Paul gives his reaction following derby defeat
Following a defeat to local rivals Torquay United, Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale gave his verdict on the match.
Rene Howe’s penalty in the 17th minute gave the Gulls a lead, and despite plenty of pressure being applied in the second half, an equaliser was just out of reach for Tis’s men.
“We didn’t do too much wrong today,” said Tis. “We played pretty well – I would have wanted one or two more patient decisions in the second half. I would have wanted the players to be a little more pragmatic and take more passes and keep their shape a bit more.
“They got dragged into the anxiety of home performances and the crowd are finding it difficult to cope with being a goal down, and the player didn’t deal with that particularly well. They should have relaxed.
“We were certainly good enough to create chances, which we did. I’d have been upset if we hadn’t worked the goalkeeper, but we did. We forced a dozen or more corners and on the whole we delivered those corners pretty well. We didn’t do too much wrong.
“We gave a very poor penalty away and we paid the price by going a goal down. That first goal is ever so important here.”
Having another disappointment at the Park, Tisdale feels that the players need to play with a little more freedom and without panic when on home turf. But at the same time, he felt that the performance wasn’t anything to panic over, given the number of chances that City created – only to be foiled time and again by Torquay stopper Michael Poke.
“They have to release from the anxiety and be a bit more pragmatic. But that being said, we still could have scored tonight – and if one goes in, you’ve got a chance of a second.
“The result certainly influences your emotions. We didn’t play with enough patience in the second period, but other than that there wasn’t too much wrong.”