📝 Match Preview: City v Colchester United

Details ahead of Saturday's match with Colchester.

15 March 2019

Exeter City return to action at St James Park as they look to get back to winning ways when they take on Colchester United.

The Grecians go into the game following defeats to Tranmere Rovers and Northampton Town which preceded a postponed fixture midweek with Macclesfield Town away from home.

On the threat that John McGreal’s side will pose on Saturday, City boss Matt Taylor said: “They played on Tuesday night and probably had a disappointing result. They’re a good team with some really good attacking players. We’re at home, we’ve got to take the game to them, we were disappointed with the way we started against Tranmere, we were slightly on the back foot and not quite where we needed to be and paid the price for that.

“We’ve got to give ourselves a chance in any game of football and hopefully we’ll do that against Colchester. It will be a good game of football with two teams who try and play the right way. They’re a team and a management group who I really respect. It’s all about the three points, I’d take an ugly win, and hopefully it’s a game where the fans can get behind us because we’ll need them.”

LAST TIME WE MET

The sides last met back in November when the Grecians took away a 1-1 draw from the JobServe Community Stadium. Sammie Szmodics fired United ahead before City levelled through Jayden Stockley.

TICKET NEWS

Tickets are on sale at advance prices until 5pm in person and midnight online, on Friday, March 15 so, why not save money and time queuing by buying in advance!

You can book online via Mobile, tablet or desktop by visiting: tickets.ecfc.co.uk or by calling: 01392 411 243 or by visiting the club shop/reception at St James Park.

Ticket prices are as follows, advance tickets are available up to the day before the match.

You can book online via Mobile, tablet or desktop by visiting: tickets.ecfc.co.uk or by calling: 01392 411 243 or by visiting the club shop/reception at St James Park.

MATCH DAY PROGRAMME

In the latest edition of The Grecian, you can read an in-depth feature with forward Matt Jay who has been in good form of late after goals against Crewe Alexandra and Lincoln City. Matt discusses how he wants to keep his place in the City team, and he recalls the earlier times when he broke into the first team. You can also read features from regular contributors, Matt Bamsey and Tony Morris. You’ll also be able to take a detailed look at
Colchester United.

BUCKET COLLECTION

There's a special collection at Saturday's match with Colchester United. It is for the RD&E Hospital’s Bramble Ward and is being led by Freddie, the seven-year-old son of City player Lee Holmes, who has been inspired to raise money for the ward after his little sister Lila fell desperately ill. Freddie will be joined at St James Park on Saturday by friends from his class at Stoke Canon Primary School.

Freddie and his sister Lila will be at the match and will be collecting for Bramble Ward at half time. This week’s collection will be split between Bramble Ward and the CITY Community Trust’s Futsal Academy, who have kindly agreed to share their collection slot, so please give generously.

MATCH DAY ACTIVITIES

Did you know that the Supporters' Trust offer FREE tours around St James Park?

The free guided tours are great for anyone who’d like to get a behind the scenes view, whilst finding out about the history of their club. The tours and are open to all; you don’t have to be a Trust member to come along.

Tours start at 11am on matchdays from Red Square and take in many parts of the ground that you wouldn’t otherwise get to see, including the boardroom, the brand new players’ changing rooms, match officials’ facilities and the security hub.

Lasting around 90 minutes, you will almost certainly learn something you didn’t know before, and maybe you’ll be able to tell us something from your experiences of coming to City that we didn’t know!

To book your place, please contact reception on: reception@ecfc.co.uk or call 01392 411 243, or email: andybratt1@gmail.com.

Matchday timetable

Take a look below to familiarise yourself with the key matchday timings here at St James Park.

FREE Face Painting

The face painters are a valuable addition to matchdays and judging by the sights around the ground it is just as popular with adults as well as youngsters.

Their normal route if you want to catch them is: Starting at the Tombola Stall they head through Red Square for the Centre Spot before heading back to the family Junior Grecian Family Zone. Leaving the zone for the stadium, they start with the IP Office Main Stand and Stagecoach Adam Stansfield Stand before finishing on the Thatchers Big Bank.

Join the Guard of Honour

Want to be on the pitch as the players enter SJP? Then be part of the flag waving, Guard of Honour!

