Manager gives reaction to win over the Daggers
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale was pleased that the Grecians were able to cap the 2014/15 season with a 2-1 win at home against Dagenham & Redbridge.The finale of the campaign was a tightly-contested affair, and the Daggers certainly created a number of opportunities to go ahead. In fact Ashley Chambers had the ball in the net in the first period only to be denied by an offside call.
However it was Exeter that took the lead through Jimmy Keohane not long after he entered the pitch, and Tom Nichols was gifted his 15th of the season late on. Former City striker Jamie Cureton reduced the arrears in stoppage-time for the Daggers but it didn’t rescue any points.
And Paul was pleased for his team that they were able to secure a positive end to the season and claim a 10th-place finish.
“It was a really good day here at the Park,” Paul said. “It was actually a really good football match – both sides played some open and expensive football. I thought Dagenham were particularly good in the first half an hour, and it made for a really good game.
“We’ve managed to get in at half-time at nil-nil which gave us a really good chance, because we’re pretty flexible and able to adapt to most games. We were able to take hold of the game in the second half.
“It was a really good game, with a wonderful surface and perfect weather for passing football. It was a nice way to finish off the season having lost a few games over the last fortnight. It was good to finish with a win.”
Paul was also pleased that Cureton’s 20th goal of a remarkable season didn’t cost Exeter any points.
The former City forward, who turns 40 later this year, scored a typically clinical finish in stoppage-time and Paul admitted that it was nice to see the forward find the net without it coming at Exeter’s detriment.
Tis continued: “It was very nice that Jamie score a goal and that it didn’t cost us the points – it couldn’t be any better from our point of view.
“He’s always liable to pop up and score a goal so well done to him. We’re very fond of him.”
And in particular Paul that that it was nice to finish with a flourish, given how negatively the season had begun.
City were winless in the opening six weeks after a tough summer off the pitch, but 12 months on all of the signs look much more positive.
“We started the season with plenty of pessimism around this place, with the embargo and being bottom of the league in early September,” he continued. “We played Oxford here then and everyone was talking about it being a six-pointer.
“It just shows you how miserable and pessimistic it was around the place. We had a really tough start with our circumstances, so to build our season and finish tenth with 64 points is no bad effort.
“I think going into the game today we were on the fringe of getting the Fair Play award – I’m not sure how that was settled, but we’ve played our way.
“We’ve built the season and brought in some good players ahead of next year as the season has progressed. Hopefully we are going to build now and keep healthy and look to start next year in better strength than we did this year.”