EXETER City are one of the best passing teams in npower League One, according to Yeovil Town boss Terry Skiverton.

The Glovers saw first hand the kind of fluid football the Grecians try to play as they went down 3-1 to Paul Tisdale's side in the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

Yeovil striker Sam Williams did not help his team's cause when he was sent off for a foolish headbutt on City midfielder James Dunne during the first half.

And Skiverton admitted the Grecians were one of the last sides he would want to play against with 10 men, as he believes Tisdale's team are more than capable of making the advantage count.

The Glovers chief said: "One team you don't want to go down to 10 men against is Exeter because they are one of the best passing teams in the league.

"But I felt when we got the ball back we kept possession and had chances. Even when we went down to 10 men we caused them problems and I think we played the better football for a period.

"Having said that there were not many positives to take from the game. Silly decisions and sloppy goals cost us and that's something we have got to learn from."

Skiverton said he was not prepared to comment on what he saw of the 44th-minute incident which resulted in Williams' dismissal.

But he admitted his player was naive to get involved with Dunne.

City boss Tisdale said he could not clearly see the incident from his standpoint, but said his players should shoulder some of the blame for the one flashpoint in what was otherwise a fairly-contested game.

Tisdale said: "It's a shame in a way when a player gets sent off. Two minutes before that the game became a bit muddled, there were a few decisions prior to that I wasn't too sure about and that often happens — temperatures rise a little and those things can happen.

"We weren't blameless in there either but someone got sent off. I would have liked to have thought no one would be sent off and in general the game was played in a very good spirit."

Tisdale admitted he was pleased to see his side get back on track following their poor performance at Leyton Orient at the weekend.

But the St James's Park chief did not want to dwell for too long over his side's first win of the season and their first victory away from home since putting Stockport County to the sword 3-1 10 months ago.

"We don't want to gloat too much because we are back here in a few weeks' time," Tisdale said.

"We are pleased with how we played. They played the second half with 10 men to put it into context, although that's not always easy to use.

"Teams often come unstuck with the extra man but we played with purpose and played with drive in our game.

"They came back into it with a really good goal and gave us a bit of a scare but are pleased with how we did."