Late strike ensures Terras end City's unbeaten pre-season run

A LATE goal from Weymouth's Chris McPhee ruined Exeter City's unblemished pre-season record as the Terras ran out 2-1 winners.

After Stuart Beavon's initial snap-shot was blocked by substitute Neil Martin, McPhee followed up and slotted home past Paul Jones from the edge of the area to inflict the Grecians' first defeat of the summer.

It was no more than Weymouth deserved for the ambition they showed in the second 45, after City's usual flowing game had been unsettled by a flurry of substitutions.

It had been a different story before the break, when the Grecians looked every inch the higher league team — completely different to the side that was humiliated on their last trip to the Wessex Stadium.

Boss Paul Tisdale started with what many would consider his strongest available line-up, including a triple-pronged attack of Richard Logan, Adam Stansfield and Marcus Stewart.

And, thanks to the quality on show, it only took the visitors nine minutes to open the scoring with the simplest of goals.

Striker Stewart, starting on the right of Tisdale's attack, won a corner off former Torquay United defender Stephen Reed.

From the resulting Ryan Harley set-piece, Terras goalkeeper Danny Knowles came to collect but got caught up in a cluster of defenders, allowing the unchallenged Matt Taylor to rise and easily nod home from eight yards.

Exeter went close to doubling their lead a minute later, when Stansfield crossed from the right for Logan, but the ball in was fractionally too high for last season's top scorer and he headed over.

John Hollins' men continued to look sloppy at the back and Stewart was the next visiting player to go close, his snap-shot crashing against ex-City defender Santos Gaia in the box. City were then handed another free header in the box from a corner — Danny Seaborne forcing Knowles into a stretching save with his effort.

Yet, with only their second meaningful attack of the game, the hosts equalised on 22 minutes.

A quick break from Weymouth worked the ball out to Ryan Williams on the right wing, where the schemer worked a yard of space for himself before laying the ball back to captain and former Grecian Anton Robinson.

The midfielder stormed into the area, beat Rob Edwards with a drop of the shoulder and wrong-footed Paul Jones to beat him at his near post for 1-1.

From there the game degenerated into a fairly lacklustre affair, both sides perhaps more concerned about avoiding unnecessary injuries with less than two weeks before things get going for real.

Logan headed Harley's cross over from 10 yards before the interval and, shortly after the break, Stewart headed poorly wide when well placed from another superb Harley delivery.

With 25 minutes to play Tisdale took the chance to look at the likes of Craig McAllister, Manny Panther and Jack Obersteller in action.

But it was the home side who, on the back of a number of impressive pre-season results this summer, took the initiative.

They should have scored on 69 minutes, when Cameron Mawer won the ball on the edge of Exeter's area and played in striker Beavon.

Having beaten the offside trap, the forward had a free path to goal, only to suffer an apparent rush of blood to the head and slash a hurried first-time shot woefully wide of the target.

At the time the miss appeared to have robbed the Terras of their best chance to win the game, but McPhee had other ideas.

Weymouth: Danny Knowles, Scott Doe, Adam Bygrave, Santos Gaia, Stephen Reed, Ryan Williams, Anton Robinson, Joshua Webb, James Coutts, Chris McPhee, Stuart Beavon. Subs: James Beale, Pierre Joseph-Dubois, Cameron Mawer, Jamie Frampton, Ollie Tribe, Andy Taylor

Exeter: Paul Jones, Steve Tully, George Friend, Matt Gill, Dan Seaborne, Matt Taylor, Ryan Harley, Rob Edwards, Adam Stansfield, Marcus Stewart, Richard Logan. Subs: Manny Panther, Steve Basham, Bertie Cozic, Craig McAllister, Jack Obersteller, Liam Sercombe, Neil Martin, Nick Jordan