Blog: Student Life #7

If you’re not a football fan, that doesn’t matter. Keep reading.

Exeter City faced Crawley Town on Saturday in a tense game that Exeter looked to be winning 2 – 1 until the final minutes of play when Crawley managed to squeeze in an extra goal, leaving players and fans devastated at the 2 – 2 draw. Theoretically, Exeter should have won. However, from the perspective of the live crowd it was clear that Crawley deserved their equaliser; it was a miracle they hadn’t scored their second goal earlier.

Football fan or not, a trip to St James’ Park is essential for any student living nearby, especially if you just want to have a laugh and not take it too seriously (because the Exeter City players don’t seem to take it too seriously either).

There was no faulting the fans and their dedication to chants, clapping and general reactions. I wish I could say the same about the team. Let’s start with the positive - the midfielders were skilful and mastered the art of passing which kept the game alive and the crowd chanting. In the first half especially Exeter kept moving the ball into their final third of the pitch and seeming somewhat dominant.

However, they couldn’t quite work up the courage to shoot. It was actually laughable how the players went out of their way and made the game harder for themselves by trying to follow the same tactic of a long kick from the side followed by a chip in, which they only managed to pull off once in the entire game.

Just before half-time Exeter made the score 2 – 1 and were evidently proud, rightfully proud. When they came on for the start of the second half I expected them to be playing to the same standard as before, perhaps even better with some new found confidence, but this was not the case. Seemingly satisfied with a 2 – 1 lead, Exeter City sat back and tried to time waste for as long as possible which ultimately cost them the game.

If I were their coach I’d hand them a red bull and tell them to step it up. For now, I’ll just stand amongst the crowd and join in with the shouts and cheers.