Exeter City Women made it two wins from two in pre-season, with a strong 3-1 victory over Torquay United at the Cliff Hill.
Ellie Sara opened the scoring midway through the first half before former Grecian Mollie Taylor equalised soon after. City dominated the proceedings throughout the second half though, and were rewarded with a well-taken goal from Bethan McGowan before Georgia Vaccaro rounded off the win 20 minutes from time.
Abbie Britton named a mixed starting eleven for the Grecians as three trialists started along with four new signings. With Bow Jackson starting on the bench, Amber Pollock captained the team at the Cliff Hill Training Ground.
First half
For what was their first home pre-season game, Exeter were quick off the mark, dominating the early minutes as the stronger side. Trialist C sprinted down the field in on goal for City's first chance, however Torquay’s goalkeeper quickly came out to clear it up, denying Exeter.
City continued to attack with Emily Poole knocking it down the line to captain Pollock, who won a corner. Poole whipped it in, but the ball was excellently cleared away by the Torquay defence.
Moments later, Ishbel Zuurmond bolted towards the Torquay back line, putting pressure on the defence causing them to make a mistake. The ball crossed in went narrowly wide, with Exeter still looking for the opening goal.
It wasn’t until the 24th minute when the Grecians won another corner that was precisely crossed in by Emily Poole. A momentary scramble within the penalty area resulted in Ellie Sara having the final contact, placing the ball cleverly into the bottom corner of the net.
A few minutes after the restart, City's trialist keeper denied Torquay during their first shot on target, with a great save pushing a fierce effort from the Torquay’s attackers past the post. Torquay, however, did manage to take advantage of the corner and equalised with a looping header from former City player Mollie Taylor.
City almost went back in front as the first half came to a close, the new winger Tia Asker delivering a dangerous ball into the box looking for Sara, but her header toward goal had slightly too much power and was sent over the bar.
Second half
City began the second half well, forcing a corner, which came to nothing, but it showed the Grecians' early dominance once again.
That dominance paid off as it didn’t take long for City to regain their lead, as Sara laid it back for Beth McGowan to shoot it low in to the bottom left corner of the Torquay net for her first Grecian goal, making it 2-1.
City remained on top, however, for the next 15 minutes , neither team could keep a hold of the ball and play was kept mainly within the middle third of the pitch.
Lacking a clinical edge in front of goal, City were playing a neat passing game and creating half-chances but not forcing the ball over the line. After 65 minutes, Abbie Britton made four substitutions to put some life back in the game.
This paid instant dividends as Georgia Vaccaro got into the box, and her shot was deflected into the goal by a Torquay defender to extend City’s lead to 3-1, giving the Grecians a deserved two goal advantage.
For the rest of the half, play was mainly aimed towards Torquay’s goal as City pushed forward looking for another strike to seal the win. Torquay introduced a substitution to try slow down City, whilst Maya Kendall required treatment.
The Grecians continued to threaten Torquay’s back line, with an effort just hitting the side netting before Ishbel Zuurmond forced a good save from Torquay’s goalkeeper pushing it out for a corner kick. Another effort came from the corner where the visitor’s goalkeeper had to make another save.
The full time whistle blew and confirmed a well deserved win for City, who now quickly move onto their third friendly of pre-season against Bristol Rovers this Sunday at Exwick. Get your tickets by clicking here!
Exeter City Women: Trialist A (GK), Asker, Llewelln, Papaioannou, Heard, Pollock (C), Poole, Trialist B, Zuurmond, Sara, Trialist C.
Substitutions: Trailist D (GK), Jackson, Sandland, Kendell, Trialist E, McGowan, Pitman, Vaccaro.
Goals: Sara 24', McGowan 49', Vaccaro 65'
Written by Darcie MacNamara and Abi Poole