Exeter City manager Matt Taylor spoke to the press after the Imps’ 1-0 win at St James Park last night, paying tribute to City in a game he felt might have been different.
Winless in nine, the Grecians looked a solid outfit, a reflection of what they’ve been for the past couple of seasons. City got the only goal of the game from an Adam Reach delivery, nodded in by Tom Hamer, which Taylor, who took over for his second spell at the club last week, believes should not have stood.
“The goal is offside, so that’s another kick in the teeth for a team which are a little bit low on confidence. I just felt we played like we’d been on the run.
“We’re playing against a very good team, and they put us under pressure, but I just felt there was so much more to come from the group.
“As the second half went on, I think the changes we made and the sort of structure of the team, I was genuinely pleased with, without creating any real clear-cut opportunities. It did feel like we did create some good opportunities and really pushed them as well.”
The second half did see Exeter exert a little more pressure, without creating anything really clear-cut. Being honest, they threatened our goal more than anyone since Luton back in January, and Wickens was asked to make a couple of saves as the evening wore on.
Still, Taylor admitted City had too much in key areas, specifically referring to our delivery and set-piece profile, despite his (seemingly incorrect) arguments about the goal.
“You saw the difference of the two teams despite it being offside, their goal came from a set-piece moment, and I think you can say they’ve got a bigger profile of player and better delivery, but I just don’t think we quite believe in those moments.”
It’s not just our delivery and profile which Taylor admires, but the fact we have a ‘team of men’. That’s been a story this season, us having a team of fighters, the likes of Bradley, Darikwa and McGrandles who have good careers behind them.
“They’re a team of men,” he added. “They’re a team of men and body-hardened men and experienced men and players who’ve been there and done it and fantastic age and profile.”
Finally, Taylor is on the outside looking in at Lincoln, and he sees what a lot of us dare not see right now. He referred to our Championship credentials and seemed absolutely certain about what is coming in our future.
“They’re going to get promoted, they’re going to be a championship team, they’re going to be championship players, and we’ve got players out there who’ve come from a certain level.”
We may well be, and I plan on starting a new article topic this week where I talk about the opposition directly, so I’ll give my thoughts on Exeter City, but I’ll give you a spoiler: we’ll be second tier, and they definitely have enough for the second tier, as they caused us more problems than some of the teams hoping to travel to Tottenham away next season.
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