Wembley is no match for Rotherham, says Tisdale

MANAGER Paul Tisdale has hailed 2009 as a vintage year for Grecians everywhere to savour.

The past 12 months have seen Exeter City power through to clinch automatic promotion from Coca-Cola League Two at the end of last season, before making a decent start in their bid to establish themselves in League One during the first half of the current campaign.

Tisdale says he is hoping for more success during 2010, but admits it will be hard to top the elation he felt at the end of last season when City beat Rotherham United 1-0 to clinch a second successive promotion under his tutelage.

The St James's Park chief said: "It has been a very good year in the history of Exeter City. It has been another promotion year and we have seen our team play at some terrific places.

"I think the future is very bright and I think our supporters will be very positive about what they have seen and what the future holds, so generally it has been a wonderful year for the club and I'm very proud and feel very privileged to be a part of it.

"Rotherham, of course, stands out. The promotion-winning day was just a wonderful day. It will always be with us and that would have to be the highlight (of 2009) without a doubt, you cannot really beat that. Wembley comes close, but Rotherham was just brilliant. There have been so many highlights haven't there? Going to Leeds for the first game of the season. It's definitely been a great year.

"All challenges are different and the challenge this year won't be seen in the same way. Our challenge to secure our position in this league will be just as worthwhile, but you can't top the feeling of winning promotion."

In each of Tisdale's three previous seasons as City boss, his side have picked up more points in the second half of the campaign than they did in the first.

In the 2006/07 Conference season, the Grecians collected 36 points in 2006 before going on to take 42 in the second half of the campaign and secured a play-off spot in the process.

The following season City took 40 points before the turn of the year and claimed 43 points in the second half of the term, while in 2008/09 Tisdale's men bagged 36 points in the first half of the League Two campaign before collecting 43 in the second half of the season and clinching automatic promotion in the process.

So far this term the Grecians have taken 26 points from their first 24 games.

Tisdale says he will once again be aiming to improve on that tally in the new year and is confident of doing so.

"Improving after Christmas can't happen to every team but that's the target," Tisdale said.

"We have been successful with that in the last few years and have enjoyed a better second half to the season and I hope we have a better second half this season, not that I think the first half has been particularly bad. That's the target and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.

"There's every chance that we will have a more productive team in the second half of the season than we have had in the first half of the season."

Having already crashed out of the FA Cup and been unable to rearrange a league fixture, City have no game on Saturday, January 2.

That means Grecians fans will have to wait until Saturday, January 9 and the league match at Norwich City before they can see their side in 2010 action.

However City's reserves do have a game and entertain Southampton's second string at the Park on Tuesday, January 5 (7pm).