Cheltenham Town 3 Exeter City 4: Match report

Exeter City came from two goals behind to seal a 4-3 win over Cheltenham Town at the LCI Rail Stadium.

After falling behind early on thanks to two goals from Kevin Dawson, Paul Tisdale’s men battled back with two Reuben Reid strikes as well as goals from Jordan Moore-Taylor and Jake Taylor.

The home side notched their third late on, but the Grecians held out for a brilliant win over a Town side who provided a stern test.

The Grecians made two changes to the side that sealed a 1-0 win over Lincoln City at St James Park a week ago with Luke Croll and Troy Archibald-Henville dropping out of the side for captain Jordan Moore-Taylor and Lee Holmes.

An entertaining first half saw four goals with the home side dominant for the first half an hour, before the Grecians fought back from two goals behind to level things.

City were given an early scare when a dangerous looping cross by Kevin Dawson saw Christy Pym backpedal and punch away, but the home side did take the lead on eight minutes through the Town midfielder.

Another cross from the right, by Carl Winchester, found Dawson in space in the City area as he volleyed home from close range to give Cheltenham the lead.

Town, who came out of the traps very quickly against Tisdale’s men then had a Harry Pell free kick well blocked by the City wall from just outside the area.

But it wasn’t long before Dawson found his second of the afternoon as he tapped in from close range, again from Winchester’s cross from the right-hand side as the Town player found himself unmarked to put the home side 2-0 up after just over ten minutes.

City’s first real meaningful chance came through Liam McAlinden just after 20 minutes. The forward picked up the ball from distance and ran at the Town defence before lashing the ball over Jonathan Flatt’s crossbar.

After 30 minutes Dawson had the opportunity to seal his hat-trick, but for Pym, who came out well to block after Mohamed Eisa found him in the area following a home side counter attack.

City then had a breakaway of their own after clearing from a Cheltenham free-kick. Jake Taylor did well to find Holmes on the right, before the winger cut inside to return the ball to his teammate whose goal-bound effort was blocked bravely.

But the Grecians did find the net seven minutes before the break through Moore-Taylor. After Lloyd James was fouled on the edge of the box, the City captain placed an excellent free-kick into the far corner leaving Flatt with no chance.

City then broke level just moments before half time when Holmes’ cross caused confusion in the Town area after McAlinden’s header seemed to come off a Town defender’s hand, but Reuben Reid was alive to step up and slot in from close range to register his third goal of the season.

Read the full match report here.