Midfielder feels that City can take on all-comers
After earning a draw against top-of-the-table side Gillingham at St James Park, City midfielder Mark Molesley felt that City were the dominant force throughout the match and showed precisely their credentials in the race for promotion.
The Grecians were camped out in the Gills’ half for vast swathes of the game and were occasionally finding penetration through the least charitable defence in League 2 – who have conceded merely ten goals in their 17 away fixtures. City’s rear-guard display was once again faultless, and dealt with all of Gillingham’s advances without ever looking seriously troubled.
“We’re a good side and fear no-one,” said Molesley. “They’re a good side too – they’re not up there for no reason – but I think we showed our mettle tonight and we showed that we can compete with anyone.
“The defence have been superb – it’s a solid foundation to build on. No disrespect to Gillingham, but I think our back four looked comfortable all night due to their organisation and reading of the game. A lot of hard work has gone into keeping that back four as a tight unit.”
Possession and chances were dominated by the Grecians, and the former Bournemouth man – who was named as the man of the match on his return from suspension – admits that they feel a little short-changed to only have picked up a single point from a match which they controlled in almost its entirety, and that they wouldn't have been flattered had they taken the victory.
“We’ve come in disappointed that we haven’t got the three points,” he continued. “We dominated large spells of the game, and they rarely threatened us – our back four was solid all night.
“It’s two points dropped from our point of view; we’re disappointed with the draw as we had large chunks of the game, but unfortunately we couldn’t turn that into a goal.”