THOSE great Italian legends Fetuccini, Mascarpone and Fusilli proved no match for Exeter City players at a top-of-the-table clash.

The Grecians ran rings around the opposition — served up on a plate for them at Exeter's newest restaurant.

The City players swapped their red and white shirts for chef's outfits to enter the kitchens of Exeter newcomers Pasta Porto.

The restaurant is itself a game of two halves — it is opening in both Sidwell Street and Fore Street, the first time the city has boasted a dual launch.

To celebrate, executive chef Mo Mokhtari developed a special Grecians dish, combining club colours red, white and black.

There was also a touch of green included because 50p from each sale goes to the club's Pitch in for City appeal, raising money to pay for this season's new playing surface at St James's Park.

Players toured the Pasta Porto kitchen and chef Mo explained more about the nutritional value of pasta before showing them how to prepare it.

They even had a go themselves at squeezing some spaghetti through the restaurant's state-of-the-art machines.

City captain Matt Taylor proved a master in the kitchen as well as the penalty area, when he tried his hand at making a pasta dish.

He said: "I had a little stick from the lads looking on but I was quite happy with the way it turned out. You have to try and eat healthy food and pasta is ideal. Whatever standard of sport you are involved in, what you eat is important."

Exeter City's nutritionalist Ian Andrews, was also keen to see how the Grecians dish was produced. The health benefits of eating pasta, using fresh produce and plenty of vegetables, could be key to the club's success on the pitch this season.

Ian said: "The right diet can make a huge difference. It can improve performance by around 25 per cent, particularly later in the season when matches come thick and fast and players are getting tired.

"It's not just the Premiership clubs who take this seriously. We've been doing it for quite a while now here at Exeter, and it's one reason why we stayed strong when it really mattered at the end of last season."

Pasta Porto is owned by Paul and Maria Freeman who are hoping football fans will enjoy eating the same healthy diet as their heroes on the pitch.

Mr Freeman said: "It was a wonderful evening and the players were extremely interested to see how the pasta was produced using all fresh ingredients."

He added: "Our chef demonstrated how the pasta was made into different types, such as linguine and ravioli and then they had a go."

It all helped the players prepare to launch the new season next Saturday against Colchester at St James's Park.