Subject to the weather, this week's Guard of Honour will assemble at 2:30pm, with lucky children from the Thatchers' Big Bank selected. Parents are both welcome AND encouraged to join in the activity.

After assembling, the Guard of Honour (and parents) move to the far side of ground to get some practice in waving their flags, which also presents an opportunity for Grecian to pose for photographs.

When the players finish their warm up the Guard of Honour go on their 'lap of honour' in front of the stands to the players’ tunnel. After they have been on the field and welcomed the teams and officials onto the pitch they receive their “gift” (normally a packet of sweets) and certificates of participation.

If your son, daughter or grandchild has not been involved in the Guard of Honour, please email customerservices@exetercityfc.co.uk.

Junior Grecians Lounge

The Junior Grecians are the Official Junior Supporters Club of Exeter City FC and its members have exclusive use of the Zone from 12:30pm until it is available to all families at 1:30pm.

The room provides a safe comfortable environment for families to enjoy pre-match entertainment, such as a large screen TVs, Playstation consoles and Table Football, as well as the option to enjoy refreshments from the Zone’s very own kiosk.

Other Activities

You can also pick up some free player stickers, featuring players that have come through the Exeter City Academy on the day in Red Square.
You can also take part in the Exeter City tombola where the first prize is a signed Exeter City football is still available by finding ticket No. 901. All funds raised go directly to the academy to support the future of the club.

MASCOTS

You can read the mascot profiles in the match day programme which you can pick up in the stadium for £3.00 on the day. For mascot booking or information, please contact andy.gillard@ecfc.co.uk

CLUB SHOP

The club shop will be open from 11am to give you the opportunity to make some purchases ahead of the match and will close at 5.30pm.

🎟 PLACE YOUR TRUST IN CITY 🎟

Season tickets for the 20/21 campaign are now on sale and play a huge part in enabling your club remains financially stable and well prepared

By purchasing a season ticket in the super saver period, you will not only make huge and the best savings on admission for the campaign, but enable the club to operate fully whilst we have a period of no matches and minimal income. Find out more by clicking here.

Match Reports

📝 City 3 Colchester United 0

Grecians take all three points at St James Park

16 March 2019

A goal apiece for Nicky Law and Lee Holmes added to a spectacular first-half finish from Matt Jay to see Exeter City triumph 3-0 over Colchester United at St James Park.

Jay's first half strike put the Grecians ahead on the cusp of half-time before Lee Holmes made the score 2-0 with a composed finish.

Nicky Law then rounded off an excellent day for the Grecians when he added to the score sheet with a close range finish as City bounced back from successive defeats.

Grecians boss Matt Taylor made four changes from the side that lost 2-1 at Northampton last week, with Dean Moxey, Ryan Bowman, and Lee Holmes all coming back into the side alongside Hiram Boateng, who made a long-awaited return to the starting 11.

An evenly contested opening period saw very few chances of note; City had consecutive corners after a quarter of an hour, with the second resulting in an appeal for handball, but referee Scott Oldham showed no interest. A third corner three minutes later then produced a shooting opportunity for the home side, but Boateng’s speculative effort was mishit and flew well wide.

The visitors began to probe the City backline, and after Kane Wilson recovered back from the Colchester half to the edge of his own box with one of his boots in his hand, Courtney Senior then intercepted a clearance by Craig Woodman and struck a fierce shot that Dara O’Shea did well to block.

There was a sense of déjà vu as City countered, won a corner and again had appeals for a handball turned down; Lee Holmes’ left-footed in-swingers proved a challenge to defend in the conditions.

Ryan Bowman’s physicality troubled the visitors, and City again appealed for a penalty as the Grecians' man was tripped in pursuit of a through ball - but the referee instead blew for offside against the City striker. An acrobatic effort from the forward on the edge of the box then looped agonisingly over the Colchester crossbar as City searched for the opener.

But it wouldn’t take them much longer: a minute before half-time, Kane Wilson propelled a long ball forwards, and Ryan Bowman somehow held off two defenders to chest the ball down to Matt Jay, who hit a spectacular volley that curled away from Rene Gilmartin and into the top-left corner.

