not trained for a week and having gone straight into it.
“It was nice to have Lloyd (James) back. He has had a difficult couple of weeks off the pitch. And considering his situation – which is a personal matter – he did particularly well.
“As for Jake Taylor it was probably the best performance I have seen from an Exeter player in two or three seasons. There was nothing clever, nothing fancy and nothing flash about it, he was just as proper as you could get from start to finish.
“He never made a mistake and that was considering he played the second half with the most awful swollen ankle.
“They (Morecambe) took some scalps at the end of the first half. They took three with three tough tackles and David Wheeler and Jake made it through the second half remarkably well.
“They were literally swollen black and blue at half-time. So, well done to those two particularly for carrying on and poor old Christy (Pym) has got a horrendous gash across the top of his knee. So, the win wasn’t without cost.”
Asked to assess the injuries to Jake, David and Christy, Tis added:
“Jake and David, on the spectrum of bumps and bruises, are tough ones. Christy, there is no chance he will be training and playing shortly.”