Grecians boss reacts to Cambridge success
EXETER CITY manager Paul Tisdale was delighted to see his depleted Grecians side get all three points against Cambridge United at St James Park on Wednesday evening.Tom Nichols struck a ninth-minute winner on his return to the starting eleven as City returned to winning ways in Sky Bet League 2.
"I’m delighted, as you can imagine," Paul said. "It was a depleted squad today, with some big players missing. It was a shame that Lee Holmes had to come off, as the eleven who started would have finished. We pressed and played high up the field, and were particularly committed today. We were really offensive in the first thirty to forty minutes, and I think the major player for us tonight was the team. There were no pushovers in the side, and everyone put it all in for each other.
"It was a good performance, and the ball seemed to drop for us at times, but it's amazing how that can happen when you're fully committed and reading the danger. David Noble did his bit in heading it off the line at the crucial moment, and I'm delighted for Danny Butterfield in getting man of the match. He led the team and added value right across the pitch. He led the team and played a wonderful pass to Tom Nichols for the goal, and he was symbolic of the way that we stood up to them.
"Cambridge are a very good side; they've got some good football about them. We looked at this before the game and considered them to be a real threat. I still think they'll comfortably be a top third / play-off team once the season ends, so I'm delighted to have beaten them.
"I probably knew my team on Tuesday lunchtime - we had a couple drop out in training on Tuesday. Troy Brown didn't make it past a fitness test, and there were others who we were hoping might have made it, but we got into a game where at 1-0 up, I always thought that we could catch them on the break. I like to think that we could have scored a second, and we went quite close a couple of times, but it would have been one of those games where it would have been quite nice to see the starting eleven see it out. Alex Nicholls came on and did his bit when he was needed, so generally I was very pleased with how everyone did."