If the first half had taken its time to spark into life, the second couldn’t have been more different – Sammie Szmodics received the ball inside the Exeter area and fired goalwards only to be denied by a spectacular save from Christy Pym, out quickly to close down the angle and saving with his legs. Then, on the 49th minute, it was City’s turn to attack, and Lee Holmes’ driven effort produced a good save from Gilmartin.

City should have doubled their lead as Bowman pounced on a loose back-pass, and his ball across eventually found Holmes as City had three men closing in on the Colchester goal, but Holmes’ effort was saved by Gilmartin and the visitors eventually were able to clear.

A clearance after a short spell of pressure from Colchester released Bowman one-v-one, but his effort from a tight angle rolled just wide of the Colchester goal. It was a spell of attacking dominance from City; Jay set up Boateng for an effort that would be deflected over, and a game that had been so tight in the first period was unrecognisable in the minutes after the interval.

City’s attacking prowess would soon be rewarded with a second superb goal. Colchester couldn’t keep Jay out of the game, and a delicate through ball released Lee Holmes down the inside-left flank, and the forward made amends for his earlier miss with a fantastic chip over the onrushing Gilmartin.

The Grecians would match individual brilliance in one end of the pitch with it at the other, with Pym making two spectacular saves – the first an instinctive dive to tip Mikael Mandron’s effort over the bar, before another diving save to tip Senior’s effort around the post.

With 20 minutes still to play, the game was still very much alive; Mandron directed an effort just wide of Pym’s right-hand post having been released by Norris. However, for all of Colchester’s attacking effort, City would put the game to bed soon after – a glorious turn from Boateng saw Exeter transition rapidly into attack, and fed Law who escaped his man on the right-hand side before poking beyond Gilmartin.

Attendance: 3,951 (167 away)

EXETER CITY: Pym, Woodman, O’Shea, Law, Holmes (Collins 75), Bowman (D Wilson 90), Jay, K Wilson, Moxey, Taylor ©, Boateng (Brown 81).
Subs not used: Hamon, A Martin, Forte, R Williams.
Booked: Woodman

COLCHESTER UNITED: Gilmartin, Jackson, Prosser © (Eisa 71), Kent, Senior (Miller 87), Norris, Szmodics, Eastman, Mandron, Vincent-Young, Stevenson.
Subs not used: Barnes, Dickenson, Wright, Chilvers, Kensdale.

Ticket News

🎟 Grab advance priced tickets for Colchester United at SJP

Back the boys against the U's

3 March 2019

After away trips to Northampton Town and Macclesfield Town, the Grecians return to action at SJP to face Colchester United in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday, March 16.

Tickets are on sale at advance prices until 5pm in person and midnight online, on Friday, March 15 so, why not save money and time queuing by buying in advance!

You can book online via Mobile, tablet or desktop by visiting: tickets.ecfc.co.uk or by calling: 01392 411 243 or by visiting the club shop/reception at St James Park.

Ticket prices are as follows, advance tickets are available up to the day before the match.

Thatchers Big Bank		Ticket Prices
Ticket Type	Advance	Gate
Adult	£17	£18
Senior	£14	£15
Student	£14	£15
Under-18	£6	£7
Wheelchair Area	£14	£15

IP Office Main Stand/ Stagecoach Adam Stansfield Stand		Ticket Prices
Ticket Type	Advance	Gate
Adult	£23	£24
Senior	£20	£21
Student	£20	£21
Under-18	£11	£12
Wheelchair Area	£19	£20

You can book online via Mobile, tablet or desktop by visiting: tickets.ecfc.co.uk or by calling: 01392 411 243 or by visiting the club shop/reception at St James Park.

Junior Grecians tickets

One of the benefits of Junior Grecians membership is their ticket offer which sees 2 memebers go free per-paying adult!

There are two Family Friendly areas available in this offer. Sections E+F in the IP Office Stand and a section of the Thatchers Big Bank (Identified by white barriers).

Seating is limited and it is advisable to book early. For most matches we should have sufficent standing places to meet demand, although we advise early booking.

Conditions:

Open to Junior Grecians members only
Maximum of 2 Junior Grecians Members per-paying adult
Available in the areas outlined above.
Subject to availability.
Must be booked 24 hours in advance.
Does not automatically include cup matches, although some may be available.
We reserve the right to exclude anyone breaching these terms from further offers.

Click here to find out more and purchase online.

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