Paul Tisdale unhappy with first goal Exeter City conceded
Exeter City manager was left to rue a missed opportunity as his side came away from their opening game of the season with a 2-0 defeat away at Blackpool.The Grecians went into the match full of confidence having won seven of their pre-season matches – including three against higher league opponents.
They had also managed to keep clean sheets in five of those seven games, but on Saturday Tisdale was less than happy with the first goal City conceded against Blackpool.
The visitors had kept Blackpool at bay for the opening 15 minutes and appeared to have a good shape to the side when the ball landed at the feet of Kyle Vassell in midfield.
However, he played a neat one-two with Colin Daniel to get away from the City back four and then fired a shot at goal that ricocheted off Bobby Olejnik and looped into the back of the net.
“We just were quite good enough and we cannot promise to be a contender if we concede goals like we did the first one,” said Tis.
“I think if that happens more than once or twice this season I’ll be surprised because it is just not the type of goal that we concede. We were in shape. We had everyone in the right place and it was just two passes through us and it was in the back of the net.
“I was really surprised by that. I thought every player tried their hardest and after 15 minutes I was thinking we looked really strong and to plan in the game, but you don’t always get what you think you are going to get and you don’t always get what you want.”
City hit back as Ollie Watkins and Robbie Simpson both rattled the woodwork before the break.
However, after the interval City didn’t create enough, which was another cause of frustration for the Grecians manager, but he wasn’t getting too downhearted about the result.
“We could have easily got a goal back, let’s not become too miserable about the whole thing,” he said.
“I’m bitterly disappointed with have lost the game as we have now made our season a 45 game season and we have to start again.
“I think we were 10 per cent away from playing really well, but those fine lines make a big difference in a game of football. Yes, we could have come back into it, but keeping a clean sheet to half-time or that hour mark would have been a big, positive step forward for us.
“I didn’t think we did great late in the game trying to come back into it, but that is the one thing we haven’t done pre-season. We haven’t had the opportunity to come back at a team that is just sat in position and you can see how difficult it is.
“It is not easy to score goals when the opposition just sit in position and keep their discipline. That is why I’m even more disappointed about the first goal because we were in shape and we were in position.
“We were not fabulous. We tried hard, but I have spoken to the players about one or two things and in those scenarios we have to do one or two things better. It didn’t go for us today, but we have to move on.”