PIERCE SWEENEY IS THE CLUB CAPTAIN OF EXETER CITY FC
Having come up short at home to Derby and away at Lincoln, we can’t afford another slip up when Fleetwood visit St James Park on Saturday. As things stand, the League One table still looks reasonably healthy, with us lying 14th, seven points above the relegation zone.
However, having played more games than all 10 of the teams below us – Port Vale have four games in hand, Cambridge and Cheltenham have three, Burton, Carlisle and Wycombe two, and the others one – we can’t rest on our laurels. All the more so when you consider that after Saturday, our next two fixtures are away at fifth-placed Peterborough and at home to high-flying Bolton.
We’re under no illusions – it won’t be an easy game. Notwithstanding we were on the crest of a slump when Fleetwood beat us 3-0 at the Highbury Stadium back in November, the Lancashire side, who have picked up since Charlie Adam replaced Lee Johnson as manager at the turn of the year, are seven points from safety and fighting for their lives.
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What is more, former Grecian Jayden Stockley has been in good form over recent weeks with five goals in his last 11 starts. I understand Fleetwood were a little unlucky to lose 2-1 at home to Barnsley on Saturday and we will have to play much better than we did at the weekend if we are to bag a vital three points.
Truth be told, we were poor at Sincil Bank on Saturday. Having said that, I’m not sure Lincoln were a whole lot better and if their keeper hadn’t tipped Jack Aitchinson’s 57th-minute effort on to the crossbar we might have come away with all three points. I think Jack will concede he should probably have scored and had we gone ahead I’d like to think we would have had the nous to see the game out. As it was, we failed to deal with a hopeful punt upfield some 10 minutes later, allowing Joe Taylor to fire the home side ahead.
Our problems started when Cheick Diabate and Zak Jules failed to deal with a long ball out of defence and, unfortunately, I compounded the problem when I sought to cushion the loose ball back to Zak but only succeeded in presenting it to a Lincoln forward.
For what it’s worth, I thought we played much better in losing 3-0 at home to Derby on Tuesday evening than we did at Lincoln. Ultimately, the Rams had a bit too much for us, but I thought we more than matched them in the opening 45 minutes and were a shade unfortunate to go in at the interval 1-0 down.
The visitors went ahead midway through the first half after a loose pass from Ilmari Niskanen presented them with the ball. For sure, Ilmari will be disappointed with his part in the goal, but the fact remains Derby picked up possession in their own half and Max Bird shouldn’t have been allowed to progress half the length of the pitch before slotting the ball past Vil Sinisalo from just outside the box.
Derby were clinical after the break – Nathaniel Mendez Lang making it 2-0 on 52 minutes and Tom Barhuizen adding another 10 minutes later. That left us with a near-impossible task but we continued to ask questions of the visitors and, while the result was disappointing, I’d like to think the overwhelming majority of those in attendance would have taken a good bit of encouragement from our performance.
On a personal level, I came off the bench, replacing Will Aimson, in the 62nd minute of the Derby game. It’s amuses me to read that I struggle to play two games in a week and as, a consequence, my game time is being managed.
Take it from me, I’m as fit now as I’ve ever been and more than capable of playing two games in a week. If I’m not starting it’s because the manager thinks that’s the right thing to do for the game in question and, as I’ve been at pains to point out, I’ve no problem with that.
As an aside, it was good to see Kane Wilson back at SJP. Kane and I have been great pals since he first joined Exeter on loan in the 2017-18 season and, while things didn’t quite work out for him at Bristol City last year, I’m not in the least bit surprised to see him doing so well at Derby.
He’s a fantastic player and, whether it’s with the Rams or another club, I have no doubt he’ll be back playing at a higher level in the not-too-distant future.
I haven’t yet caught up with the recording of last week’s fans’ forum but am intending to do so soon. I see the gaffer, Ben Purrington and Millenic Alli pretty much every day, while our technical director Marcus Flitcroft is also a familiar face at the Cliff Hill Training Ground, so I don’t suppose there will be too many surprises in what they have to say, but it will be interesting to hear more from our chief executive Jeremy Tripper and chief financial officer Joe Gorman. I can’t pretend to know Joe very well, but Jeremy makes a point of catching up with me on a fairly regular basis. Suffice to say, I have a lot of time for him and, with people of his calibre at the helm, think the club is in good hands.
I was delighted to be part of the EFL initiative which saw a rainbow ball used for Saturday’s game in celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month. I don’t think there’s any doubt that over the last 10 or 15 years football has come a long way in terms of its attitude towards different types of sexuality but there’s still work to be done and I’m 100% behind the club’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the game.
On which subject, if you haven’t yet seen Ilmari’s excellent interview with Paul Diamond from the club’s LGBT+ group, who provides a fascinating insight into his experiences over the last 20-plus years, then I’d encourage you to seek it out on the club’s YouTube channel.
As an aside, I should also mention how well Ilmari does in the role of interviewer, all the more so when you consider English isn’t his native tongue.
Last but not least, I wanted to take this opportunity to commend Jack Fitzwater for speaking so candidly in the media about his battle with colitis. It wasn’t an illness I was familiar with until Jack explained to me the reason for the tablets he was taking.
However, I know a lot more about it now and, touch wood, Jack’s story will offer encourage others who have endured similar symptoms but been reluctant to speak to their GP to do so, buoyed by the knowledge that it can be managed and you can still live your best life!
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