Matt bemoans City's collapse

SKIPPER Matt Taylor lamented Exeter City's inability to kill off the game after they chucked away a 3-1 lead to crash out of the FA Cup.

A Barry Corr double and a superb finish from Adam Stansfield had cancelled out Sam Baldock's opener to give the Grecians a commanding lead at Milton Keynes Dons. But Baldock's second kick-started a rousing comeback before Martin Devaney and Jermaine Easter completed the turnaround with the visitors contributing to their own downfall with some abject defending.

Taylor said: "When you are 3-1 up with 25 minutes to go you need to be better than we were," he said.

"We are disappointed because we weren't at the races in the first half and were lucky to have only gone in one down at the break.

"We were excellent in the first 15, 20 minutes of the second half and were in a commanding position at 3-1.

"They were always going to come at us after that but we just needed to hold on for another 10, 15 minutes and kill the game off.

"It was disappointing to concede a goal from a throw-in and the defending from set-pieces was disappointing.

"We felt there was a foul in the build-up to the winning goal but when you go to places like that you don't get as many decisions as you maybe do on other occasions.

"In the last six games we have played so much better but we need to move on."

The good news for City is that they don't have time to dwell on the setback.

They travel to Bristol Rovers tomorrow night for a Westcountry derby in Coca-Cola League One.

And with City unbeaten in five league matches, Taylor insists they must ensure their cup exit is only a minor blip.

"We want to put things right, starting on Tuesday," he said. "We are all bitterly disappointed to have gone out of the FA Cup but we have got no time to dwell on it and we need to pick ourselves up.

"Everyone wanted to be in that hat for the third round draw but that has not happened and we have to put it to bed and concentrate on Tuesday.

"The good thing about football is there is always another game around the corner to put things right.

"We will have a good training session on Monday and come out all guns blazing on Tuesday against Bristol Rovers.

"This is a massive game because we are unbeaten in five games in the league and we want that to continue. It is a big occasion for us and we are looking forward to it."

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