Grecians boss reacts to Barnet draw
EXETER CITY manager Paul Tisdale insisted that he couldn't fault his players' commitment following today's 1-1 draw with Barnet at St James Park.Jayden Stockley's eighth goal in just fourteen City appearances handed the Grecians the lead, but they were pegged back just a few minutes later by Curtis Weston's header.
"I’m delighted with the way we played today,” Paul said. "It was a good passing team performance; we created a dozen or more good chances. I thought the team was unlucky, and I don’t say that often. The performance today was full of confidence and tenacity. We missed one or two really good chances and came so close to the win. We dearly wanted the three points, but unfortunately we didn’t get them.”
"It was a brilliant ball from Matt Oakley to allow Jayden his opportunity, and it would be difficult to defend against that cross. Jayden was in a very good position to finish off the move. Barnet’s goal came from a long hit cross and Curtis Weston managed a looping header. The fact is that we did enough to win the game today, so it’s hard to grumble at the players from their performance and I’m not here to pick fault.”
The Grecians had Bobby Olejnik for a second-half penalty save from John Akinde, and the manager offered some glowing words about the goalkeeper who has stopped four spot-kicks this season.
"The referee was close and he has to give what he sees,” Paul said of the penalty award. "We had a couple of very good shouts for a penalty; there was one ironically straight after the penalty in the chance that Ryan Harley had, and one right at the end with Ollie Watkins. I must give credit to Bobby Olejnik for his efforts today."
The Grecians' second game of Easter weekend is a trip to Crawley Town on Monday, and Paul set the target of a continuation of City's faultless recent record on the road.
"I think we are on a terrific run of form at the moment," Paul said. "We’re picking up results away from home, and the expectation and dynamics of the game is a bit different in away games; we're not in any need to chase the game. We’ll go to Crawley on Monday and get stuck in with confidence. We’ve been picking up good results and it helps to have everyone fit and available. There’s familiarity and connection on the pitch, and it’s made a big difference to the side. We need to go one game at a time and pick up the points, and today we managed one."