City win a thriller against Portsmouth at the Cliff Hill
EXETER CITY'S UNDER-18S survived a Portsmouth fight-back to record a victory in a high scoring affair at the Cliff Hill Training Ground last Saturday.Ben Seymour, Frank Rosenwald, Cameron Hargreaves and Jordan Storey all netted in a 4-3 victory, meaning Lee Skyrme's men are now unbeaten in five games.
The Grecians got off to a flyer, with Seymour giving his team the lead after just three minutes.
Seven minutes later and the lead had doubled. One back-pass from the Portsmouth defence seemed innocuous, but after a costly slip from the goalkeeper, Rosenwald took full advantage to tap the ball in.
Then came the Pompey fightback and Kavanagh Keadell in the Exeter goal did well to save shots with all parts of his body to preserve the two-goal lead.
Three minutes before the interval, the away side got down the left wing, and centred a ball that found the opposing winger, and his effort curled beyond the reach of Keadell and inside the far post.
However City responded in an instant. Rosenwald's well-timed run kept him onside, and as he bore down on goal he squared the ball for Hargreaves to score.
Pompey’s first attack after the interval saw a diagonal ball exposed the Grecians defence, before the ball was coolly slotted home to make it 3-2.
Midway through the second half and the scores were level. After initially hitting the crossbar, a Portsmouth striker bundled home the rebound to complete the comeback.
Another swift response was needed from the Devon club, and it came from an unlikely source.
A Scott Merritt corner was precise, and was met by the head of Storey, who thundered his header into the net to give City the lead once again.
With two minutes remaining, Jamie Harkness had the chance to wrap up the points for Skyme's men, but he could only shoot wide. However that was to be the last play of an action-packed game, resulting in a huge victory for City.
City Under-18s coach Lee Skyrme: “We wanted a good start, and we managed to get that here. We knew we could get in behind their defence because of the way they defend, and we punished them for their mistakes. We deserved to go a few goals up.
“I'm very disappointed with the first goal. That was the fifth time they had got down the wing and crossed the ball. We were lucky to come in at half-time with a lead.
“Conceding straight after half-time was frustrating as the goal came from what we talked about during the interval. They already had the momentum from the first half, and that put us on the back foot for the second half.
“I have to credit the boys for the run we are on. We had a tough start but they have worked hard. We have to be on top of our game this weekend, with an away trip to Plymouth, if we want to keep this unbeaten run going.”